Deputies of the Hanoi People’s Council fiercely questioned city Vice Chairman Nguyen Van Khoi about the city’s ‘solution’ to traffic jams at a Council meeting on December 10.

Hanoi’s Vice Chairman Nguyen Van Khoi

Traffic issues dominated a stormy Q&A session on the third day of the City Council’s four day winter meeting. Deputy Pham Thi Loan led by asking Vice Chairman Khoi about the city’s decision to build ‘barriers’ at major intersections that force traffic from side roads to turn right in order to turn left – that is, they make a U-turn a hundred meters down the street. “There is no city in the world that obstructs intersections like this,” Loan complained. “Please give us better solutions in the future, Mr. Vice Chairman!”

Khoi called the solution of blocking intersections “a temporary expedient.”

Deputy Dao Xuan Mui was not satisfied with this short answer, saying that this solution is harmful because just shifts traffic jams from one place to another. It is incompatible with the city’s traffic light system and the traffic habits of local people. Non-residents are confused. And in addition, Mui declared, the barriers are ugly.

Deputy Ngo Van Ny spoke up for pedestrians, who now have no way to cross busy streets where the traffic never stops. With the number of personal vehicles growing by 15 percent a year, Hanoi will have nearly 600,000 cars and over 7 million motorbikes in five years. “How will the capital be able to cope with this situation? I ask the city to find the courage to ask the National Assembly and the Government for help with its traffic jams,” Ny said.

Speaking with deliberation, Peoples Committee Vice Chairman Khoi acknowledged that if Hanoi doesn’t have thorough solutions, traffic jams will be a great and insoluble problem within five years. However, he said, Hanoi is taking specific steps. Construction is proceeding on ring roads that will divert traffic from the center city. Twenty pedestrian bridges will be built so people on foot can cross roads safely. Early in 2010, Hanoi and HCM City will implement measures to improve the awareness of the people about traffic and begin to restrict personal vehicles.

“The city has been closely worked with the Ministry of Construction and our PPJ Group consultants to make a metropolitan transportation plan,” Khoi said. The Government’s aid will be sought for the implementation of plans to relocate universities and colleges to the suburbs. Work will begin on the city’s first elevated railway in the second quarter of 2010. “With such planning and temporary solutions, Hanoi will have time to gradually deal with traffic jams,” Khoi declared.

Regarding the controversial solution of blocking intersections, Khoi insisted that it is effective. However, the People’s Committee has asked the Transportation Department to review problems and report back before December 30.

Deputy Loan also questioned Khoi about the sluggishness of projects to clear old apartment blocks and aging high-rise residential buildings from the city’s centre, to relieve the high population density and the volume of vehicles there.

Khoi said that the city’s policy is to discourage high-rise buildings in the centre. Some road projects are going slowly because of site clearance. He said besides the state capital, there are capital in forms of BOT (build-operate-transfer) and BT (build-transfer) to implement 80 transport projects.

Deputies also expressed concern about unhygienic cooking, noting that many cases of unhygienic food processing cases have been brought to light recently.

The year-end Hanoi People’s Council closes on December 11.

PV