Unexpected change at the construction that used to have 500 “lost” power poles on the street in Ho Chi Minh City

The project of repairing and upgrading provincial road 9 (Dang Thuc Vinh, the intersection with To Ky road to Le Van Khuong street) in Hoc Mon district with a length of more than 5km is being completed after 4 years of construction. The project helps to connect the center of Hoc Mon district to Rach Tra bridge, smoothly connecting Ho Chi Minh City with the two neighboring provinces of Binh Duong and Long An. The route was expanded to 30m, the investment cost was nearly 700 billion VND.

Before the construction time in 2018, the arterial road at the northwest gateway of Ho Chi Minh City was only 7-8m wide, but there was a huge amount of traffic, causing frequent traffic jams, severely damaged road surfaces, and many sections. deeply flooded when heavy rain makes it difficult for people to move and live on both sides of the road. By December 2021, the road surface was widened, many sections were paved and paved with paving stones, but along the route there were more than 500 power poles formerly located on both sides of the old road pavement, right in the middle of the road because it had not been installed yet. to move.

By April 20, all “lost” power poles down this road had been relocated, the entire route became clear. Currently, there are only 2 rows of newly installed electric poles on both sides of the road.

In many sections, there are 3-4 rows of old and new electric pylons lying on the “horizontal porch”, in parallel, stretched, electrical wires, telecommunications cables… interlaced. All kinds of electric poles take up all the new road surface space, traffic users have to wriggle around to move. The current image compared to the time when the power poles have not been relocated at one location can see a very clear difference in the space of the road.

Before and after an intersection on Dang Thuc Vinh road, in Thoi Tam Thon commune, was expanded, upgraded road surface and relocated electricity poles and transformer stations. The area on both sides of the road becomes spacious and spacious, and vehicles move more easily.

At that time, according to Hoc Mon Power Company, due to the expansion of Dang Thuc Vinh Street, the existing power grid was located on the pavement of the old road, which was lying under the roadway after being expanded and this grid is still providing electricity. supplying electricity to Thoi Tam Thon, Dong Thanh and Nhi Binh communes. In order to avoid repeated power loss for people during the relocation of the power grid, the option is to build a complete new grid to supply electricity to households in the above communes, and at the same time recover the existing power grid to return the electricity to the surface. road for the Department of Transportation.

In addition to the rows of electricity poles in the middle of the road, bundles of cables hang between the power poles, in many places sagging close to the heads of pedestrians. Currently, the telecommunications cable has also been dismantled and largely reduced. The project was expected to be completed in 2019, but due to difficulties in site clearance and the COVID1-19 epidemic, the completion schedule was postponed to April this year.

The route has 3 lanes for traffic on each side, and the sidewalks on both sides are also widened. According to the leader of the HCM City Department of Transport, the project, when put into use, aims to improve traffic capacity, contribute to solving the problem of flooding, improve the environment, beautify the urban landscape and stabilize people’s lives. area people.

The route was re-planted with trees on both sides of the sidewalk, a new lighting system was installed and road signs to ensure traffic safety, suitable to the size of the road.

Many households and households that rent business premises on both sides of the road are trying to repair the facade for business when the project is inaugurated. “In the past, the road was very narrow but the cars were crowded, often flooded when it rained heavily, people here faced many difficulties. Now the road is widened, so it is convenient to travel, the sidewalks are clear, no longer messy as before. We are also preparing to open a business store when the route is completed,” said Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Tuyen, Thoi Tam Thon commune.

Hundreds of workers are urgently executing some remaining items such as placing dividers, road markings, paving pavements… while vehicles are still circulating normally.

In some sections, workers are busy transporting bricks and paving the remaining sections. A group of traffic construction workers installs a road signal system in the area where Dang Thuc Vinh street intersects To Ky street.

The entire route has only two sections more than 100m long that have not been paved with the last asphalt layer in two directions. It is expected that the project will be open to traffic on April 28, to celebrate the upcoming April 30 holiday.