HCMC – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has issued an urgent directive to local authorities and relevant ministries to prevent prolonged traffic congestion at the gateways to Hanoi and HCMC as millions of travelers return from the Lunar New Year break.
The PM’s order emphasizes the need for proactive traffic management, particularly at major entry points and critical intersections. Local authorities are tasked with deploying maximum personnel to monitor hotspots within 24 hours a day, ensuring that no bottleneck remains unresolved for an extended period. The directive also calls for the strict handling of traffic violations and the immediate clearance of any accidents to maintain a seamless flow of vehicles.
In a coordinated move, the Traffic Police Department under the Ministry of Public Security is prepared to implement a “one-way priority” scheme on primary arteries. Accordingly, outbound lanes from Hanoi and HCMC may be temporarily closed to private vehicles if congestion levels in the inbound direction reach critical thresholds. This drastic measure is designed to maximize road capacity for those returning to the cities for work and study.
Specific routes under consideration for temporary outbound closures include the Phap Van-Cau Gie Expressway (Hanoi’s southern gateway) and the HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay and HCMC – Trung Luong – My Thuan expressways. Authorities noted that these interventions would be implemented flexibly, based on real-time traffic density and field reports from mobile units.
