Construction sites worsen Hanoi’s traffic congestion

At a meeting on traffic safety and the reduction of congestion, the capital’s Department of Transport said it has cooperated with the traffic police division to perform checks on 37 congestion points. Congestion happens due to construction sites, which reduce the amount of space available on the road and which creates infrastructure issues, and underdeveloped infrastructure, the department said.

Congestion points that occur due to construction sites include the Nhon-Hanoi Station urban metro project; the Thanh Nien-An Duong overpass; the Yen Xa wastewater treatment plant; the Chua Boc-Pham Ngoc Thach overpass; the Mai Dich intersection overpass; and the Kim Dong tunnel.

The department said it has cooperated with relevant units to reroute traffic at certain congestion points, and cooperated with investors in construction projects to speed up progress and return street space to vehicles.

Hanoi has over 7.8 million vehicles, including over one million cars and 6.6 million motorbikes, and 185,000 electric motorbikes, not to mention around 1.2 million vehicles coming from other localities, according to the Department of Transport. The number of vehicles in the capital increases by around 4-5% each year, the department added.

The capital also has more than 23,000 kilometers of roads. The area of land for traffic accounts for around 10.35% of the area of land for construction, which is against the 26% stipulated by the Traffic Law for such a megacity.