Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Hanoi will have a gigantic underground parking lot in thenear future, revealed Nguyen Duc Chung, Chairman of the Hanoi People’sCommittee at a recent sit down with constituents in Hoan Kiem district.

Speaking at the event, Chung said that the undergroundparking lot project will soon be constructed at Quan Ngua Stadium in Ba Dinh district. 

The parking lot will have a capacity of 2,500 cars and 5,000motorbikes over five floors on an area of 1.8ha. The capital poured into theproject is estimated to reach 2.7 trillion VND (119 million USD), while thepayback period will be around 30 to 35 years.

Beside the tentative parking lot at Quan Ngua Stadium, Hanoi’sauthorities are collaborating with investors to study the feasibility ofbuilding parking lots at other municipal areas, reported Tuoi tre (Youth)newspaper.

“In Hoan Kiem district, investors are consideringconstructing parking lots at the Friendship Cultural Palace, infront of Reunification Park and the Hanoi Opera House. Moreover,the authorities plan to set up many smart parking lots around the city,” Chungsaid.

“An enterprise has proposed the construction of anunderground parking lot near Thu Le Park with a capacity of 1,400 cars and2,000 motorbikes,” he added.

The meeting also touched upon the city’s severe trafficcongestion.

“As the number of vehicles in the city rockets, Hanoi is nowfacing the most serious traffic jams in its history. The city is home to about620,000 cars – not to mention those belonging to the armed forces – and 5.5million motorbikes,” said Chung.

Therefore, besides calling for investment in undergroundparking lot projects, Hanoi authorities have come up with measures fordepopulation in the city centre. 

At present, three new urban areas in Hoa Lac, Soc Son and SonTay have been planned. Meanwhile, the two satellite urban areas of Xuan Mai inthe outlying district of Chuong My and Phu Xuyen in districts of Thuong Tin andPhu Xuyen will be completed in the near future.

Last April, the municipal Department of Transport announced aplan to switch four main inner-city bus stations including Gia Lam in Long Biendistrict, My Dinh in Nam Tu Liem district, and Giap Bat and Nuoc Ngam in HoangMai district into parking lots and bus interchanges by 2020.

The bus stations will still serve as places to pick up anddrop off passengers, but will gradually be transformed into parking lots. Gia Lamand Giap Bat bus stations are planned to be completed in 2020, followed by MyDinh and Nuoc Ngam in 2025.

In 2017, nearly 500 illegal parking lots in the city werediscovered by the Hanoi Police.-VNS/VNA