The Department of Transport on Thursday passed the baton to the unit, called the management board of traffic infrastructure investment and construction, which will now take over 409 approved projects costing more than VND4.2 trillion ($180 million).

Luong Minh Phuc, director of the board, said work would continue on 112 ongoing projects, with 25 completed this year. "We will also work on 26 new projects and make preparations for 57 others."

The board's main focus will be on projects meant to ease traffic jams on roads leading to Tan Son Nhat International Airport, now the country's biggest airport, and Cat Lai, a major cargo port in District 2.

Also on its to-do list are two city ring roads so that vehicles, especially trucks, will not have to pass through the central area to go to HCMC’s neighboring areas, preventing gridlock.

Over time the board is expected to grow professionally when it will make contributions to designing HCMC’s traffic infrastructure as it seeks to become a smart city by 2020, and take part in developing three eastern districts into "innovative urban areas."

With the board set up, all issues related to land acquisition -- and compensation payments -- for public traffic projects will go straight from it to the city People’s Committee instead of to the district and the transport department before going to the committee, which has been the process until now.