The flow of cars from the provinces flooded to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi on the last day of the Lunar New Year holiday, causing many roads to be congested for a long time, on the afternoon of February 6.

From the morning, thousands of people from the Mekong Delta continuously flocked to national highways 1, N2, Rach Mieu bridge, Trung Luong – My Thuan expressway, etc., heading to Saigon and the Southeast provinces after 9 days. Tet holiday, in the middle of hot weather.

The line of cars followed each other on National Highway 1, the section at the foot of Can Tho bridge in Vinh Long province, on the morning of February 6. Photo: Huy Phong

Around 9am, the section of National Highway 1 at the foot of Can Tho bridge (Binh Minh town, Vinh Long province) began to be congested due to the increased density of motorbikes, passenger cars and tourists from localities south of the Hau River. The number of cars continuously poured in, so about an hour later, the line of cars was more than 3 km long, moving slowly.

“I crossed the Can Tho bridge at nearly 10 o’clock, but it took an hour to get through this traffic jam,” said Nguyen Thanh Tung, 32, who drove his wife and 4-year-old son on a motorbike from Soc Trang to Ho Chi Minh City. .

In addition to the sudden increase in vehicle traffic, the section of Highway 1 through Binh Minh town was flooded due to high tide, making traffic jams even more stressful. Senior Lieutenant Colonel Tran Ngoc Doi, Deputy Head of Traffic Police Department, Vinh Long Provincial Police, said that the unit has maximally mobilized the force to regulate and separate streams from afar, in order to reduce traffic jams and ensure traffic safety.

Also on National Highway 1, about 35 km away, more than 3 km from the foot of My Thuan bridge to An Thai Trung junction (intersection of National Highway 1A – Highway 30, the endpoint of Trung Luong – My Thuan Expressway in Cai Be), Tien Giang) also suffered from prolonged congestion due to the overcrowding of vehicles from the provinces of Can Tho, An Giang, Dong Thap…

At 14:00, the road to My Thuan bridge was jammed. Motorcycles inched little by little in the dust to get on the bridge. After waiting for a long time, many drivers got tired and got off the bus to buy food and drink to regain their strength. “I drive a car from Bac Lieu to Ho Chi Minh City normally for about 5 hours, but now it’s only 1/3 of the distance. The car is only a kilometer from My Thuan bridge, but waiting for 2 hours has not passed”, driver Ngoc said. Hieu said.

The line of cars waiting on My Thuan bridge, the section through Vinh Long city, on the afternoon of the 6th of Tet. Photo: Ngoc Hieu

At the “hot spot” of Rach Mieu bridge, from the morning thousands of cars and motorbikes across the bridge. A long line of cars lined up on Highway 60, the section through Ben Tre, inching up the bridge little by little. Rach Mieu Bridge toll station discharges the station many times.

Traffic police constantly block the lane from Tien Giang to Ben Tre to give priority to the opposite direction. Each block was about 30 minutes, but by noon on the same day, Rach Mieu Bridge and Highway 60, the traffic jam lasted for nearly 10 km.

More than 45 km away, the Dinh Khao ferry, connecting Vinh Long City with Ben Tre via National Highway 57, also had a similar situation. Two 200-ton ferries operate at full capacity but are still congested due to the large number of vehicles choosing to move through here.

On National Highway N2, the number of motorbikes has also increased, plus the narrow road causes traffic jams for many kilometers. At the intersection between Trung Luong – My Thuan Expressway and National Highway 1, the line of cars is lined up on the road surface. Towards the afternoon, the number of vehicles is more crowded, causing traffic on these routes to become tense.

Along the routes from the West to Ho Chi Minh City, under the sweltering heat, a series of motorbike riders stopped on the sidewalks and restaurants to rest and take up their strength to continue their journey. Many children are listless after many hours on motorbikes.

At the beginning of Ho Chi Minh City, Highway 1 began to get crowded from this afternoon, when the flow of people from the West continuously poured in. At 14:00, the section through Binh Chanh district and Binh Tan district, the lines of cars and motorbikes follow each other in the direction of the city center.

