The two kilometer stretch of inter communal road 80 in Binh Tan and Binh Chanh districts is dense with pot-holes.
Mr. Tran Tien, whose house is near Road 80-Nguyen Thi Tu street crossroads, says that the road is repaired every year but pot holes reappear after a few months. Traffic accidents continuously occur in the road.
Road 80 links up many industrial parks in three districts but the road face is too small with a single lane each side and heavily damaged with thousands of trucks travelling a day.
Nguyen Thi Dinh street in District 2 from Cat Lai seaport to My Thuy Intersection receives about 20,000 trucks and containers trucks a day. The street has two auto lanes which have seriously downgraded and one motorbike lane. Many stretches have been sinking by 20 centimeters in the shape of truck wheels.
Drivers must slowed speed to avoid accidents, said container truck driver Nguyen Thanh Vinh.
Local residents say that the street has been repaired many times but it is unable to suffer a huge volume of heavy trucks regularly getting in and out from the seaport.
Similarly, old Highway 13 in Hiep Binh Phuoc ward, Thu Duc district has been impaired with overloaded trucks deliberately traveling in the road instead of detouring in Binh Phuoc bridge.
Narrow Le Duc Tho street in Go Vap has seen expanding pot holes and regular traffic jam. Local man Nguyen Thanh Tung says that the street is mended every few months but soon damaged again.
No drainage system
Urban Traffic Management Zone 4, who manages inter communal road 80, said that repair works have not worked in the road because of having no drainage system.
Previously, along two sides of the road was rice fields so rainwater ran out very quickly. Urbanization have seen houses close together blocking drainage way. Worse, many households have released wastewater into the street.
In short term, the zone has set up a plan to repair damaged stretches in the third quarter this year. In long term, it has assigned the Management Board of Work Investment and Construction in Binh Chanh district to implement a project to expand and upgrade the entire route.
Meantime, the Department of Transport said it had tasked Urban Traffic Management Zone 2 to carry out a project to upgrade and broaden Nguyen Thi Dinh street from My Thuy Intersection to Cat Lai seaport.
The People’s Committee in Hiep Binh Phuoc ward, Thu Duc said that the drainage system in old Highway 13 has been long built and no longer worked. In addition, the low road face has to accumulate too many trucks, so it has soon be damaged after being repaired. At present, the ward is stepping up site clearance to upgrade the road and drainage system.
Deputy director of Urban Traffic Management Zone 3 Pham Ngoc Dung said that 700 meter long Le Duc Tho street has been ruined for many years and fixed every 2-3 months. However the situation has not improved because of having no drainage system.
In 2015, the Department of Transport approved a VND60 billion ($2.64 million) project to widen the street by 20 meters and build underground information and communication infrastructures. All procedures have been done, the zone will implement the project right after the city allocate funds.
The agency said it would begin construction of 22 road upgrading projects and prepare for investment of 31 other projects with the total cost of nearly VND95 billion ($4.18 million).
According to the Ministry of Transport’s report, road maintenance fee collected every year tops VND9 trillion (US$396 million). The funds is used for repairing and upgrading roads.
