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Ha Noi plans to build six new flyovers
Ha Noi's People's Committee has approved in principle a plan to build six flyovers with total investment of VND33 trillion (US$1.7 billion) from 2010 to 2015, proposed by the city's Department of Transport.
The six bridges will be between Lac Long Quan-Yen Phu; Nga Tu So-Nga Tu Vong-Minh Khai-Vinh Tuy; Noi Bai-Thang Long-Mai Dich-Linh Dam-Phap Van; Ha Noi Gas Station-Pham Ngoc Thach-Ton That Tung-Kim Giang; Tran Duy Hung-Lieu Giai-Ho Tay and Giang Vo-Lang Ha-Thanh Xuan.
The city authorities have assigned the department and the Transport Engineering Design Incorporation (TEDI) to conduct technical research on the project.
Deputy chairman of the committee Nguyen Van Khoi said flyovers would create a breakthrough in addressing long-lasting traffic problems.
This project would not satisfy demand for travelling in the short term, but would be a long-term solution for traffic congestion, he added.
According to the Department's Director, Nguyen Quoc Hung, everyday, the city witnesses over 100 traffic jams, mostly on inner-city roads that are overloaded with all kinds of vehicles, and opening new roads is very difficult.
Funding for everyday road maintenance has dropped and land clearance for building road is very expensive, Hung said.
Flyovers in many cities such as Bangkok, Shanghai and Tokyo have been a success, he added.
TEDI's Pham Huu Son said that building flyovers would not require much land clearance and would cost less than building tunnels.
Khuat Viet Hung, Deputy Director of the Transport Planning and Management Institute agreed, saying that expensive land clearance was the reason for slow progress on many new roads. With the flyovers, the area of land clearance needed would drop by 80 per cent, meaning a much lower cost.
However, many experts and architects are concerned that concrete pillars will have a detrimental effect on the urban landscape and people's living habits and psychology.
Hung also said that the flyovers would surely influence our living environment.
Therefore, the city should conduct thorough research on the environmental impact and have solutions to deal with it. For example, in many countries, they built concrete walls along the sides of the elevated roads to limit the noise and pollution in residential areas, Hung said.
Some experts said that this was a complicated issue that needed meticulous planning, taking other infrastructure projects such as electricity and cable lines into consideration.
The Director of the Viet Nam Architecture Institute, Ngo Doan Duc, said the project shouldn't be rushed as more time was needed for scientists to conduct research.
The city should learn from other countries, but the projects should be specific to Ha Noi's needs to avoid harming the landscape and the cultural value of the city, Duc said.
But former director of the Ha Noi Planning and Architecture Department Dao Ngoc Nghiem said elevated roads should only be built outside the inner-city.
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