Flooding holds up traffic for hours on expressway linking HCMC, Phan Thiet

By around 2 a.m. there was no way for the water to drain on either side and began instead to flood the low-lying section in Ham Tan District in Binh Thuan Province.

Some places were under a meter of water.

Hundreds of vehicles were stuck on either side of the flooded section.

The water started to recede at dawn, but some areas remained under half a meter of water and only vehicles with high clearance could traverse them.

 

 

Flooding holds up traffic for hours on expressway linking HCMC, Phan Thiet

Cao tốc Dầu Giây – Phan Thiết ùn tắc hơn 1 km do nước ngập sâu

The expressway has sewers in the flooded location, but they are small, and so water does not drain quickly enough during heavy rains.

Traffic police officers were dispatched to the scene to divert traffic and prevent more vehicles from entering the expressway.

By 7 a.m. people were able to drive through the flooded section to HCMC though not yet in the other direction.

Cars and trucks are stuck in a gridlock on the direction from HCMC to Phan Thiet on Dau Giay – Phan Thiet Expressway, July 29, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Tu Huynh

The Dau Giay – Phan Thiet Expressway opened to traffic in April this year.

Running 99 km through Dong Nai and Binh Thuan provinces, it links up with the Ho Chi Minh City – Long Thanh – Dau Giay Expressway between HCMC and Dong Nai.

It enables vehicles to cover the 177-km distance between HCMC and Phan Thiet, known for its beaches and sand dunes, in two hours as against six hours earlier.