Many bikers hold their breath whenever they travel on a road section spanning three districts in Ho Chi Minh City, where they have no choice but to share lanes with cars, trucks, and buses due to a serious overload in their lanes.

>> An audio version of the story is available here

In recent times, many bikers have complained of the worrying overloading of motorbike lanes on a section of Truong Chinh Street which stretches from the An Suong Flyover to Cong Hoa T-junction in District 12, Tan Binh District, and Tan Phu District.

The street has among the highest traffic volume in the city. Some hundreds of motorcyclists resort to encroaching on the car and truck lanes and risking their own lives on a daily basis.  

As Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters observed at 7:00 am on Tuesday, two motorbike lanes on Truong Chinh Street in the direction from An Suong Intersection to Tham Luong Bridge were seriously jammed.

Bikers had no option but to trespass on the street’s three lanes which are meant for automobiles.

Similarly, the section from Tham Luong Bridge to Cong Hoa Street in Tan Binh District also saw bikers driving in the automobile lanes.

Several bikes and cars lightly bumped into one another during the congestion.

In the opposite direction of the same section of Truong Chinh, some 1,000 motorbikes were also seen overflowing into automobile lanes during peak hours on the same day.

“During rush hour, the bike lanes on Truong Chinh Street only suffice around one third of the heavy traffic volume, which leaves bikers no other choice but to intrude on automobile lanes to avoid congestion and save time,” Nguyen Dinh Binh, a biker, explained.

Nguyen Thi My, a resident on Truong Chinh Street, is all too aware of the imminent risks involved as bikers share the same lanes with cars and trucks.

“Many accidents have occurred on this street section mostly due to lane violations. Bikers being slammed into by buses is a common occurrence. As bikes and trucks are driven in such perilous proximity, bikers tend to fall over on their own as truck drivers overtake, and are thus at risk of being run over by the speeding trucks and cars,” she noted.

Tran Van Hung, a truck driver who frequents the street section, stressed that one moment of neglect or inattention can easily lead to collisions with the surrounding bikers.

Pending close study

Le Hong Viet, deputy head of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport, acknowledged the perils involved in bikes sharing the automobile lanes on Truong Chinh Street, and the issue needs pressing attention.

He told Tuoi Tre that the transport department’s inspectorate did propose that the hard division barriers, which are concrete strips with plants in between, along Truong Chinh Street be removed so as to expand bike lanes.

However, the street management unit rejected the proposal.         

Viet noted the approach has proved effective with some streets in the city by markedly relieving congestion and reducing lane infringements.

He thus suggested the erection of soft division dykes, or rubber poles, along Truong Chinh Street as a solution.

Viet also urged that motorbikes be restricted from traveling on the street at certain hours during the day.

Vo Khanh Hung, director of Ho Chi Minh City's Urban Traffic Management Zone No. 3, the management unit of the Truong Chinh street section stretching from An Suong Intersection to Tham Luong Bridge in District 12, said his unit will study the traffic volume and take into close consideration the feasibility of erecting soft division barriers in order to come up with effective traffic diversion approaches on the street section.

Similarly, Nguyen Vinh Ninh, acting director of Ho Chi Minh City's Urban Traffic Management Zone No. 1, the management unit of the Truong Chinh street section stretching from Tham Luong Bridge to Cong Hoa T-junction, said he will also look into the feasibility of putting up soft division barriers, which are designed to allow bikers to drive in automobile lanes at certain hours.

Tuoi Tre reporters also observed that no flyovers intended for pedestrians have been built along Truong Chinh Street, which measures 60 meters in width and has 10 lanes.

Some years ago, the Urban Traffic Management Zone No. 3 proposed the construction of two footbridges over Truong Chinh Street.

However, Hung, its director, said the proposal was rejected due to objections from residents in the neighborhoods where the pedestrian bridges were planned to be built.

Meanwhile, Ninh, the acting director, told Tuoi Tre that a flyover for the Truong Chinh street section under his unit’s management is being mulled in an official development assistance (ODA) project.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!