For many days now, in the central area of Ho Chi Minh City and other districts, traffic jams have been occurring continuously for many hours, including noon.
The reason is said to be that as Tet approaches, the number of vehicles participating in traffic increases, while the road width in many places is narrow, leading to vehicles stopping and waiting for a long time.
Faced with this situation, Ho Chi Minh City has installed traffic lights to allow two-wheeled vehicles to turn right at some intersections. This has helped reduce traffic congestion and made people's travel more convenient.
However, according to Lao Dong's records on January 14, there are still many intersections in Go Vap, Binh Thanh, Thu Duc City districts... with a large volume of traffic, causing congestion, but have not yet been installed with traffic lights allowing two-wheeled vehicles to turn right.
For example, at the Nguyen Xi - Pham Van Dong - Dang Thuy Tram intersection (Binh Thanh district), all turns at this intersection are currently not equipped with traffic lights allowing two-wheeled vehicles to turn when the light is red, even though the traffic density in this area is very high.
At around 11am, on Nguyen Xi Street (towards Pham Van Dong Street), motorbikes and cars lined up in a long line. Many vehicles had their lights on, preparing to turn right onto Pham Van Dong Street, but because there was no sign indicating a turn, drivers could only wait for the light to turn green before daring to turn.
Furthermore, the red traffic light at this intersection is set to last 100 seconds, while the green light only lasts 25 seconds. This means that every time the light turns green, vehicles cannot move, leading to prolonged congestion.
"The green light is short, while the number of vehicles is high, they cannot all move at once, so congestion occurs, especially during rush hour. I hope the authorities will soon consider installing more lights for motorbikes to turn right and adjust the green light duration to be longer," Ms. Xuan Thuy (Binh Thanh District) shared.
Similarly, on Nguyen Kiem Street (Go Vap District), vehicles wanting to turn right onto Pham Van Dong Street must also wait for the green light.
On Le Quang Dinh Street (Binh Thanh District) from Pham Van Dong Street to Ba Chieu Market, at the intersections with Nguyen Van Dau and No Trang Long Streets, lights for motorbikes turning right have not been installed.
Mr. Bui Hoa An - Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport - said that the department has coordinated the installation of 131 sets of traffic lights allowing two-wheeled vehicles to turn right on some main roads such as Vo Thi Sau, Dien Bien Phu, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai... and is expected to complete at eligible intersections before January 19, 2025.
Mr. An added that traffic volume from the beginning of 2025 will increase by 2.8-11.4% compared to the end of 2024, concentrated in central areas, Tan Son Nhat airport and gateways.
In particular, the central area recorded an 11.4% increase in traffic volume, while the number of traffic jams here increased by 17%.
