Ahead of a Monday preparatory session for the 13th Party Congress, multiple Hanoi streets have been blocked to make way for attending delegates, triggering severe traffic congestion. 

Hundreds of vehicles escort delegates attending the 13th Party Congress, carrying them through Tran Phu, Kim Ma, Lieu Giai, Nguyen Chi Thanh and Tran Duy Hung streets to the National Convention Center from 6:30 to 8 a.m. Monday for the congress's preparatory session.

The 13th Party Congress, Vietnam's most important political event, will officially open Tuesday and last nine days, during which new leaders would be selected to head the Party, state, government, and National Assembly for the next five years, besides finalizing socio-economic development policies for 2021-25 and orientations until 2030 with a vision toward 2045.

Hanoi has imposed traffic restrictions on 25 downtown streets from Jan. 24 to Feb. 2 as a security measure, with trucks with a capacity of 500 kilograms or above and mini buses with 24 seats or more banned from certain streets.

Just an hour prior, thousands of police officers were stationed at multiple traffic intersections to prepare for the convoy.

The convoy’s presence at rush hour saw traffic along Lieu Giai, Kim Ma and Nguyen Chi Thanh streets grind to a halt for about 20 minutes.

Even parents taking their children to school were stopped to make way for the delegates.

At around 7:45 a.m., when delegates reached the National Convention Center, traffic routes were unblocked. But due to the sheer number of vehicles on the road in the morning, traffic remained congested for two to three hours.

Traffic slows to a crawl at around 9 a.m.

Motorbikes were virtually stuck for 30 minutes before they could reach major roads.

At around 11 a.m., traffic on Pham Hung Street, situated near a gate into the National Convention Center, is chronically congested.

Some motorbikes had to get onto the pavement to navigate the mess.

While road blockages were communicated to the public several days prior, traffic congestion is inevitable at rush hour, according to the Hanoi traffic police department.

Several drivers got out of their vehicles on an overpass from Mai Dich to Pham Hung amid traffic congestion. Only at around 11:30 a.m. did conditions return to normalcy.