If your commute runs through the Hoa Xuan bridge at rush hour, you already know the feeling: brake lights backed up toward Cach Mang Thang Tam, motorbikes threading through gaps that aren't there. The fix is coming. The pain comes first.

Da Nang's Department of Construction has signed off in principle on a traffic plan for building the Le Thanh Nghi–Cach Mang Thang Tam–Thang Long interchange and the approach roads to the Hoa Xuan bridge, Thanh Nien and VietnamPlus reported on October 7.

The project broke ground in late August, costs about 1,571 billion dong, and is classed as a special-grade urban transport project. VietnamPlus says it covers underpasses, overpasses and the supporting infrastructure needed to untangle one of the south side's worst choke points.

What changes on the street

  • No parking on Nguyen Huu Tho between Cach Mang Thang Tam and Le Dai Hanh, to keep traffic moving.
  • Container trucks get a new long route: from National Highway 14B onto National Highway 1, then Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, to keep heavy vehicles out of the work zone.
  • A median change on Cach Mang Thang Tam near Xuan Thuy, so drivers coming from the center can U-turn toward the Hoa Cam bridge.
  • More traffic cameras, and retimed signals at nearby intersections by the traffic police.

The trial week

Before work starts in earnest, temporary lanes, signs and barriers go up and the plan runs as a one-week trial. A working group of the city police, the Department of Construction, the Hoa Cuong and Hoa Xuan ward authorities, the project board and the contractor will watch peak hours and review the setup after one week and again after one month.

The department has also told the project board to spread the word widely to residents and transport companies. Neither report gave a firm start date for the trial or an overall construction schedule.

Port truckers ask for a night-time window

Container trucks from Tiên Sa port can no longer use the Tiên Sơn bridge and Cách Mạng Tháng Tám route to reach National Highway 1, according to Báo Đà Nẵng on October 14. The Department of Construction approved the plan in Notice 18376/TB-SXD on October 5, and the paper says the work is expected to last about two years.

The Da Nang Automobile Transport Association and Da Nang Port Joint Stock Company have asked for a night-time exception instead: container trucks through between 23:00 and 4:00. In a letter dated October 6, they also offered a route from Tiên Sơn bridge via Xô Viết Nghệ Tĩnh, Nguyễn Hữu Thọ and Lê Đại Hành to National Highway 1. The association says one company running 20 trucks a day to the Lao Bảo border gate pays about 600,000 dong more per trip, and warns that cargo could shift to other ports.

On October 7 the city told the Department of Construction to lead a review and report by October 15. No decision has been published.

Reading between the lines

The plan admits what everyone driving it knows: Hoa Xuan already runs at capacity, so any lane taken for construction pushes traffic somewhere else. The parking ban on Nguyen Huu Tho will hit shops on that stretch. Pushing container trucks onto the long way around through Highway 1 will add time for logistics firms.

The one-week and one-month reviews are the part to hold officials to. If the detour fails at rush hour, the plan says it gets adjusted. Residents who see it failing should say so loudly, and early.

Sources

This story was compiled by the Da Nang Voice news desk from the published sources listed above. Facts, figures and quotes are attributed to those sources; Da Nang Voice did not conduct interviews for it unless the text says so. Corrections are dated and noted at the top of the story. Read our corrections policy. Spotted an error? Tell us.