Hanoi road widening suffers five-year delay, traffic choked

The two-kilometer long street in Dong Da District was identified for widening in 2011 and construction began in 2013. The work was expected to be completed by 2015, but only a 1.3-km stretch was finished.

Traffic congestion is a common sight on Truong Chinh as barriers put up around a construction site for an elevated road are taking up half the road.

The city reclaimed over 116,000 square meters of land for the street widening, moving out 618 households and 34 commercial establishments in Dong Da and Thanh Xuan districts.

The unfinished section of the widening project. 

The 634 meter-long segment saw 377 households being moved out after being compensation of over VND1.3 trillion ($56 million). Machines now occupy the area for building the elevated road.

A barrier cordons off the middle of Truong Chinh Street.

The steel skeleton of what used to be an electric pole on Truong Chinh.

Vehicles at the intersection of Truong Chinh and Ton That Tung streets.

The widening is expected to be finished this year.