Minh Khai Street, flanked by dozens of apartment buildings, suffers severe traffic congestion during rush hours. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Eight more traffic hotspots have cropped up in Hanoidespite the city’s efforts to improve infrastructure.
The situation is predicted to get worse as the year-end holiday seasonapproaches.
The rapid rise of new apartment blocks in the heart of the capital is blamedfor the congestion, especially during peak hours.
The appearance of Muong Thanh Group’s skyscrapers, for example, has turned LinhDam – which was planned to be a symbol of a modern and well-organisedurban area back in the beginning of the new millennium – into a severetraffic hotspot.
With some 80,000 residents, the area is now shouldering a perpetual influx oftraffic.
Residents have to endure congestion inside and out during peak hours,tolerating long queues to get into elevators before heading onto overcrowdedstreets on their way to work.
Thuy, living in Linh Dam, said it is such a challenge to get a taxi from herapartment even when her ride-hailing app shows several drivers nearby.Even when she eventually succeeds in booking a car, the chance of the drivercancelling is high.
“One time when I booked a ride via Grab to Giap Bat Bus Station on Giai Phong streetat 9am, the drivers complained about how hard it was to get to the main road.It ended up taking more than half an hour to drive the 5.5km from Linh Dam,”she told Vietnam News Agency.
“The driver needed to pick his way through small alleys to avoid being trappedin the massive queues of vehicles,” she added.
The city has recently opened a bridge over To Lich River connecting Linh Dam withKim Giang street, which was expected to ease traffic pressure in thedensely-populated area. Conversely, the rising number of vehicles worsens thesituation, blocking entrances from Linh Dam to Giai Phong and Kim Giangstreets, even during weekends.
The rapid increase of high-rise buildings and apartments blocks in Hanoi’sdowntown area, along with a lack of infrastructure, leads to severe trafficcongestions around the city.
Despite being expanded, the beltway No 3, between Thanh Tri Bridge and Cau Giaydistrict’s Mai Dịch commune is still clogged as too many apartment buildingsare constructed along the road following the expansion.
Thang Long Avenue and Vo Chi Cong street are predicted to face the same problemdue to mass housing projects in these areas.
Some residents in Ha Dong district had to sell their apartments as they weretrapped for hours on Nguyen Trai street.
Hanoi’s rate of land given for inner city traffic at present is under 9 percentwhile the standard of other cities around the world ranges from 22 to 24 percent.
The capital’s population density is rising which makes traffic congestioninevitable.
In 2019, 33 traffic hotspots were reported in Hanoi, including eight new oneson Dinh Cong Bypass, Chua Lang street and Phung Chi Kien street, for example.The city’s traffic safety committee has undertaken several solutions to easeand eliminate traffic jams, such as installing warning signs, speed bumps andadjusting traffic lights.
The Hanoi Department of Transport is deploying radars atintersections of Trung Kinh-Mac Thi Buoi streets and Pham Van Bach-Duong DinhNghe streets to collect data on traffic patterns which will later be used todevelop infrastructure plans.
Colonel Nguyen Van Vien, deputy director of Hanoi Police, said they have askedthe city’s authorities to tighten management over licensing mass housingprojects to make sure that the traffic infrastructure can withstand thepressure posed by apartments and their residents.
Hanoi has also urged universities and hospitals to relocate to suburbandistricts to reduce congestion. However, as they are reluctant to make a move,the situation is not improving in front of these buildings./.
VNA
