According to the department, traffic jam has concentrated in 12 areas comprising Dan Chu crossroads, Nguyen Van Cu bridge, Y shaped bridge, streets surrounding Tan Son Nhat International Airport such as Truong Chinh, Cong Hoa, Hoang Van Thu, Nguyen Kiem, Tran Quoc Hoan and Phan Thuc Duyet and streets near Cat Lai seaports such as Hanoi Highway, Dong Van Cong and Nguyen Thi Dinh.
In addition, city entrance gateways have regularly been congested such as Vo Van Kiet-National Highway 1A, Nguyen Huu Tho-Nguyen Thi Thap and An Suong crossroads.
The agency reports 17 black spots of traffic accidents including ten spots locating adjacent to each other in routes to seaports and inland container ports.
Of these, a 3 kilometer stretch of ring road No.2, from Phu My bridge to My Thuy roundabout, approaching Cat Lai seaport sees five spots in high danger of traffic accidents because of downgraded road face and traffic chaos with motorbikes travelling into truck lane.
Container trucks from Tan Cang-My Thuy depot meet with vehicles from Phu My bridge to Cat Lai seaport, entering motorbike lanes causing traffic jam.
Nguyen Tat Thanh street is the main route linking up District 1, 4 and 7, receiving a huge volume of trucks from and to Saigon Seaport to transport petrol from Nha Be district. Still the road face is small with each side measured 7 meter wide.
The street has three black spots of traffic accidents in District 4 with collisions between motorbikes and trucks.
The city’s Traffic Safety Board said that it is unable to further broaden Nguyen Tat Thanh street while the number of vehicles plying in the route has quickly increased, posing threat of traffic accidents.
Other city entrance gateways comprising National Highway 1A in Binh Chanh district and northwestern areas have also regularly reported traffic jam and accidents.
Solutions to clear black spots
Director of HCMC Urban Traffic Management Zone 1 Nguyen Vinh Ninh said that a slew of solutions have been implemented to solve the black spot of traffic accident in Nguyen Tat Thanh street such as installing warning lights, slow down boards and dividers.
Talking about long term solutions, director of the Department of Transport Bui Xuan Cuong said that the city will invest VND39,263 billion (US$1.73 billion) in 80 traffic projects to reduce traffic jam and accidents citywide.
Of them, some are expected to ease traffic jam over wide areas once being built. So far, the agency has implemented projects to build flyovers in Truong Son-Hong Ha streets in Tan Binh, Nguyen Thai Son-Nguyen Kiem streets in Go Vap and others.
In addition, a tunnel will be built under Truong Son street permitting vehicles from domestic terminal of Tan Son Nhat International Airport to straightly travel to Hong Ha street. The project aims to solve traffic chaos in Truong Son and Hong Ha streets.
My Thuy roundabout flyover and tunnel are nearly built to reduce traffic jam for Cat Lai seaport area. Once being built, vehicles from Hanoi Highway to Cat Lai will travel in a different lane with those from Phu My bridge and Cat Lai to ring road No.2.
In the center of the city, two branches of Nguyen Van Cu bridge have been opened to traffic on July 3. Three branches of Nguyen Tri Phuong bridge will be built this year to solve traffic jam in surrounding areas, said Mr. Nam.
Besides budget financed projects, some other projects will be implemented under BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) form such as Martyr Monument crossroads in Binh Thanh to clear traffic jam for Mien Dong (Eastern) Coach Station, Nguyen Van Linh-Nguyen Huu Tho intersection in District 7 and Thu Duc crossroads intersection.
These projects are expected to reduce traffic jam in city entrance gateways. Still their construction will take from 3-5 years if the city can arrange capital source for them.
