Violations threaten safety on Hà Nội-Thái Nguyên Expressway

Road fence barrier along Hà Nội-Thái Nguyên Expressway are broken so that pedestrians could enter the expressway to catch coaches.-Photo atgt.vn

The four-lane expressway has a speed limit of 100 kilometres per hour, and illegal picking/dropping of coach passengers or crossing of the road by residents could lead to serious accidents.

Giao thông (Transport) newspaper reported that during lunchtime, dozens of trucks were parked along the sidewalk of the expressway.

At the Tân Lập intersection where drivers usually stopped for meals, some restaurant owners had put ladders against road fence barriers as a shortcut to enter the restaurant.

Some five kilometres away from the road intersection, trucks carrying pigs often stopped to bathe the animals right on the expressway, with waste water discharged on the road.

Further, at Thịnh Đán intersection, also on the expressway, coaches illegally stopped to pick up or drop passengers. Motorbike taxi drivers also waited for clients, ignoring the traffic sign that said “Motorbike and walkers must not enter the expressway.” Some motorbike taxi drivers even rose the wrong way to shorten the distance to the Yên Bình Industrial Zone, Giao thông reported.

Vũ Ngọc Quân, road supervisor of Bắc-Nam Consultation, Investment and Construction Company which operates and maintains the Hà Nội-Thái Nguyên Expressway, said he often reminded drivers to avoid stopping along the sidewalk, but his advice was ignored.

Quân said the company and local authority would seize the ladders put up by the restaurants, but they would then be replaced.

Phạm Ngọc Long, deputy director of the company, said those who work at the industrial zone along the expressway broke the road barriers since it was easier to get on to the expressway to catch coaches.

In addition, some residents did their morning exercises on the expressway when it was cooler, Long said.

Long called on substantial cooperation from the local police and authorities to help the company better manage road safety.

Trương Văn Phụng, director of Thái Nguyên Province’s Transport Department, said the province had asked the Road and Railway Traffic Police Department to tighten inspection and impose penalties to curb violations.