VietNamNet Bridge – Many roads in Ha Noi have become extremely overcrowded, causing a stressful and tiring environment for the city's drivers and pedestrians alike, with the lunar New Year Festival fast approaching.

Traffic congestion builds up in Hang Bai Street in downtown Ha Noi. Many streets across the city face serious traffic jams as people get on the move before Tet.

The increasing number of taxis on the roads, combined with hordes of shoppers and business people has led to many roads becoming gridlocked several times per day.

In Kim Ma, Dien Bien Phu and Le Duan streets, among others, three lines of traffic regularly build up, even outside of rush hour periods. Motorbikes and bicycles are often slowed to a crawl as they negotiate their way through the smoky air, with some even taking to driving along the pavement, causing dangerous situations.

Nguyen Mac Chinh, a resident of Tay Son Street, said that heavy traffic always occurs in the Ton Duc Thang - Nguyen Luong - Bang-Tay Son route during peak hours in the early morning and late afternoon, but it has been particularly bad in recent days.

"It seems that all vehicles are flocking to this route. Although the police are on duty all day, they sometimes find it hard to assure the traffic flows when cars and motorbikes fully occupy the roads," she said.

She added that it has recently been taking her 30 minutes to travel the final 3km to her home.

"It will be a nightmare to go down these roads in the next two weeks ahead of Tet," she said.

The municipal Department of Transport has stated that a large number of vehicles belonging to people from outside the city have arrived in recent days as their owners rush to the capital to do business before the holidays begin.

Nguyen Hoang Giap, chief inspector of the department, told Lao dong (Labour) newspaper that on-going construction works in the middle of roads has also caused unavoidable traffic jams.

Giap cited the construction of flyovers on the Tran Khat Chan-Dai Co Viet and Lieu Giai-Nguyen Chi Thanh routes as examples, saying the construction progress was approved well in advance by city authorities.

Figures released by the Ha Noi's People's Committee showed that up to 70 per cent of the capital's roads are shorter than 500 metres long and about 30 per cent have a width of less than 7 metres. The number of registered motorbikes in the city is over 4.2 million and that for cars goes up to 400,000. Every year an extra 181,410 vehicles are registered.

Although the city has cleared 46 per cent of its traffic jam hot spots with the construction of 59 tunnels, 24 overpasses, 18 pedestrian flyovers and the installation of traffic lights at 181 locations, congestion is still a headache, the department admitted.

Hoang Van Manh, deputy chief inspector of the department, said that his colleagues would carry out a crackdown on passenger buses violating traffic rules in a bid to solve the issues.

"The traffic light system at eight key traffic points where congestion was likely to occur will be upgraded and rebuilt and the area of road at the Tran Quang Dieu-Dang Tien Dong, Vo Van Dung-Tran Quang Dieu and Thai Thinh-Son Tay routes will be enlarged to assure the flow of traffic," he said.

Police would be on duty to guide people towards the right lanes and clear traffic jams when they occurred, he added.

Source: VNS