Overcoming shortcomings in naming streets in Vinh city

(Baonghean) - To meet the traffic requirements of a modern city, Vinh city has undergone many street name changes so far.However, naming streets in Vinh city still has some shortcomings...

The disadvantages

Up to now, Vinh city has had 287 streets in 25 wards and communes named. According to urban planning, many new streets have been and are being built. Many of them have been completed and have stable population arrangements, but because they do not have names, they have caused many difficulties for administrative management, urban management and people's transactions.

The Cay Xanh street sign is located right next to the car wash and repair sign.

During the meetings of the Provincial People's Council with voters, Vinh city residents have repeatedly reported on the inadequacies in naming streets in the city. For example, according to the provisions of Decree 91 (not naming streets, roads or public works with different names of a famous person in the same urban area).

However, in the city, there are still streets named after the same famous person. For example, Ngu Hai and Dang Thai Than streets (in fact, Ngu Hai is the nickname of the patriot Dang Thai Than, from Nghi Loc district). There are also small-scale streets, not worthy of the stature of famous people such as Tran Quoc Hoan, Ngo Quyen, Ly Nhat Quang, Huynh Thuc Khang; there are even streets only 100m - 150m long, 5 - 6m wide, still named after famous people and historical figures such as Cao Lo, Ho Ba On, Tran Hung Dao...

Ngu Hai Street...

...and Dang Thai Than street, the same name as a famous person

Another problem is that the same road is divided into many sections to be named differently, creating a sense of fragmentation. Many routes are not continuous but are still named the same road, causing many difficulties and inconveniences for people. On Nguyen Van Cu Street, there is a branch road named "Green Trees". After researching, we found out that the end of the road is a tree nursery of the City Park Company, so it was named after that. This naming does not have much meaning...

According to Mr. Bui Quang Phuong - Head of the Department of Culture - Information - Sports (Vinh city): The above shortcomings are real and stem from many reasons. In the past, with the policy of eliminating the situation of "houses without numbers, streets without names", every planned street was named even though at that time it was just an alley.

Later, the land was not cleared, the road was not expanded as planned, but the street name still existed. On the other hand, Decree 91/2005/ND-CP of the Government also mentioned the restriction of changing street names, especially for streets and roads that have familiar names, are closely associated with the history and culture of the nation and locality and have been deeply ingrained in the feelings and subconscious of many generations of people.

Besides, changing or adjusting street names is also related to administrative management, urban order, city planning and is closely linked to people's transaction addresses, so it cannot be implemented simultaneously and massively because it will cause great disturbances...

According to Mr. Phuong, from the practical shortcomings through 4 rounds of naming and renaming streets, the city government, functional agencies and the Advisory Council have learned from experience and made more appropriate adjustments. For example, previously, there was Ly Thuong Kiet Street (Le Loi Ward) and Ly Thuong Kiet Street (Hung Phuc Ward), these two streets were more than 1km apart. After a long time of seeing the shortcomings, Ly Thuong Kiet Street (Hung Phuc Ward) has now been renamed Thanh Thai Street.

The named roads must meet the criteria of being built according to the urban planning of Vinh city and being used stably. The road scale is 6m wide, 200m or more long, connected, with a starting point and an ending point.

To name the street worthy of its honoring meaning

To facilitate political, cultural and social activities, meet the people's living needs, ensure civilization and urban order, and demonstrate the respect of today's generation for the nation's cultural history, the People's Committee of Nghe An province has directed the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to coordinate with the People's Committee of Vinh city to advise on naming and renaming streets in the city in phase V according to the provisions of Decree No. 91/2005/ND-CP dated July 11, 2005 of the Government on promulgating regulations on naming and renaming streets, roads and public works.

Accordingly, in addition to renaming, unreasonable street names left by previous namings such as: duplicated street names, divided streets, small scale not worthy of famous people's names will be adjusted accordingly. For example, according to the planning, Nguyen Thiep Street starts from Tran Phu Street to the road along Nui Quyet Mountain, but currently Nguyen Thiep Street only extends from Tran Phu Street to Phuong Hoang Street, then continues from Le Doan Nha Street to Bui Thi Xuan Street, there is a section that cannot be cleared, causing confusion about the two Nguyen Thiep Streets. Therefore, it will be adjusted to Lane 49, Bui Thi Xuan Street.

The intersection of Tran Phu - Truong Thi - Le Duan streets (Illustration by Sy Minh)

Or Hoang Nghia Luong Street (the starting point is adjacent to Tran Phu Street, the ending point is adjacent to Ngu Hai Street in Le Mao Ward) is too small in scale (150m long, 4m wide), does not meet the criteria for naming a street and the scale of the street is not commensurate with the contributions of the famous person (Hoang Nghia Luong is a famous general of the Le Dynasty with many achievements, his temple has been ranked as a national monument) so the name of the famous person will be changed to another route, and the current Hoang Nghia Luong Street will be changed to alley 79 Tran Phu Street.

According to Ms. Phan Thi Anh - Deputy Head of Heritage Management Department (Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism): The naming and renaming of streets follows a very strict process, including surveying the current situation and needs of wards and communes, preparing detailed records, and organizing to collect opinions from relevant departments, branches and specialized scientific organizations. The records are reviewed by the Advisory Council and publicly announced on mass media for people to participate in giving opinions.

Quang Trung Street (Illustration: Sy Minh)

The dossier must be approved by the Provincial People's Committee and reviewed by the Provincial People's Council before being approved. Recently, at the 2nd session, the 17th Provincial People's Council passed a resolution on renaming roads in the 5th phase for 32 routes and 3 overpasses in Vinh city.

Currently, Vinh has been recognized as a type 1 urban area and has been approved by the Prime Minister for planning to become the economic and cultural center of the North Central region. Therefore, naming, changing, and adjusting streets in accordance with the planning, worthy of famous people and historical events is necessary, not only contributing to educating the tradition, history and culture of the nation but also meeting the expansion and development process of Vinh city to be civilized and modern.

Gia Huy