Some officials showed their concerns about the feasibility of Hanoi’s VND260 trillion (USD12.44 billion), 5-year transport development plan.
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| Thang Long Highway |
The plan was presented by the Hanoi Department of Transport at a meeting held by the local People’s Committee on April 19.
Ambitious plan
The plan prioritises the construction of road networks, including belt roads 2 and 3, particularly the section stretching from Vinh Tuy to Nhat Tan Bridge, on Belt Road 2 to ease traffic on city streets.
The city would also build some sections of Belt Road 4, along with key roads such as O Cho Dua - Voi Phuc, O Dong Mac, and complete construction on the Cat Linh - La Thanh - Thai Ha – Lang route. Major traffic junctions such as Cau Chui, Huynh Thuc Khang-Lang Ha- Chua Boc-Pham Ngoc Thach will be upgraded as well.
Under the plan, in the next five years, Hanoi would increase the city’s parking lot area by 300 - 426 ha, with around 40 parking lots of different kinds to be built around the city. There would also be an increase of bus service on route number to 65 which are expected to serve 777 million passengers per year by 2015. Currently the number of bus passengers is 422 million.
According to the Department of Transport, of the total investment of USD12.44 billion, around VND12 trillion (USD574.1 million) would come from the state budget, VND54 trillion (USD2.58 billion) from the city’s budget, VND14 trillion (USD669.8 million) from official development assistance (ODA), leaving the rest to be mobilised through other investment models, such as Build-Transfer, Build-Operate-Transfer and Public-Private Partnership.
Roughly 40% of the sum will be used for belt road projects and main urban routes are expect to cost VND50 trillion (USD2.39 billion).
Doubts for the plan’s feasibility
Le Vinh, Deputy Head of Hanoi Construction Planning Institute, said the plan is too ambitious, with too many projects.
The city should focus on building four belt roads in the next 4 years to deal with the current traffic problems, he suggested, adding that the city needs to finish the construction of Belt Road 1 first.
An official from the municipal Department of Construction, said efficiency of the municipal efforts to reduce invidual means of transport remains limited, and public transport only meets 8-9% of people’s demand.
The official also raised doubts about the plan’s feasibility, saying that the figure of VND260 trillion is higher than Hanoi’s total investment in development for the 2011-2015 period.
He elaborated that, Hanoi is estimated to require between VND4 trillion (USD191.3 million) and VND5 trillion (USD239.2 million) for transportation infrastructure development annually, warning that it would be impossible for the city to mobilise the funds necessary for the plan.
The city should prioritise projects in order to ensure feasibility, he emphasised.
