Many roads lack parking spaces for cars and motorbikes - Photo: C.HOP
“ The road to the beach this season... is very congested”
Nhat Le sea embankment on Truong Phap street, Dong Hoi ward is where famous seafood restaurants are concentrated, "cheap, nutritious, delicious". Therefore, calling this street a "paradise" of seafood cuisine is not an exaggeration. Because we are familiar with the taxi driver, whenever we go somewhere, we call him and he is there immediately. His responsibility is to take us there and pick us up regardless of early morning or late night, and our responsibility is obvious to everyone.
During the off-season, when he heard that there was a “hoist” to take him to the sea, he was as happy as if he had caught a “golden customer”, because each trip and return, he had met his quota for the day. However, recently, whenever he took us out, he would advise us: “Drinking anywhere is drinking, why do we have to go so far to the sea?” We argued: “Hey, you, going far is good for you, why are you so fussy about other people?” He just smiled and hummed: “The road to the sea this season is... very beautiful.”
In the afternoon, at rush hour, the road from Thuan Ly overpass to Nhat Le 1 bridge has sections where vehicles have to move step by step because of traffic jams. After passing the jam, from the intersection at the beginning of Nhat Le 1 bridge, turning onto Nguyen Du street to Truong Phap street, one would think it would be smooth, but no, the road at this time also becomes crowded with vehicles, with all kinds of cars, large and small passenger vans. It feels like the road is narrowing. It is really narrow, because the section of Truong Phap street from Hai Thanh bridge to the intersection with Le Thanh Dong street has only one lane in one direction. Just one large tourist car is enough to make the road packed. Vehicles move step by step.
The taxi driver analyzed: “A whole strip of beach with food and entertainment services several kilometers long but only a few roads leading to the sea, how can it not be congested. From National Highway 1 (Ly Thanh Tong Street) to Cao Thang Street is too narrow. Right at the turnoff to this road, there is a “bottleneck” blocking the road, making it as small as an alley. The two roads Le Thanh Dong and Dong Hai from Phong Thuy culvert are also in a similar situation. That is not to mention the turnoff from Ly Thuong Kiet Street to these two roads is very annoying.
Every time a tourist car turns to the sea, many vehicles are stuck. Do you see why I worry so much? In recent years, people from other provinces and cities mainly travel by private car, so the traffic is very heavy. As for us taxi drivers, hearing about a trip out here is also boring. Only after 10 pm do we feel happy when we have a customer to pick us up because the roads are only "clear" at this time. Having said that, he changed the lyrics of the song at the beginning: "The road to the sea this season... is very congested".
Sidewalks and roads become... "private property"
One thing that is easy to see is that there are very few parking spots along Nhat Le beach, and if there are any, they are very small. Therefore, vehicles and means of transport coming here must turn the roadway and sidewalk into parking lots. But drivers should be careful, because if they park in front of a shop and do not use its services, then... be careful. Because for a long time, the sidewalk in front of a shop has naturally become the "private property" of that shop. No management unit has issued such an "oh my god" regulation. Only the owners of these shops have made such an unwritten "regulation".
Once, I argued with a restaurant owner about this, isn't parking prohibited here? This person retorted: "I paid to rent this place, if you want to park, go somewhere else." To settle the matter, I had to drive around a few more times to find a parking space. But if you have already "targeted" a restaurant, you can just park your car, then go in and enjoy your meal, then the restaurant owner will be gentle and polite, welcoming you like... "a god".
The sidewalk on the embankment is like that, and on the opposite side, parking is even more impossible, because that is the space of hotels and restaurants. It is not easy to swim in the sea and enjoy seafood. I am a “local”, so why should tourists have to endure such trouble for so long?
The narrow Truong Phap street is often jammed with traffic - Photo: C.HOP
Open the way to the sea
Speaking of the roads to the sea, everyone in Quang Binh province (old) knows Mr. Tran Su, former Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, when the province returned to its old administrative boundaries. He is known as a decisive and far-sighted person.
It is said that when the old administrative boundaries were first restored, Dong Hoi was just a “wild field”, without houses or roads. At that time, Dong Hoi was planned by Cuban experts to build a town.
The day he held in his hand the planning map designed by foreign experts, he said that the road through the town had to be widened twice as much as the current design. It was said that because of that, he was sued because the town was as small as a palm, with few people and few houses, and the road was only wide enough for... cattle to pass. However, he still insisted: "If I had the capital, I would make it... three times wider!"
If only his wish had been supported and realized at that time, now, with the rapid urbanization, Dong Hoi residents would not have to "live with" traffic jams, especially during rush hours.
Some traffic jams at intersections have been solved by widening the roads and narrowing the sidewalks. But that is only a temporary solution. During rush hour, traffic police still have to direct traffic to prevent congestion, but the roads are still... congested as usual. Now, the traffic in Dong Hoi is really making "iron buffaloes" "crawl... away", that is the truth.
Dong Hoi (old) is a coastal city with the advantage of a top location in the region. After more than 20 years of becoming a city, it seems to have escaped the thinking of "small alleys, small streets" to open large enough roads leading to the sea. Or there is planning, but those roads are still on paper. I remember the famous saying of Mr. Tran Su when he started building Dong Hoi town: "I don't ask the Prime Minister for money, I just ask for a mechanism". Now, Dong Hoi has become the administrative center of the new Quang Tri province after the merger. From now on, the central urban space of Dong Hoi must be planned synchronously to maximize the advantages of potential and sea space, ensuring unified integration, transparency and conformity with the institutional orientation of regional development.
That is the premise for shaping a modern economic development model, connecting inter-regions with the East-West and North-South economic corridors. For many years, the connecting routes in Dong Hoi have been stuck in a state of bridges waiting for roads, roads waiting for bridges, or bridges have been built for a long time, but the roads are still unknown. Is that the mechanism that former Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Tran Su previously wanted (?!).
Duong Cong Hop
Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/duong-ra-bien-mua-nay-195711.htm
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