Commuters suffer nightmarish traveling as street construction lags behind schedule in Hanoi

A major street has become a nightmare for commuters in the Vietnamese capital city of Hanoi due to severe pollution and traffic congestion as its construction progress has fallen behind schedule.

Commuters faced traffic congestion immediately after turning right from Nguyen Trai Street into Vu Trong Phung Street in Thanh Xuan District on Thursday, as observed by a Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper correspondent.

Vu Trong Phung Street, stretching 434 meters, is projected to cost more than VND360 billion (US$15.5 million). Construction of the road began in April 2019 and was expected to be finished by mid-2020.

However, the project currently remains unfinished with building materials being placed everywhere, leaving dirty and limited space for vehicles.

“A bus occupies almost half of the width of the street,” said a man who works at a store on Vu Trong Phung Street, adding that local police and youth volunteers have to be present at the street to direct traffic to reduce congestion.

According to Nguyen Hoang Dai, deputy director of Thanh Xuan District’s management board of investment and construction projects, the Vu Trong Phung Street project faces difficulties as construction works can only be carried out between 11:00 pm and 4:00 am due to a busy traffic load on the street during daytime.

In addition, many families along the street are also repairing houses, taking up some space on the roadway for their construction materials, Dai said.

Below are photos capturing construction materials sprawling on Vu Trong Phung Street on Thursday.

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