HCM CITY – Traffic jams have eased somewhat in HCM City but not been eliminated, a top transport official has said.

Bùi Xuân Cường, director of the Department of Transport, told a meeting on June 19 that one of the reasons they still occur in some places is the plethora of traffic infrastructure works in the downtown area.

Lê Hồng Việt, deputy head of the department’s inspectorate, said inspections of the works have been stepped up, and warned contractors to speed up work so that temporary fences around construction sites could be removed soon.

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

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

In District 2, traffic jams occur frequently near Phú Mỹ Bridge and the section between Mỹ Thủy Roundabout and Cát Lái Port.

Huỳnh Thanh Khiết, deputy chairman of the District 2 People’s Committee, said the department should install concrete strips to separate the automobile and motorbike lanes to reduce accidents at the foot of Phú Mỹ Bridge.

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

Huỳnh Trung Phong, head of the city Road and Railway Police Division, said one way to reduce traffic jams at congestion prone spots is to specify which individuals or agencies are responsible for them.   

Cường said traffic management units should review congestion prone sites to come up with solutions in case traffic lights are broken or signboards are not appropriate there.   

Work should soon begin to upgrade and widen streets like Trường Chinh, Tân Kỳ Tân Qúy, Hoàng Hoa Thám, and Nguyễn Thị Định, he said.

Around Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport are six congested spots, with three of them being extremely prone to traffic jams.

They are on Trường Chinh Street from Âu Cơ to Tân Kỳ Tân Qúy, the intersection of Cộng Hòa and Hoàng Hoa Thám Streets, and the Phạm Văn Đồng-Nguyễn Thái Sơn-Nguyễn Kiệm Streets roundabout.

Construction of one arm of a flyover between Hoàng Minh Giám and Nguyễn Thái Sơn Streets and another over the Trường Sơn – Tân Sơn Nhất – Bình Lợi – Outer Ring Road intersection to ease traffic around the airport is expected to be completed by the end of this month, Cường said.  

When the two arms open to traffic, traffic jams outside the airport gates would be reduced, he said. –VNS