Decoding the cause of traffic congestion in Vinh city
(Baonghean.vn) - In the process of urbanization, Vinh City has to face two eternal urban problems at the same time: traffic congestion during rush hour and flooding during heavy rain. To solve this situation, Vinh City has been taking initial measures.
Traffic jams reoccur
The reason we mention the traffic jam and consider it a recurrence is because a few years ago, when the Central Bus Station had not yet been relocated, traffic jams often occurred during rush hour on Le Hong Phong Street (in front of Hoa Sen Kindergarten), Le Loi Street going to Ly Thuong Kiet Street or Le Hong Phong Street or Quang Trung Street and going to Nguyen Thai Hoc Street or Dinh Cong Trang Street, Ngu Hai Street.
However, after moving the Central Bus Station to the Vinh North Bus Station and along with some traffic flow solutions and renovating right turns at red lights at some intersections, traffic congestion has decreased in recent years.
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| Traffic jams occur continuously in Vinh when it rains. Photo courtesy of Quang An |
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| Nghe An has more than 130,000 cars, of which 70% are concentrated in Vinh city. Photo courtesy of Quang An |
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| Ho Tung Mau Street is often congested during rush hour. Photo courtesy of Tien Hung |
In addition to the increase in the number of vehicles, traffic jams are also caused by the lack of awareness of drivers. Although schools have reminded and even posted signs asking parents not to stop, park or turn around near the school gate, some parents have not strictly complied, leading to traffic jams during rush hour.
On the other hand, most of the traffic lights in Vinh city have been invested for decades and are severely damaged, but there is no budget for regular repairs or replacement equipment. Every time it rains, the traffic lights often have problems, losing traffic signals, so vehicles go their separate ways. Traffic officers have a hard time guiding and directing traffic, but the efficiency is not high.
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| During rush hour, traffic participants in Vinh city often face traffic congestion at school gates. Photo: Thanh Cuong |
How to reduce traffic congestion?
Faced with the above situation, objectively speaking, during the peak traffic safety month (September every year), the province and city have a peak period of propaganda and mobilization to ensure traffic safety and reduce congestion.
In fact, to reduce traffic congestion, in 2019, the City People's Committee invested more than 10 billion VND to renovate sidewalks, make parking bays, and stop cars on 3 streets: Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Le Mao and Le Hong Phong; at the same time, asked for permission from the Road Management Department 2 to cut flower beds and trees on Tran Phu Street (and soon Phan Dinh Phung Street) to create more land for traffic; opened some right turns before traffic lights...
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| Workers are constructing a project to trim the boulevards, plant flowers and ornamental plants on both sides of Tran Phu Street and build a new median strip on Tran Phu Street to reduce traffic congestion. Photo: Tran Phu |
In addition, while there is no funding, to reduce traffic congestion and limit cars stopping and parking on the street, Vinh City has organized the painting and marking of sidewalks on some streets to allow cars to stop and park on the sidewalk; to limit to the maximum the prohibition of cars stopping and parking, in order to create favorable conditions for people to do business.
However, currently, due to the rapid increase in the number of personal vehicles and the lack of investment and renovation of traffic lights, traffic jams are becoming more and more common. Faced with this urgent situation, the City People's Committee has directed the Vinh City Police to mobilize hundreds of officers and soldiers to be present at intersections during rush hours to guide traffic flow; at the same time, the Vinh City Police have been assigned to develop a project to handle and reduce traffic jams in the area.
 Traffic police regulate safe vehicle movement in heavy rain on September 18, 2020 at the Hai Quan roundabout, Vinh City. Photo courtesy of Quang An |
Based on the assignment of the City People's Committee, Vinh City Police is currently in the process of developing a project. Basically, the spirit of the project still follows the proposals of the leaders of Vinh City Police in previous meetings with the leaders of the city and province, which is to build a number of overpasses according to the planning at key intersections and continue to invest funds to cut sidewalks, make stopping and parking bays for cars on the streets.
Currently, according to a survey by Vinh City Police, there are 37 main streets with sidewalks over 9m wide, which are quite wide, so they can be trimmed to create bays for cars to stop and park. However, due to planning issues and different opinions from provincial departments and agencies on reserving sidewalks for pedestrians, the process of renovating sidewalks for parking and reducing traffic congestion is slowing down.
Besides, to renovate sidewalks and reduce traffic jams, a huge amount of money is needed, at least tens of billions per year, but due to the limited funding, in the past 2 years, the city has only been able to renovate 4 routes and stopped there.
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| Parking is allowed on the sidewalk of Nguyen Van Cu Street, helping to reduce traffic congestion. Photo: Nguyen Hai |
The city police are making efforts to mobilize the maximum number of officers and soldiers to guide and regulate traffic during rush hours. However, to reduce long-term congestion, it is necessary to strengthen propaganda to raise awareness of compliance with the Traffic Law for all classes of people; in the immediate future, prioritize funding to build parking bays on the sidewalks of major streets that are often congested such as Le Loi, Mai Hac De, and Quang Trung.
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