At 7:00 a.m. on August 31, Ms. Nguyen Thu Ha (25 years old) went to Pham Hung Street (Nam Tu Liem District) to catch a bus to Nghe An for the National Day holiday on September 2.
After nearly half an hour of waiting, the 34-seat sleeper bus arrived at the pick-up point. She was happy to be going home soon, but for nearly two hours, she and the bus "crawled" on the Ring Road 3.
Ms. Ha said that if the traffic is favorable, the 300km journey from the capital to home only takes about 6 hours, but in this situation, it can take more than 8 hours because the line of cars is a kilometer long.
"I felt helpless watching the car inching along the road. I have never seen the way home so far," said Ms. Ha.
Entering the elevated Ring Road 3 at the BigC intersection at 8am, it took driver Le Huu Bao more than an hour to get onto the Phap Van - Cau Gie expressway.
"The elevated Ring Road 3 is like a shirt that no longer fits properly. It cannot meet people's travel needs on normal days, let alone during holidays and Tet," said Mr. Bao.
After many years in the profession, the driver from Nghe An received countless complaints, even reproaches from passengers. The bus company could only apologize for the unexpected incident.
"It's very frustrating, but both the driver and the passengers have to accept it because there's no better choice," said driver Bao.
According to Lao Dong, as of 9:30 a.m. on August 31, the line of vehicles was still stretching for several kilometers on Ring Road 3, from Me Tri (Nam Tu Liem) to Linh Dam (Hoang Mai), about 8 kilometers long. Looking from above, the vehicles had to move little by little, and at times had to stand still for tens of minutes.
Many impatient drivers drive into the emergency lane to shorten travel time. This makes the traffic situation even more chaotic.
At the same time, the traffic map also warned of prolonged traffic congestion on Ring Road 3 from Me Tri to Linh Dam.
This southwestern gateway to Hanoi is often crowded during holidays and Tet when people go towards Thanh Tri bridge to Lang Son, Bac Giang, and towards Phap Van to Ha Nam, Ninh Binh, Thai Binh, Thanh Hoa...
Therefore, the authorities must increase the force all day, continuously dividing lanes to limit traffic congestion.
According to the Traffic Police Department, Hanoi City Police, today is the time when people leave Hanoi to return to their hometowns for the National Day holiday on September 2, traffic becomes locally congested, especially on the main roads leading to the gateway.
Therefore, authorities recommend that people choose appropriate routes to limit traffic jams and save travel time.
According to the Hanoi Department of Transport, the traffic volume on Ring Road 3 is currently eight times higher than designed.
Statistics show that there are nearly 125,000 vehicles traveling each day on the elevated road, while the original design of the route only accommodated 15,000 vehicles per day and night.
Especially during holidays and Tet, the number of vehicles increases, leading to infrastructure not being able to cope.
