Traffic chaos at An Khe Pass

An Khe Pass is constantly congested

For many days now, traffic through An Khe Pass on National Highway 19 has been congested, causing frustration for drivers, customers, local residents and causing traffic insecurity.

At about 11 p.m. on January 26, a container truck carrying wood chips traveling from Gia Lai to Binh Dinh overturned when reaching Km 66+800 on National Highway 19, passing through An Khe Pass. A large amount of wood chips spilled onto the road, combined with the overturned truck occupying about half of the road, making traffic difficult. Hundreds of vehicles of all kinds were stuck and congested on An Khe Pass from Dong Pho Town (Tay Son District, Binh Dinh) to An Khe Town (Gia Lai).

At around 3:00 a.m. on January 25, a tractor-trailer passing through An Khe pass got stuck in mud and could not move, causing a complete traffic jam. It was not resolved until 3:45 p.m. the same day.

It is raining in this area, plus the temporary road is made of mud, making it very dangerous. For two consecutive days, two vehicles have had accidents at An Khe Pass, seriously affecting traffic. Although the authorities of Gia Lai and Binh Dinh provinces were present in time to regulate traffic, they were still unable to resolve the congestion in time.

Wood chip truck overturned on muddy road on An Khe pass

Mr. Nguyen Quang Huy, a driver traveling on the Binh Dinh - Gia Lai route, said in frustration: "My car runs every day on Highway 19. It should have arrived in Pleiku City (Gia Lai) at around 7am. But the past two days, there has been traffic jams and delays. Yesterday, it arrived in Pleiku City at around 10am. Today, it's almost 1pm. Goods are delivered late, especially fresh goods that are rotten and spoiled. Passengers are late and miss work. The road construction is bad, seriously affecting vehicles, and the progress is also delayed and prolonged. Who will calculate this damage for us? In the end, the bus company will have to bear it all!"

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu, a passenger, said: "I came from Binh Dinh to Gia Lai to attend my nephew's wedding. There was a traffic jam so I had to wait from 6am to noon, and when I arrived in Pleiku City it was almost 1pm, when the wedding party was over. Now I have to take a bus back, not knowing when I will be able to get home."

Hundreds of vehicles were stuck for hours at An Khe Pass.

Speaking to Thanh Nien reporters on the afternoon of January 27, Major Le Van Sang, Captain of Road Traffic Police Team No. 3, Traffic Police Department of Gia Lai Province, said: "Over the past two days, we have sent forces to regulate and divert traffic. Vehicles traveling through An Khe Pass pose a potential risk to traffic safety as the dirt road is prone to subsidence and it rains. As Tet approaches, traffic density through here also increases, making congestion unavoidable. We request that the construction unit have appropriate solutions to minimize traffic congestion and ensure safety for vehicles traveling through An Khe Pass, speeding up construction progress...".

There are many violations and risks on National Highway 19.

The progress of the project to enhance traffic connectivity in the Central Highlands on National Highway 19 through the two provinces of Binh Dinh and Gia Lai has been slow in recent times, affecting the socio-economic development of the two provinces. This situation has been acknowledged by the leaders of the Ministry of Transport and has been given direct instructions, but the situation has not improved as expected. Accordingly, the progress has been "extended" to 2024. However, the weather in the Central Highlands has been in the rainy season since May. If the construction units do not speed up the progress, the project will be difficult to reach the finish line and people living along this national highway as well as traffic participants will continue to suffer and be frustrated.

According to the report of Road Management Office III.4 (under Road Management Area III, Vietnam Road Administration) and the results of the on-site inspection on January 25 by the working group including representatives of Gia Lai Traffic Safety Committee, Traffic Police Department of Binh Dinh Provincial Police and Road Management Area III, the remediation of existing problems has not been thorough, is still slow and irregular, so it has greatly affected traffic safety.

Specifically, the access roads to the two ends of the bridge, the temporary bridges at the construction sites of Bau Sen Bridge, Ba La Bridge, Luc Kuc Bridge, Ha Tam Bridge, Linh Nham Bridge, Vang Bridge, Le Can Bridge have rough road surfaces, often have potholes, and are not repaired promptly. The collapsed traffic safety system has not been regularly restored.

The road surface is not repaired in time and is not smooth, causing difficulties for vehicles participating in traffic in sections of An Khe pass area...

Authorities mobilized wood chip shoveling vehicles to resolve traffic congestion on An Khe Pass.

The traffic safety system serving the construction has not been ensured according to regulations, lacking signs, markers and reflective tapes at many locations. In particular, the construction sites from Km 60 - Km 67 through An Khe Pass lack a traffic safety system, causing rocks and soil to fall onto the exploited road surface, posing a risk of traffic safety loss.

The construction unit's handling of the traffic jam at An Khe Pass is still slow (the jam occurred on the morning of January 25), traffic guidance and traffic safety system are not guaranteed...

Traffic congestion at An Khe pass occurred on January 26.

To ensure traffic safety on National Highway 19, serving the people during the 2024 Lunar New Year, Road Management Area III requests Project Management Board 2 (investor of the project to Enhance Traffic Connectivity in the Central Highlands on National Highway 19) to strengthen the direction of construction units to urgently implement measures to ensure traffic safety; promptly detect and handle any problems arising in the coming time.

Project Management Board 2 must assign leaders and arrange personnel and equipment to be on-site during the 2024 Lunar New Year holiday to regularly check the traffic safety system or promptly handle any unsafe situations that may arise.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/giao-thong-bat-on-o-deo-an-khe-18524012717574665.htm