Scientific Conference on Pedestrian Traffic

On November 24, the Vietnam Construction General Association held a scientific conference on Pedestrian Traffic - the participation of the community with technology application in Hanoi.

At the workshop, Assoc.Prof.Dr.Architect Do Tu Lan (Vietnam Urban Development Planning Association) said, according to design principles, sidewalks are walking routes. However, due to the development of the sidewalk economy, the sidewalk space for pedestrians is increasingly crowded.

Lan said that this is not only a problem of Ho Chi Minh City but also a pressing problem of big cities such as Hanoi, Hai Phong, and Can Tho.

Talking about the cause of sidewalks being encroached on, Ms. Lan said that this is the lack of awareness of the people. The situation of encroaching on sidewalks for business and trading continues to recur despite the regular warning and punishment by the competent forces. This is partly due to the awareness of the people, especially the business households on the road.

According to Ms. Lan, street vendors and "toad" shops are also part of the roadway and sidewalk, making travel very difficult. The functional forces and police came to clean up the place.

Besides, the increase of personal vehicles every day, the parking and parking stations in the city are seriously lacking, especially in densely populated areas. This leads to the situation that the sidewalk becomes a parking space for motorbikes and cars.

To manage the city sidewalk well, according to Ms. Lan, it is necessary to ensure reasonable walking routes. Therefore, the city needs to have a system of sanctions that is strong enough and suitable to actual conditions.

The basic goal is to ensure a smooth pedestrian route through sidewalk roads, but this does not mean that the entire sidewalk is open to pedestrians.

Next, it is necessary to clearly define the objects that can use the sidewalk for other purposes, corresponding to the conditions of each sidewalk route such as the width of the sidewalk, the works directly with the sidewalk.

Ms. Lan also said that cities, districts and wards need to clearly define the extent of sidewalks that can allow activities other than walking. It is necessary to clarify the responsibilities of area managers, strengthen cameras to control sidewalk routes.

"It is necessary to create a mechanism for people, to support motorbike parking on streets with many shops selling and selling services. Business shops must register parking spaces for customers. In addition, with the regulations already issued. implementation, it is necessary to check, monitor and evaluate regularly," - Ms. Lan suggested.

At the workshop, Dr. Architect Le Thi Bich Thuan, Deputy Director of the Institute of Urban Research and Infrastructure Development (Vietnam Construction General Association) emphasized the need to clearly define the grade of the route and unify the role of the road. Traffic is the first task of urban design implementation.

Ms. Thuan said: "In reality, there is no consensus on naming and activities allowed to take place on roads/streets to ensure proper functions".

Specifically, set as "road" for roads with large scale in length and width, located on ring roads, inter-provincial roads and main roads in the city. Set as "street" for small-scale streets and two consecutive architectural works.

According to Ms. Thuan, clearly defining the level of the route and unifying the role of traffic and specific functions of the street is the first task. From there, determine the sidewalk function and prioritized for management.

To meet the needs of pedestrians, sidewalks must be at least 1m wide. Some areas near schools, complexes, cultural and sports areas, etc., the minimum width of the sidewalk is 3m.

Source laodongonline