Despite HCM City facing increased traffic jams, a number of transport projects are being carried out at a snail’s pace due to slow site clearance work.
Stagnant transport projects mean more traffic congestion
According to the municipal Department of Transport, the city has recorded a sharp rise in the number of private vehicles in recent years, overloading the city’s traffic system.
The number of vehicles had increased by 13% to over 5.5 million by the end of 2011, including nearly 500,000 cars.
Everyday, roads in the city receive an additional one million of vehicles coming from surrounding areas, the department noted.
However, the city currently has only 3,600 roads with a total area of only 26 million square metres, failing to meet increasing commuting demand.
In order to improve the situation, the department has reiterated the necessity of upgrading transport infrastructure in several reports. However, the situation has yet to change as several major transport projects have faced obstacles in site clearance.
The most prominent project has been metro line No. 1, which is two years behind schedule as a result of sluggish site clearance. The municipal government has hastened the project dozens of time but it has yet to be completed.
The Xo Viet Nghe Tinh-Binh Trieu Bridge-National Highway No. 13 project is one of two most important gateways to HCM City. The project was given the go-ahead a decade ago in order to serve soaring commuting demand along the route.
However, after changing investors several times, the project still remains in it’s initial phase as investor find it difficult to complete the site clearance. They cannot set a firm timetable for the project’s official groundbreaking.
When the municipal People’s Council carried out an inspection, the investor in the Hanoi Avenue project admitted that the site clearance is being conducted at tardy pace.
The project to upgrade Thu Duc traffic intersection also faces the same problem. Even though it is a major project that is aimed to ease traffic congestion, no investor has decided to invest in the project for fear that site clearance would be too difficult.
Experts have foreseen site clearance as a major obstacle to traffic projects in the city for a dozen of years, but no effective solution has been worked out to improve the worsening traffic congestion in the city.
