HCM City's gateways and many streets in the downtown areas are regularly gridlocked in the run-up to Tet with people trapped in traffic unable to get any real time information about the jams.

A week before Tet there have been massive jams in places like the Ha Noi Highway, Mai Chi Tho Street and sections of Dinh Bo Linh Street (from Dinh Bo Linh Bridge to the Bach Dang intersection) and Ung Van Khiem Street (from the Eastern Bus Station to D2 Street in Binh Thanh District).

On February 11, a 2km pile-up of vehicles was reported in the morning on the section from Binh Thai four-way crossroads to the toll- booth on the Ha Noi Highway, forcing buses and cars to encroach into the motorbike lane.

Elsewhere, on the section from the Cat Lai three-way crossroads to the An Phu Intersection on Mai Chi Tho Street in District 2, hundreds of container trucks and lorries were trapped in a major jam.

On downtown streets, people of motorbikes often have to climb on pavements to escape the traffic congestion.

Explaining the traffic jams in downtown HCM City, a spokesperson for the Department of Transport said it was due to the construction of the station for the Metro Line No 1 from Ben Thanh Market (District 1) to Suoi Tien Tourism Park (District 9). With the work still ongoing, some streets near the construction site, like Pasteur, Ly Tu Trong, and Hai Ba Trung have to bear more traffic, the spokesperson said.

To regulate traffic at these points, cameras have been installed and members of the Youth Volunteer Association are dispatched, the spokesperson added. 

VNS