People agree
The proposal to expand Lang road section from Nga Tu So to Cau Giay, belonging to Hanoi Ring Road 2, is receiving great attention from public opinion, especially households living in the area expected to implement the project.
Besides concerns related to site clearance and resettlement, many opinions expressed high consensus with the city's policy, saying that this is a necessary solution to remove traffic bottlenecks that have existed for many years.
Living for more than 20 years on Lang street, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc said that traffic jams on this route have become a daily occurrence, especially during peak hours.
The section from Nga Tu So to Cau Giay and vice versa is almost always in a state of cars tailing each other, moving very difficultly. Expanding the road is necessary to reduce traffic pressure and make travel more convenient," Ms. Ngoc shared.
According to Ms. Ngoc, despite being directly affected by the project, her family still supports the general policy of the city.
What people are most concerned about currently is that the policy of compensation, support and resettlement arrangement must be implemented transparently, ensuring legitimate rights for households whose land is recovered.
In particular, people want to be prioritized for on-site resettlement to stabilize their long-term lives.
Remove the "bottleneck
Not only local people, but many traffic experts also assess that expanding Lang road is a reasonable solution in the context that the infrastructure of the central area is under great pressure from the increasing traffic volume.
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Dr. Khuong Kim Tao - former Deputy Chief of Office of the National Traffic Safety Committee said that the policy of expanding the road is completely consistent with the current traffic organization.
According to Mr. Tao, traffic flows from many directions such as Nhat Tan bridge, Truong Chinh street (above and below) are converging to Lang street, while the cross-section of this street has not been widened proportionally. This creates a "bottleneck" situation, causing prolonged traffic congestion on the route.
Like the blood vessel system in the body, if major roads connect to a small road section, congestion will inevitably occur. Therefore, expanding key roads such as Lang road is very necessary to ensure synchronous circulation of the entire network," Mr. Tao assessed.
Reality shows that closing the inner-city ring roads is an important goal in Hanoi's traffic planning to reduce pressure on radial axes and key intersections.
When the elevated Ring Road 2 section Vinh Tuy - Nga Tu So has been completed and effective, the expansion of the section from Nga Tu So to Cau Giay is considered the next step to synchronize infrastructure, avoiding localized congestion at intersections.
From the perspective of investment management, Mr. Khuong Kim Tao noted that implementing the project as soon as possible will help save costs, especially site clearance costs. If delayed, land prices and construction material costs may increase, causing the total investment to increase significantly.
Careful preparation of compensation and resettlement plans will help the implementation process take place smoothly, ensuring harmony of interests between the State and people" - Dr. Khuong Kim Tao said.
Agreeing with this view, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hong Thai - Head of the Faculty of Transport - Economics, University of Transport, said that the basic principle of urban traffic organization is synchronization of the cross-section of the road.
If one road section is wide but another is narrow, it will form a bottleneck causing congestion. Therefore, expanding Lang road to ensure synchronization with connecting routes is a reasonable direction in the current context," Mr. Thai analyzed.
And Dr. Phan Le Binh, a traffic expert, Chief Representative of OCG Japan Consulting Company, emphasized the particularly important role of Ring Road 2 in the urban transport system of the Capital.
This is a road with a large traffic volume, often congested during peak hours, so the expansion of Ring Road 2 (Nga Tu So - Cau Giay section) to increase traffic capacity is necessary and in accordance with the approved plan.
According to Dr. Phan Le Binh, besides expanding the road surface, the city needs to study reorganizing traffic in the direction of prioritizing public transport, including considering arranging separate lanes for buses on the new road section.
Giving space for public transport will contribute to promoting the transition from personal vehicles to public transport - one of the sustainable solutions to reduce pressure on urban infrastructure in the long term" - Dr. Binh said.
