Saigon’s first pedestrian street to get major makeover

The city administration has instructed the Department of Planning and Architecture to mull over a plan to improve facilities on Nguyen Hue, where a strip along the middle was earmarked for pedestrians in April 2015.

It will get additional multicolored water fountains and lights.

The department has also been instructed to build more restrooms, parking lots and automatic drink vending points to serve a large number of visitors who could come when the city hosts major festivals and other events.

City officials have called for setting up street food stalls along the street in an effort to enhance control on street vending on the boulevard.

City Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong said the department should consider connecting the pedestrian street with the area in front of the Municipal Theater and other spaces along Nguyen Hue, Ton Duc Thang and Ham Nghi streets.

The street, which stretches from the city government office to Ton Duc Thang Street along the Saigon River, hosts the annual flower festival during the Lunar New Year and attracts thousands of visitors every day.

It is one of the few public spaces in the city center, and is usually crowded during weekends and holidays. But it has dramatically deteriorated with lots of cracks on its granite pavements.