Cars increase rapidly, Vinh will have traffic jams like Hanoi

(Baonghean)- In 2 months, Nghe An had more than 3,000 newly registered cars with less than 9 seats, mainly in Vinh city and its vicinity.The number of cars is increasing rapidlyTraffic jams and congestion occur frequently.

According to data from the Traffic Police Department of Nghe An province, from January 1, 2017 to March 10, 2017, Nghe An had 3,057 newly registered cars with less than 9 seats, of which Vinh city alone had 1,271 new cars.

If in 2015 the number of newly registered vehicles with less than 9 seats was 5,737, an increase of 2,028 compared to 2014 (in 2014 3,709 new vehicles were registered), then in 2016, the whole province registered 11,884 new vehicles.

Currently, Nghe An has more than 91,000 registered cars, most of which are concentrated in Vinh City and surrounding areas.

Dinh Cong Trang Street is often congested during school hours. Photo courtesy.

Chart of the number of newly registered cars under 9 seats over the years. Graphics: Huu Quan.

Captain Tran Quynh Long - Head of the Vehicle Registration Team, Traffic Police Department of Nghe An Public Security said: People's demand for cars is increasing sharply and accordingly, the car market is constantly developing. However, the current difficulty is that with the existing infrastructure having many shortcomings, it cannot meet the increasing traffic volume, traffic jams are happening more and more.

Number of registered cars in the province. Graphic: Huu Quan.

In addition to popular car models priced from 300 - 600 million VND such as: Kia morning, Huyndai i10, i20, Toyota Vios which account for the largest market share, high-end car models favored by consumers with prices of more than 2 billion VND from brands such as: Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Renaul, ... also appear a lot on the streets of Vinh city.

Although the demand for owning a car is high, not everyone is financially independent. According to the Traffic Police Department of the Provincial Police, many newly registered cars are purchased in installments, especially mid-range cars under 800 million VND.

In addition to the recent rapid increase in the number of private vehicles, the fact that a series of apartment projects are located right in the inner city and along the main roads of the city is the reason why Vinh city is no longer unfamiliar with traffic congestion. High-rise apartments are springing up densely, meaning the compression of a large number of residents in the inner city, which is a threat to traffic congestion, serious overload of traffic infrastructure, water supply and drainage, energy and environmental issues.

Currently, in Nghe An province, there are 132 housing projects, of which 67 projects have apartment buildings, 59 apartment buildings are under construction with more than 8,500 rooms. Right at hot spots such as Vinh market intersection, a series of high-rise towers have sprung up: oil and gas apartments, Vicentra Nghe An Complex, Eurowindow... When these buildings come into operation, traffic congestion is expected to be inevitable.

Traffic jams often occur from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the intersection of Bach Lieu and Nguyen Du streets (near Vinh University). Photo by Nguyen Son.

Over the past years, the planning and development of transport infrastructure has received investment attention from the provincial and municipal People's Committees and relevant agencies. Many important transport projects have been invested in and are being built, such as: Vinh - Cua Lo Boulevard; intersections to build overpasses on the North - South railway; upgrading and expanding National Highway 1A through Vinh city; renovating and expanding Vinh airport...

Currently, the People's Committee of Vinh province and city is also urgently constructing the extended Ly Thuong Kiet road with a road length of 1,056.34m, construction boundary of 24m, of which the road surface is 15m, sidewalks on each side are 4.5m to relieve traffic pressure on Minh Khai and Le Hong Phong routes...

Cao Thang Street is marked with painted lines as a parking area for cars entering and exiting Vinh market area. Photo: Thu Huyen

To create clear roads and sidewalks, the city police force is currently focusing on handling the situation of vehicles stopping and parking on the sidewalk, increasing checkpoints and traffic patrols. Major Vu Minh Phuong - Deputy Head of the Traffic Police Team of Vinh City Police said that traffic jams in the city have occurred during rush hours, especially in areas with schools, intersections, and intersections with high traffic density. With the inevitable development of means of transport, if there are no solutions for infrastructure, housing planning... Vinh will also fall into the situation of big cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

"Reality shows that the provincial and municipal People's Committees and related sectors have come to consider the implementation of overpasses and opening turns at points where traffic jams often occur, such as the Diec Pagoda intersection, Vinh Market intersection, Kenh Bac Bridge, or the underpass at the Customs intersection and Lenin Avenue. In addition, it is also necessary to consider building parking lots for taxis..." - Major Phuong emphasized.

According to the urban planning vision to 2030, Vinh city will be expanded 2.5 times larger than it is now, so the problem of urban development needs to be studied and have appropriate solutions, including the issue of vehicle management - traffic organization and control of inner-city apartment building construction, to avoid the "rut" of traffic congestion in big cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Thu Huyen