On December 7, 2023, the 16th session of the 16th Provincial People's Council passed Resolution 31 (Resolution 31) on naming roads and streets in Sa Pa town, effective from January 1, 2024. Implementing the direction of the Provincial People's Committee, Sa Pa's agencies, departments and branches are completing procedures to put up name signs and disseminate information to the people. However, the naming and renaming of some roads in Sa Pa town still has many shortcomings.
In Sa Pa, there are roads nearly ten kilometers long that are interrupted in the middle by other streets but still have the old name at the end; there are roads and streets with the same name, causing residents and tourists to often find the wrong address. Along with that, in some central residential areas of the town, people still suffer from "houses without numbers, streets without names"... The inadequacies related to the names of roads and streets in Sa Pa town make visitors here feel lost in a "maze" of roads and streets, at the same time causing a lot of inconvenience to the lives of the people here.
The road "sometimes hidden, sometimes visible"
For those who have lived in Sa Pa town for a long time, Dien Bien Phu street is very familiar. This is one of the longest and oldest streets in Sa Pa up to now. Dien Bien Phu street coincides with National Highway 4D, 6.5 km long, in group 1, Sa Pa ward, to the intersection of the cable car station to the top of Phan Si Pang and O Quy Ho street, in group 1, O Quy Ho ward.
However, in reality, Dien Bien Phu Street leading to the town center is interrupted by many other streets, making it confusing for locals and tourists to find a specific address here, especially for those who come to Sa Pa for the first time.
Previously, every time he came to Sa Pa, Mr. Dinh Duy Them, a tourist from Si Ma Cai district, often chose to travel by taxi or bus, so he did not pay attention to the routes. This time he drove himself to Sa Pa, so he found the naming of streets and roads here confusing and complicated.
“My friend arranged to have breakfast at a restaurant on Dien Bien Phu Street. As soon as I arrived in Sa Pa, I saw Dien Bien Phu Street. However, when I got to the intersection to turn into the market, I didn’t see the address my friend sent me, but I couldn’t continue on this route because it was a one-way street. After my friend gave me directions, I learned that after going all the way to N1 Street, I would see Dien Bien Phu Street at the next intersection. I think that if it is a route, it needs to be continuous, but if it is interrupted, it should be renamed. The road suddenly disappears and then reappears,” said Mr. Them.
House without number, street without name
Road N1, belonging to Group 1, Sa Pa Ward, is also the main road leading to the town center, passing through the Sa Pa market area, so the number of people and vehicles passing through here is very large. N1 is the technical name placed on the project map of the design unit when building the road. Normally, when the roads are completed and have a large population, the people's opinions will be consulted to name the road. However, Road N1 has been completed and put into service for the people for 7-8 years now but has not been named yet. Currently, there are nearly 100 households living on both sides of Road N1, most of them are business households. The road name has not been given, and the house numbers have not been given, causing many inconveniences to the people's lives.
Every day, my family often imports and sends many items, but the street does not have a house number, making it difficult to send addresses to customers or shippers. Almost every household along N1 is in the same situation. People have proposed in neighborhood meetings and voter meetings about naming streets and arranging house numbers, but up to now, N1 has not been renamed.
Streets and roads with the same name
In group 5, Sa Pa ward, there is a street named Thac Bac, starting from the 5-way intersection - the intersection of Thach Son, Xuan Vien, Hoang Dieu and Fansipan streets, ending at the 3-way intersection - the intersection with Dien Bien Phu street, in group 3B, Phan Si Pang ward. Not far away, there is also Thac Bac street, starting at the 3-way intersection with Thac Bac street (at the location of Lacasa hotel), ending at the 3-way intersection with Thac Bac street (at the location of Hoang Ha hotel). The street and road have the same name, and are not far from each other, which has led to many funny and sad stories for locals and tourists when coming here.
The name duplication causes many households living on Thac Bac Street and Thac Bac Street to encounter a lot of trouble. For example, a guest who booked a room at a motel on Thac Bac Street was taken by a taxi driver to a motel with the same house number on Thac Bac Street and vice versa.
“We often encounter cases where tourists mistakenly go to the address of motels, hotels or restaurants on Thac Bac Street and Street. Such duplicate names can easily cause confusion, waste time and leave a bad impression on tourists,” said Mr. Cuong.
Sa Pa is a destination for many domestic and foreign tourists, so it is natural that motels, hotels, restaurants, resorts, etc. are listed on search engines such as booking, agoda for the convenience of tourists when they come here. Therefore, the names of streets, roads, and places that are the same or only have different punctuation marks also cause many misunderstandings and unnecessary troubles. For example, Sa Pa ward or Sa Pa ward, when listed on international websites, are all Sa Pa; Thac Bac street or Thac Bac street are both Thac Bac street (both are inner-city streets).
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