Additional Street Barriers Planned In HCMC

Traffic backed up Tuesday around the street barriers in Xo Viet Nghe Tinh Street in Binh Thanh District in Ho Chi Minh City.

Ho Chi Minh City’s traffic problems are set to increase in coming weeks as dozens of new street barriers are installed.

HCMC streets are already choked, with severe traffic congestion around schools and hundreds of existing street barriers surrounding drainage, water supply and street widening projects.

More than 20 new barriers around drainage projects are due to be set up this month, taking the total number of street barriers in HCMC to 234.

The new barriers are scheduled to partially occupy Hai Thuong Lan Ong Street in District 5, Ly Chinh Thang and Nguyen Thong in District 3, Le Hong Phong in District 10 and Ben Binh Dong in District 8.

There are already 118 barriers on 26 streets for the water environmental project at Nhieu Loc – Thi Nghe Canal. A drainage project has 71 barriers on 33 streets and dozens more barriers are in place around sites for the East-West Highway Project, the Tan Hoa – Lo Gom Canals projects and various water supply projects.

In District 5, most shop owners on Thuan Kieu Street said they had to suspend their businesses because the barriers had totally blocked a stretch of the street.

A barrier on Tran Quang Dieu Street in District 3 has left two narrow one-meter-wide paths – only enough room for one motorbike at a time.

The narrow temporary alleys alongside barriers are dangerous in many places. Blind spots include a temporary path along the Nhieu Loc – Thi Nghe Canal in Phu Nhuan District and Xo Viet Nghe Tinh Street in Binh Thanh District.

Many motorcyclists said they often rode on the sidewalk when most of the street was blocked by barriers.

Extended construction

The completion dates for many projects have been delayed, extending the time some barriers will interfere with the flow of traffic.

A resident of Hoang Van Thu Street in Tan Binh District said the date of completion of the project on his street had been extended three times, June, August then to October.

Inspectors of the municipal Department of Transport said many construction projects had not met their completion deadlines.

This meant traffic was still being disrupted by barriers that should have been dismantled by now, department officials said, including on Truong Chinh, Tan Hai, Hoang Van Thu, Xo Viet Nghe Tinh, Dang Van Ngu, Hoang Sa and Truong Sa streets and the along the banks of Nhieu Loc – Thi Nghe Canal.

Deputy Chief Inspector of the city’s Department of Transport, Tran Hong Nam, said many project managers had not complied with regulations, even after being penalized after being caught flouting the rules.

Many of the construction sites were in breach of safety regulations and inspectors said sections of road had subsided after some road works had been completed, including on Phan Dang Luu, Dinh Tien Hoang, Hoang Van Thu, Ho Van Hue, Dien Bien Phu and Xo Viet Nghe Tinh streets.

The HCMC government last week instructed the Transport Department to conduct regular inspections and reviews of problematic traffic areas to help resolve traffic problems.