Thousands of commuters experienced the Dau Giay - Phan Thiet Expressway, which was opened to traffic on Saturday, causing congestion on the road, especially at tollgates.

The 99-kilometer expressway stretching from southern Dong Nai Province to south-central Binh Thuan Province is a subproject of the mammoth North-to-South expressway project in Vietnam.

Commuters chose the expressway as part of their routes to return to their hometowns or travel to tourist sites to celebrate their holiday marking Hung Kings Commemoration Day, taking place on the 10th day of the third lunar month, which fell on April 29 this year, Reunification Day (April 30), and International Workers’ Day (May 1).

Vehicles move at a snail’s pace on the Dau Giay - Phan Thiet Expressway.

Many drivers were surprised at the modern expressway.

Tran Dinh Tu, 30, was excited to travel on such a modern road to return to his hometown in Binh Thuan Province.

“I am happy to run on the new expressway as the travel time is shortened. In previous years, I had to travel on the congested National Highway 1.

“The Dau Giay - Phan Thiet Expressway is modern and airy but many items have yet to be completed, so it is dangerous,” Tu shared.

The expressway helps shorten the travel time from Ho Chi Minh City to Binh Thuan to some two hours from the previous four to five hours.

However, a traffic jam stretching some three kilometers was seen at a tollgate, which is near the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway.

The section passing through the tollgate has only two lanes, while the volume of vehicles is huge, resulting in the severe congestion.

Many sections of the expressway have yet to be installed with barriers, while motorbikes entered the expressway, and cars ran from local roads to the expressway, posing a high risk of traffic accidents.

On the expressway, many items are even under construction.

In particular, road markings were being painted and traffic instruction and warning signs were being erected on some sections.

Many SOS signs on the road include no telephone number for contact in urgent cases.

In addition, the lighting system is still being installed, specifically on a section passing Xuan Loc District, Dong Nai Province.

Long lines of vehicles on the Dau Giay - Phan Thiet Expressway.

The Dau Giay - Phan Thiet Expressway has 47.5 kilometers in Binh Thuan and 51.5 kilometers in Dong Nai.

Costing nearly VND12.6 trillion (US$537.2 million), the expressway has four lanes for traffic and two lanes for emergency stops and allows the maximum speed of 120 kilometers per hour.

Most of the vehicles are from the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway.

A motorbike runs on the Dau Giay - Phan Thiet Expressway.

Many autos travel from local roads to the Dau Giay - Phan Thiet Expressway.

Cars enters the Dau Giay - Phan Thiet Expressway from local roads, posing a high risk of traffic accidents.

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