Nguyen Tat Thanh Road in District 4 is the main road linking District 1, 4, 7 and the only road for vehicles to go in and out of Sai Gon Port. Traffic congestion occurs everyday as the road is only seven metres wide.
The city’s department said three black spots were identified on the road, with most collisions between motorcycles and container trucks driving on one-way roads.
According to the city’s Traffic Safety Management Board, Nguyen Tat Thanh Road cannot be expanded, while traffic density in the first four months of 2017 increased remarkably.
Nguyen Vinh Ninh, director of the department’s Urban Traffic Management No1 said that the unit has installed warning lights, warning signs and replaced steel traffic barriers with cement ones to cut down on accidents.
Belt Road 2 connecting Phu Myy Bridge to My Thuy Intersection to enter Cat Lai Port has another problem. There are tens of holes along the 3-kilometre-road, leading to some traffic barriers being moved to allow vehicles to use the opposite lane to avoid holes, increasing the risk of accidents.
In My Thuy Intersection alone, four accidents were reported between 2014 and mid 2016, killing four people and leaving one injured. The intersection, including Nguyen Thi Dinh and Dong Van Cong roads, are the main route to Cat Lai Port with more than 18,000 trucks travelling on it.
Huynh Thanh Khiet, vice chairman of District 2’s People’s Committee said that serious traffic congestion occured on the routes from Cat Lai Port in District 2 to Phuu Hưuu Port in District 9 day and night.
It took about 15 minutes for a truck to get in or out of the port, he added.
Le Ngoc Hung, director of the Urban Traffic Management No 2 said a project to reduce traffic congestion in My Thuy intersection is under construction. The project, worth nearly VND840 billion (US$36.9 million), will include a four-lane overpass, a two-lane tunnel, a four-lane bridge and additional roads in the area.
The project will help solve congestion, meet demand of cargo transport into Cat Lai Port and connect the Belt Road 2 from Phu My Bridge to HCM City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway.
The unit was the investor of the project, he said, adding that the project would finish construction in 2018.
