Major roundabout could come full circle in HCMC

The roundabout can be rebuilt for VND500 million ($20,155), the municipal Department of Planning and Architecture has said in a proposal sent Thursday to the city administration.

The roundabout was demolished eight years ago to serve construction of an underground station for the city’s metro line No.1 on Le Loi Street.

It used to stand at one of the most prime locations in the city – near the People’s Committee Building. After it was demolished, the roundabout became a water fountain on the Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street.

The department says in its proposal that the water fountain will be maintained when the new roundabout is built with a 12m radius.

The roundabout at Nguyen Hue – Le Loi Street was built in 1920, making it the first one in Ho Chi Minh City and the entire Vietnam. The Bon Ken roundabout was then at the crossing of Charner (Nguyen Hue) and Bonard (Le Loi) Streets, also known as the Cay Lieu (Willow) Roundabout, after the willow trees around it.

The Willow Roundabout at the intersection of what are now Nguyen Hue and Le Loi Streets. File photo

Construction work of the underground metro station was completed this August, clearing a street section that stretches 800m from Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street to the Ben Thanh Market.

The street had been blocked since mid-2014 for building the Ben Thanh Station, one of the three underground stations on Metro Line No.1.

The station, about 32 meters underground, has four floors with six entrances.

Set to cost over VND43.7 trillion ($1.89 billion), HCMC’s first metro line will run around 20 kilometers from near Ben Thanh Market in District 1 to Long Binh Depot in Thu Duc City. After several delays, the line is now more than 90% complete and set to be up and running at the end of 2023.