HCM CITY — The HCM City People’s Committee has asked the Department of Transport to seek measures to tackle traffic congestion at 37 traffic-congestion hotpots across the city, including those at seaports.

The city has asked the department to propose measures to ensure safety and avoid traffic jams for vehicles travelling to Hiệp Phước Port in Nhà Bè District.

The ports will be moved from districts 4 and 7 to Hiệp Phước Port in the near future.

Of the 37 traffic-congestion hotpots in the city, Cát Lái Port area has three heavy traffic-congestion hotspots, which can last up to many hours per day, according to the Department of Transport.

The Mỹ Thủy intersection at Đồng Văn Cống and Nguyễn Thị Định streets in District 2 is a hotspot for traffic accidents.

Bùi Văn Quản, chairman of the HCM City Cargo Association, said that prolonged traffic congestion caused transport costs to increase, with only one container ship per day from Cát Lái to factories. It formerly carried two trips per day.

Quản said the heavy traffic jams at Cát Lái were due to its location in the Thủ Thiêm new urban area, instead of industrial parks.

Meanwhile, the Department of Transport has asked to speed up construction of the overpass at the Mỹ Thủy intersection so that it can open to traffic by November.

A director at Tân Thuận Industrial Development One-Member Co., Ltd., which manages Hiệp Phước Industrial Park in Nhà Bè District, said the authorities should learn from the lessons of heavy traffic jams in ​​Cát Lái Port.

HCM City has 37 congestion hotspots, including six in the city centre, six near Tân Sơn Nhất airport, and three at Cát Lái Port, among others.

Roads leading near Cát Lái Port recently suffered a 13-hour traffic jam, the most serious congestion this year.

To resolve the problem, the construction of new roads at the intersection of Nguyễn Thị Định and Võ Chí Công streets has been proposed.

In addition, Phú Mỹ Bridge needs to be expanded to ease frequent congestion.

Meanwhile, traffic jams at roads near Tân Sơn Nhất airport are expected to be relieved, owing to the completion of two flyovers by the end of this month.

Traffic congestion has become a critical issue in HCM City, which has more than 1,000 newly registered vehicles a day.

As of the end of March last year, the city had more than 7.5 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 6.77 per cent, according to the Department of Transport.

Millions of vehicles from other provinces also contribute to traffic congestion every day, the department said. — VNS