Difficult to reconcile the interests of all parties in the face of the reality of roads without sidewalks

According to Mr. Vo Khanh Hung, Deputy Director of the Department of Transport of Ho Chi Minh City, in the city there are 4,869 roads with a width of 5m or more, of which 2,271 roads have sidewalks and of these, 929 roads have sidewalks with a width of 3m or more, the rest have sidewalks under 3m. Thus, in the city, more than half of the roads do not have sidewalks; the remaining roads with sidewalks have only 27% of the length of the sidewalk that can be considered for temporary use of a part of the sidewalk for purposes other than traffic. The reason is to ensure the principle of reserving at least 100% of the sidewalk for public use.

Báo Công an Nhân dân•14/04/2025

Since 2008, the City People's Committee has issued a decision on the management and use of roads and sidewalks. However, after a period of implementation, the Department of Transport, People's Committees of districts and some departments and branches have noted that there are still some existing problems that have not been regulated or guided. The roles of coordination and participation in the management and use of roads and sidewalks of departments and branches have not been fully demonstrated. The responsibility of the People's Committees of districts and wards to manage and ensure order in roads and sidewalks has not been specifically determined.

In addition, there has been no mention of other activities that actually take place to ensure traffic safety for pedestrians; there has been no detailed regulation of the sidewalk conditions required to organize activities that are specific to the city such as parking motorbikes, cars, buying and selling goods, etc., causing difficulties for traffic participants, especially pedestrians. The management and exploitation of roads and sidewalks have not been really effective, even though part of the road and sidewalk area has had to be "sacrificed" to serve purposes other than traffic.

Difficult to reconcile the interests of all parties in the face of the reality of roads without sidewalks -0

A stretch of sidewalk is completely occupied by commercial activities.

Implementing the Resolution of the City People's Council and the decision issued by the City People's Committee in 2023, the Department of Transport has developed a list of roads and locations eligible for temporary use of roads and sidewalks. Since then, only 10/22 districts have evaluated the results after 9 months of implementation; 8/22 districts have reported on the implementation of this work in the first 6 months of 2024; only 9/22 districts have issued a list of roads and sidewalks in the area eligible for use for purposes other than traffic, and 6/22 districts have implemented licensing and fee collection according to regulations.

After more than 1 year of implementing management and collecting fees for temporary use of roads and sidewalks, the total revenue only reached about 7 billion VND. Of this amount, the Department of Transport collected 2.5 billion VND from cultural activities, arranging places to rent bicycles and domestic waste transfer points of public service companies. The revenue of 6 central and suburban districts from sidewalk rental mainly serves business activities, buying and selling goods, and transferring scrap and construction waste.

Regarding the temporary use of the roadway, Thanh Nien Xung Phong Public Service Company Limited was assigned to organize toll-free car parking on 20 routes in central districts. However, from December 2020 to October 2024, this unit only collected 22 billion VND, a loss of 2.2 billion VND compared to the cost of toll collection activities. Thus, the temporary use of a part of the roadway and sidewalk for rent mainly meets immediate needs, and in terms of efficiency, the above amount is not enough to cover the cost of maintaining and repairing sidewalks and roads that have been degraded due to organizing activities other than traffic.

On a series of major routes such as National Highway 1, Pham Van Dong Street, Hiep Binh Street in Thu Duc City; Phan Van Tri Street, Pham Van Dong Street in Binh Thanh District; Hoang Van Thu Street, Phan Dinh Phung Street in Phu Nhan District; Ha Huy Giap Street, Le Van Khuong Street in District 12... the situation of encroachment on roads and sidewalks for business and service provision is still widespread. Mr. Vo Khanh Hung said that one of the main reasons leading to the above situation is that the level of administrative penalties for illegal use of roads and sidewalks for business according to Decree No. 168/2024/ND-CP is not much different from Decree 100/2019/ND-CP, so it is not enough of a deterrent.

The activity of buying and selling goods on the sidewalk also leads to the habit of many people stopping their vehicles right on the road to trade, buy and sell, causing more risks of traffic jams and accidents. To prevent this situation, the Road Traffic Safety Law and Decree 165/2024/ND-CP do not stipulate or allow the use of sidewalks for business activities, buying and selling goods. At the same time, it does not delegate authority to the Provincial People's Committee to issue separate regulations. Therefore, although Decree 165/2024/ND-CP allows the expansion of the subjects who are allowed to temporarily use part of the roadway and sidewalk, the leasing of sidewalks for business activities, trading goods according to the regulations of Ho Chi Minh City will be prohibited. How to ensure traffic safety, reduce traffic jams but still create convenience for traders and businesses at street frontage houses in the current overloaded road conditions is not a simple task for Ho Chi Minh City.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/Xa-hoi/kho-dung-hoa-loi-ich-cac-ben-truoc-thuc-trang-duong-khong-co-via-he-i765056/