Vinh City will organize a pedestrian street in September 2019.

Officially operational in September.

According to the plan, Vinh City will designate the following streets as pedestrian zones: Ho Tung Mau Street (from Nai Bridge to the beginning of Vuong Thuc Mau Street), Nguyen Tai Street (starting point intersecting with Ho Tung Mau Street, ending point intersecting with Nguyen Van Cu Street), and Nguyen Trung Ngan Street connecting to Alley No. 2 of Nguyen Trung Ngan Street, ending point intersecting with Nguyen Van Cu Street.

The sidewalks of Ho Tung Mau Street (Vinh City) will be designated for commercial use. Photo: Lam Tung

Along these routes, the city will invest in upgrading the technical infrastructure, repairing and upgrading roads, lighting, decorating with flowers and trees, and beautifying the facades of businesses in the pedestrian streets. Plans will be developed for organizing business activities in the pedestrian streets, cultural and recreational activities, traffic flow management, and parking facilities to serve residents and tourists.

Upon hearing about the pedestrian street project, a large number of residents in Truong Thi ward expressed their support and eagerly awaited its completion and opening.

At the same time, representatives from various neighborhoods also contributed ideas to make the pedestrian street more complete, such as: business service fees, parking spaces, how goods are transported in and out during pedestrian street hours, waste collection, flood management during the rainy season, security and order on the street, and plans to attract tourists to the pedestrian street…

The city of Vinh's initiative to build a pedestrian street is very practical. The city will have a reasonable and synchronized investment plan to create a highlight for city tourism, becoming a dynamic and interesting destination for tourists. The pedestrian street is expected to officially open and be put into use in September 2019.

Mr. Tran Ngoc Tu - Chairman of the People's Committee of Vinh City

And the issues that need attention.

To date, most departments and agencies believe that the pilot project to open pedestrian streets in Vinh City is necessary to create more recreational, entertainment, and cultural activities, thereby increasing the attractiveness of Nghe An province in general and Vinh City in particular to tourists. Currently, 90% of the city's residents agree with the plan, while 10% disagree.

Mr. Nguyen Duc An, Deputy Director of the Department of Transport, said: Currently, the Department of Transport has compiled feedback from various sectors on the pedestrian street project of Vinh City and submitted it to the Provincial People's Committee. However, regarding the proposed routes and the content of organizing the pedestrian streets, the city needs to pay more attention to the following issues:

It is necessary to contract with an experienced consulting firm toThe design and overall layout of pedestrian streets must ensure scientific accuracy, uniformity, and aesthetic appeal.To attract locals and tourists, thereby helping Vinh City and the people in the pedestrian street area to have a direction for investment, reasonable decoration, and suitable business services.

Vinh City is decorated with flowers for Tet (Lunar New Year). Photo: Archival material.

There is a comprehensive investment plan for infrastructure development.This includes paving sidewalks, lighting systems, decorative lights, and urban infrastructure upgrades... for roads serving pedestrian streets and connecting roads to pedestrian streets.

Furthermore, the two streets, Nguyen Trung Ngan and Nguyen Tai, have limited infrastructure and business opportunities (no street lighting, sidewalks only 2 meters wide, few entertainment and recreational facilities, etc.). So, what solutions will the city implement for these two streets?

Another extremely important issue is the work.ensuring food safety and havingenvironmental sanitation planon pedestrian streets to avoid negatively impacting the image of the pedestrian street and urban aesthetics.

Ho Tung Mau Street at night. Photo: Tran Chau

A representative from the provincial traffic police department stated: "After research,Add more parking areas for cars at the intersection of Le Hong Phong and Nguyen Van Cu streets.This is to serve tourists visiting the pedestrian street because the volume of vehicles concentrated in this area before, during, and after the planned operation of the pedestrian street is expected to be very high.

Organizing pedestrian streets on Friday and Saturday evenings, as well as on major holidays, will further increase pressure and overload the provincial and Vinh City police forces, therefore further research is needed.Installing CCTV surveillance systems on pedestrian streets.To serve the work of ensuring security and order.