Cars follow each other on Highway 1, the section crossing Binh Dien Bridge at the western gateway of Ho Chi Minh City, on the afternoon of the 6th of the Lunar New Year. Photo: Gia Minh

At Binh Dien bridge, along with the intersections of National Highway 1 with Nguyen Huu Tri and Bui Thanh Khiet routes, cars and motorbikes are lined up on the road, running slowly. Many families ride motorbikes with their belongings and gifts from the countryside. After a long journey under hot weather, adults are tired, while many children fall asleep on the saddle.

Going from Dong Thap to Ho Chi Minh City, Mr. Le Van Binh, 36 years old, said that traffic jams have occurred on many sections through Tien Giang and Long An provinces since the morning because the flow of people returning to Ho Chi Minh City was too crowded, most of them were fishing cars. core. Congestion made Binh’s nearly 150 km journey take more than 5 hours, instead of just 3 hours compared to normal days. “I determined the number of people pouring into the city increased, so I took the initiative to go early, unexpectedly still suffering from traffic jams”, Mr. Binh said.

Kinh Duong Vuong Street, passing through Mien Tay Bus Station (Binh Tan District), the number of vehicles also increased, causing some local congestion. At the entrance and exit gates of the bus station, passenger cars are constantly in and out, security guards must continuously regulate to maintain order. According to Mr. Tran Van Phuong, Deputy Director of Mien Tay Bus Station, the number of cars from the provinces pouring into the station started to increase yesterday (the 5th of the Lunar New Year), with 930 other cars waiting for about 22,200 people. Today, the station is estimated that by the end of the day, there will be about 1,000 arrivals of passenger cars.

At Cat Lai ferry on the shore of Dong Nai – the eastern gateway of Ho Chi Minh City , hundreds of cars and motorbikes inched each meter into the ticketing area. From 16:00, the section is nearly one kilometer long from the ferry gate to the welcome gate of Phu Huu commune, the number of cars is increasing day by day. Nearly a dozen ferry staff had to divide into groups and stand in many rounds in a horizontal line to sell tickets to people to reduce congestion.

Having just bought a ferry ticket, Mr. Thai Huu Thuan, 37 years old, said that his family drove a car from Long Thanh to Ho Chi Minh City in time to go to work tomorrow. “Arriving about a kilometer from the ferry pier, you have to slow down, then inched little by little. You have to wait nearly half an hour to reach the ferry gate, but you have to wait until you pass. This year, the number of people crossing the ferry is much higher than last year. before,” said Mr. Thuan.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tuan, deputy director of the Youth Volunteer Ferry Management Enterprise (the ferry terminal management unit), said that today the number of passengers crossing the wharf is about 66,000, equivalent to yesterday. Currently, in addition to 5 regular ferries, Cat Lai Wharf has added one more ferry.

Local congestion also occurs on some routes to Hanoi. At 16:40, the end of Phap Van – Cau Gie highway, more than a kilometer long, vehicles waiting in the center of the capital. At the entrance to ring road 3, cars move slowly, especially when going through Linh Dam lake area towards Cau Giay.

The last section of Phap Van – Cau Gie highway was congested for more than a kilometer, on the afternoon of February 6. Photo: Pham Chieu

An hour earlier, the flow of motorbike riders was mainly from Thai Binh, Nam Dinh, Ha Nam, Nghe An and Thanh Hoa provinces from the old National Highway 1A to the center of Hanoi, causing Giai Phong street to pass Nuoc Ngam bus station. congestion. The cold rain, carrying many people and many things made it difficult for people to move.

A representative of Traffic Police Team 14 said that the number of people and money pouring into Hanoi on the last day of the Tet holiday was higher than in the past three days. However, the congestion only happened in a short time because the Team had divided the stream from afar and people took the initiative to go to Hanoi early days ago.

In the past three days, Hanoi traffic police have mobilized 100% of their troops, along with traffic inspectors and police of wards, to regulate traffic on the road, especially in conflict-prone areas.

Follow (vnexpress)