Inter-commune arterial roads are degraded, people are 'crying to heaven'

The route from Thanh Lien commune intersection through Prison No. 6 to Ho Chi Minh road is 10 km long, passing through 3 communes of Thanh Chuong district, including: Thanh Lien, Thanh My, Hanh Lam and connecting resettlement communes such as: Thanh Son, Ngoc Lam with the district center. After many years of use, this road has seriously degraded.

Potholes and potholes filled with water covered the road surface like a miniature "village pond".

There is no intact section along the above mentioned route. The most seriously degraded section is the section passing through Thanh My commune. Hundreds of potholes and water-filled potholes line up one after another covering the road surface, no different from miniature “ponds”; many sections of the road have been plowed up, leaving exposed rocks, very dangerous for vehicles passing by.

There is not a single intact section along this route.

Housed close to the road, Ms. Le Thi Hai (residing in Hamlet 5, Thanh My Commune) reflected: "This road section has been most seriously degraded in the past 3 years. Just a little rain is enough to flood the road, traffic here is chaotic and chaotic. When the sun comes out, the dust is blinding, my house always has to close the door, some houses even stretch out tarps to cover it, accidents happen all the time...".

According to Ms. Hai, the most tragic accident that she could not forget was the case of a motorbike colliding with a truck, causing one person to die on the spot, which happened during the rainy season last year. There were countless cases of minor injuries or “catching frogs” in the middle of the road. At the voter meetings every year, people complained, but then “everything went back to normal”.

The degraded transport system not only directly affects people's lives but also indirectly hinders local socio-economic development.

Ms. Dao Thi Dung - a trader in Thanh My Commune sighed and said: In the past, buses used to run through here. But because the roads were difficult to travel, the buses often broke down and there were few passengers, they had to abandon the route. Now, people here who want to go to the province have to go down to Thanh Lien Commune intersection or go to Ho Chi Minh trail to catch a bus.

Market 32 ​​of Thanh My commune used to be the trading center of many communes, but now its activities are quiet partly due to difficult roads.

At the same time, market 32 ​​of Thanh My commune used to be the trading and commercial center of many communes such as Thanh My, Thanh Duc, Thanh Nho, Hanh Lam, Thanh Lien, ... but until now, the traders have had to leave one by one because of the lack of people coming to the market.

Mr. Pham Xuan Luc - Chairman of Thanh My Commune People's Committee said that in recent years, due to severe road damage, every Lunar New Year, the local government has supported money to repair the road to make it easier for people to travel. During the recent Tet holiday, Thanh Chuong District People's Committee also supported 60 million VND for repairs. The usual repair method is to use crushed stone to fill the damaged areas or clear the roadside to let water flow, but this is only a temporary solution.

Overloaded trucks often travel on the road, causing the road to deteriorate faster.

“This road was built in 1997 and has been in use for more than 20 years but has not been properly invested in and maintained. Furthermore, the number of trucks carrying construction materials and overloaded glue that frequently pass by has caused the road to deteriorate faster,” Mr. Luc explained.

Road degradation as an obstacle to socio-economic development

Regarding this issue, Mr. Nguyen The Cuong - Acting Head of the Economic - Infrastructure Department of Thanh Chuong district said: "In the coming time, this road will be renovated, but the district does not know if there is capital or not because the district is not the investor".