Urgent construction of the northern frontage road of National Highway 5 through Kim Thanh

Traffic volume on Highway 5 is heavy, about 90,000 vehicles converted per day/night, 4-5 times higher than the design.

Overloaded, many accidents

More than 3 months have passed, but every time he recalls the traffic accident that happened at noon on May 13 on National Highway 5, in Duong Thai Trung village, Phuc Thanh commune, Pham Quoc Do, born in 2006 in Tuan Viet commune (in the same Kim Thanh district) is still shocked. That day, like every other day, after school, Do and his classmate rode a motorbike home on National Highway 5, Do sat in the back, and his classmate drove. Unfortunately, the motorbike hit a rock, lost control and fell onto the road. At that moment, a tractor-trailer passed by. Do was injured in the face, arms, and legs, and his classmate did not survive. Ms. Nguyen Thi Thao, Do's mother, said that while Do used to be agile and active, after the accident he became more quiet and quiet. Ms. Thao, like many other parents in Kim Thanh, shares the same concern every time their children participate in traffic on the road. “Road 5 is crowded, with many big vehicles running, even adults are scared to go, let alone students,” said Ms. Thao.

One morning in August, near the gate of Bao Long Shoe Company Limited in Quynh Phuc Industrial Park (Kim Xuyen), many people riding motorbikes and electric motorbikes risked their lives by following each other in the opposite direction, even though the national highway was quite crowded. Ms. Tran Thi Ha, in Quynh Khe village, a worker in Quynh Phuc Industrial Park, shared that some people did not care about going in the opposite direction because if they had to go around to the new opening to cross the road, the distance would have been several times longer.

Many people defy traffic on Highway 5 through Kim Xuyen Commune (Kim Thanh)

Mr. Ha Manh Nghia in Tuan Viet Commune (Kim Thanh) said that there are a lot of people and vehicles participating in traffic, especially during rush hour. If there is an accident or traffic incident, there will definitely be a traffic jam because there is no way out. There were times when Mr. Nghia had to wait for hours because of the traffic jam. Also because there is no service road, it is difficult for the authorities to regulate traffic when there is an accident or collision.

As a vital traffic route, National Highway 5 through Hai Duong is over 44 km long, of which the section through Kim Thanh district is the longest at 17.6 km. National Highway 5 has many trucks and tractor-trailers passing through, with a traffic volume of about 90,000 vehicles converted daily/night, 4-5 times higher than the design. Along both sides of the route are many industrial parks, clusters, and densely populated residential areas. This is also the national highway with the most traffic accidents among the national highways through the province.

Contribute to completing the service road system

To meet urgent requirements and promptly handle hot spots and potential traffic safety risks on National Highway 5, Hai Duong will invest in the Project to build a number of service roads north of National Highway 5 in Kim Thanh district. This project has just been approved by the 17th Hai Duong Provincial People's Council at the 24th session. The project is implemented in the communes of Cong Hoa, Co Dung, Tuan Viet, Kim Xuyen and Phuc Thanh (Kim Thanh) with a total length of more than 7.62 km and a total investment of 400 billion VND.

Map of some feeder routes north of National Highway 5, through Kim Thanh district

Specifically, there are 2 sections with a total length of more than 3.5 km and a road width of 5.5 m; 2 sections with a total length of more than 4 km and a road width of 3.5 - 5.5 m.

The section through the residential area adjacent to National Highway 5, the service road will be built adjacent to National Highway 5 but separated by a median strip of at least 1.5 m. The section outside the residential area, the service road will be built according to the management boundary of National Highway 5 according to the approved construction planning of Kim Thanh district and is located outside the traffic safety corridor of National Highway 5. The service roads will be invested and built according to the scale of level V and level VI plain roads. Implementation period is 2024 - 2026. The project is invested by the Provincial Construction Investment Management Board.

The construction of some service roads north of National Highway 5 is something that Kim Thanh voters are looking forward to. This content has been mentioned many times by officials and people in meetings, meetings with voters, and dialogues with leaders. Mr. Tran Van Hung in Phuc Thanh commune said that when there is a service road, slow-moving vehicles such as motorbikes, bicycles, and small cars will go into the service road, while large vehicles will go into the main road. This will reduce traffic congestion and make it safer.

In general, the National Highway 5 feeder road system has not been fully invested, mainly in separate segments, invested in industrial park projects, commercial and service residential areas. Compared to localities with National Highway 5 passing through, the feeder road system in Kim Thanh district is lacking and weakest. As of mid-August, Kim Thanh district is implementing the Hanoi - Hai Phong railway feeder road construction project with a total length of 4.262 km (delayed by nearly 2 years); the remaining 7.2 km of this project has been allocated capital for the Kim Thanh District People's Committee to implement (public investment plan for the period 2021-2025). If this project is completed, the total length of the southern feeder road of National Highway 5 and the Hanoi - Hai Phong railway feeder road will be 17.5 km.

The northern and southern sections of National Highway 5, together with the railway feeder roads, when completed, will basically connect the entire National Highway 5 feeder road and the Hanoi - Hai Phong railway in Kim Thanh district, contributing to ensuring traffic order and safety on National Highway 5 through Hai Duong province.

According to data from the Provincial Traffic Safety Committee Office, in the first 7 months of 2024, Hai Duong province had 456 traffic accidents and collisions, killing 137 people and injuring 402 people. Compared to the same period in 2023, there were 272 more cases (147.8%), 22 more deaths (19.1%), and 298 more injuries (286.5%). Of which, 79 cases occurred on National Highway 5 (accounting for 17.3%), killing 16 people and injuring 52 people. In Kim Thanh district alone, there were 39 cases, killing 8 people and injuring 32 people.

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/buc-thiet-xay-dung-duong-gom-phia-bac-quoc-lo-5-qua-kim-thanh-390960.html