The work, covering a two-kilometer stretch at a cost of over VND2 trillion ($75.95 million), began in April 2025 and is scheduled for completion in June this year. While the road surface has largely been finished, the poles remain on the carriageway.
Many of the poles are tilted but carry a dense network of electrical and telecom cables overhead. Some of the cables are sagging or damaged, creating safety hazards.
As the route connects the congested An Phu interchange and My Thuy roundabout, many vehicles traverse this street, and in several places where it meets alleys, motorbikes are forced to weave between the poles.
Motorcyclists ride alongside a series of utility poles in the middle of Nguyen Thi Dinh Street, HCMC, after the road widening project. Photo by Read/Dinh Van |
A food vendor in the area, Hoang Danh, 45, said since after the Lunar New Year, when the road was widened on both sides, the poles have been in the middle of the road. At night, in low-visibility sections, there have even been minor collisions by motorbikes, causing residents to place makeshift warning markers such as foam boxes and plastic objects around the poles.
Danh said: “Road widening should go hand in hand with utility relocation. Delays in removing the electrical infrastructure make travel very inconvenient.”
A spokesperson for the Ho Chi Minh City Power Corporation said the Cat Lai Ward project management board is in charge of the widening work and responsible for relocating poles and building a new grid before handing it over to the power utility.
The removal of the poles has been delayed due to compensation and technical infrastructure relocation procedures.
The utility has sent a request to the board to complete documentation to facilitate the removal of the 200 poles and to have reflective paint markings to warn road users.
Similar delays have occurred elsewhere in the city too.
In January, utility poles remained in the middle of Chu Van An Street after its widening, and have yet to be removed.
In 2024, the widening of Tan Ky Tan Quy and Duong Quang Ham streets and Ba Hom Bridge on the city outskirts was delayed due to the same issues.
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