HCM City (VNA) – Traffic jams have eased somewhat in HCM City but notbeen eliminated, a top transport official has said.

Bui Xuan Cuong, Director of the municipal Department of Transport, told a recentmeeting that one of the reasons they still occur in some places is the plethoraof traffic infrastructure works in the downtown area.

Le Hong Viet, deputy head of the department’s inspectorate, said inspections ofthe works have been stepped up, and warned contractors to speed up work so thattemporary fences around construction sites could be removed soon.

The inspectorate has also eliminated the problem of taxis parking on bannedstreets, he said.

The city has 37 spots prone to traffic jams, according to the department. Ofthem, 25 have seen much improvement and two have improved somewhat, but therest remain in a bad state, it said.

In District 2, traffic jams occur frequently near Phu My Bridge and the sectionbetween My Thuy Roundabout and Cat Lai Port.

[HCM City tackles port traffic black spots]

Huynh Thanh Khiet, Vice Chairman of the District 2 People’s Committee, said thedepartment should install concrete strips to separate the automobile andmotorbike lanes to reduce accidents at the foot of Phu My Bridge.

Cameras should be set up around the area and traffic police officers stationedto regulate traffic, he said.

Huynh Trung Phong, head of the city Road and Railway Police Division, said oneway to reduce traffic jams at congestion prone spots is to specify whichindividuals or agencies are responsible for them.   

Cuong said traffic management units should review congestion prone sites tocome up with solutions in case traffic lights are broken or signboards are notappropriate there.   

Work should soon begin to upgrade and widen streets like Truong Chinh, Tan Ky TanQuy, Hoang Hoa Tham, and Nguyen Thi Dinh, he said.

Around Tan Son Nhat International Airport are six congested spots, with threeof them being extremely prone to traffic jams.

They are on Truong Chinh Street from Au Co to Tan Ky Tan Quy, the intersectionof Cong Hoa and Hoang Hoa Tham Streets, and the Pham Van Dong-Nguyen Thai Son-NguyenKiem streets roundabout.

Construction of one arm of a flyover between Hoang Minh Giam and Nguyen Thai Sonstreets and another over the Truong Son – Tan Son Nhat – Binh Loi – Outer RingRoad intersection to ease traffic around the airport is expected to becompleted by the end of this month, Cuong said.  

When the two arms open to traffic, traffic jams outside the airport gates wouldbe reduced, he said-VNA