Stuck in the toilet because 2-3 lines converge on 1 stop
Project Management Board 6 (PMU6) has just sent a document requesting the Ministry of Transport to consider approving the rest stop network along the entire Eastern North-South Expressway.
Accordingly, of the 36 rest stops proposed to be included in the planning, 6 stations are currently in use and 3 stations under construction are proposed to remain in their original locations. For the remaining stations that were planned for implementation but have not yet been invested in, the Project Management Board 6 proposed that the Ministry approve the rest stop network system consisting of 27 locations, including 3 stations on the Da Nang - Quang Ngai Expressway. For the Deo Ca tunnel station at Km 1+000 and the station at Km 12+000 of the Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway Project, due to the close distance and being planned as rest stops, the unit assigned to make the plan recommended not to include them in the station network.
Cao Bo - Mai Son is a rare expressway among the recently put into operation North - South expressways in the East that has a rest stop.
"Currently, the component projects of the Eastern North-South Expressway (which have been put into operation and are being invested in) have not arranged parking lots along the route. The scope of the research on the rest stop network does not include parking lots along the expressway. However, during the inspection of the expressways in early 2023, the Prime Minister suggested studying the arrangement of parking lots along the route at locations with outstanding natural landscapes to serve the promotion and exploitation of local tourism. On that basis, the Board recommends that the Ministry of Transport issue a document directing investors and project management boards of component projects to review and select a number of locations (interspersed between rest stops) with suitable terrain and landscape conditions, from which to report and propose the Ministry of Transport to add them to the project," the leader of the Project Management Board 6 stated.
Information about the implementation of a network of rest stops on the highway is of particular interest to drivers, because before the North-South Expressway Phase 2 was opened to traffic, many drivers and people had to suffer because they had to travel hundreds of kilometers on the highway but could not find a rest stop.
The first time driving from Cao Lanh (Dong Thap) to Ho Chi Minh City, Ms. Thanh Nga's (Ho Chi Minh City) working group divided into 4 cars and started at 2 p.m., planning to "meet up" at the rest stop on the Trung Luong - My Thuan expressway to finish the work. However, despite driving tirelessly, all that could be seen on both sides of the road was rice fields. "We drove nearly 30 km to the expressway, then another 50 km of Trung Luong - My Thuan expressway, but there were still no rest stops. When we joined the Trung Luong section to Ho Chi Minh City, we were still confused, wondering if we had missed any places. And the same thing happened to the rest stop on the following route, until we reached Long An, almost to Ho Chi Minh City, and then we saw the rest stop. By then, it was already late, so we went straight back to the city, why stop? Luckily, all the people in the group were adults, no one needed to use the toilet, otherwise if we were traveling with a family with elderly people and small children, driving on the expressway without a stop like this would be fatal," Ms. Nga exclaimed.
Mr. Nguyen Van Trong (Hanoi)
The entire Ho Chi Minh City - Trung Luong - My Thuan expressway, and soon My Thuan - Can Tho, will form a continuous Ho Chi Minh City - Can Tho route with a total length of about 135 km, but there is only one rest stop on the Ho Chi Minh City - Trung Luong route, located at Km 28+200 (Thu Thua District, Long An). This rest stop also had to wait 7 years after the Ho Chi Minh City - Trung Luong expressway was inaugurated to be put into operation. During those 7 years, many drivers had to turn their vehicles down to intersections so that passengers could take care of their personal needs, then turn back to the expressway.
Most recently, the image of a long line of people waiting for up to 30 minutes to use the restroom at a rest stop on the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh highway before entering the Phan Thiet - Dau Giay highway, shared on car pages, made many people angry. Previously, this rest stop mainly served passengers from Ho Chi Minh City to Vung Tau and a few going to Phan Thiet, so it was quite comfortable, almost never causing traffic jams. However, since the Phan Thiet - Dau Giay and Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet highways were put into operation, passengers going to Binh Thuan, Da Lat, Nha Trang... have increased significantly. Most importantly, over 250 km of the entire Ho Chi Minh City - Dau Giay - Phan Thiet - Vinh Hao route has only one rest stop, so all vehicles tend to crowd here, causing serious overload.
Being stuck in a toilet is still bearable, many people shared on their personal Facebook pages images of many passengers getting off the bus to relieve themselves on the Lo Te - Rach Soi highway towards Rach Gia (Kien Giang). Instead of having a rest stop, the driver was forced to turn into the emergency lane to take care of the passengers' urgent needs. Passengers are not comfortable having to relieve themselves in the middle of the road, and the bus company is also worried because they can be fined at any time. But what can we do, if we don't stop "recklessly", how can we bear it when there is still a distance of 40 - 50 km ahead?
Many newly put into service expressways do not have rest stops, such as the Phan Thiet - Dau Giay expressway.
Drive hundreds of kilometers without a gas station
Compared to the South, the expressway system in the Northern provinces was formed much earlier and more complete, but it still cannot avoid the lack of rest stops. Put into operation in September 2022, the Van Don - Mong Cai expressway is known as the most beautiful expressway in Vietnam, not only making Quang Ninh the province with the longest expressway axis in the country (176 km) but also becoming a super unique tourist attraction of the province. However, before experiencing the full functionality of the route, many drivers had to "cry" when traveling a long stretch of road of hundreds of kilometers without any rest stops or gas stations.
"When I finished the Hanoi - Hai Phong route, the car reported that I was almost out of gas, so I looked for a rest stop at the next section to refuel. Unexpectedly, after running almost the entire Ha Long - Hai Phong and Ha Long - Van Don routes, there were no refueling stations. When I was near Van Don airport, I had to call my relatives for help. The experience for drivers traveling on this route is that if you don't fill your tank before driving from Hanoi to Quang Ninh on the highway, there is a high possibility that you will run out of gas on the way," Nguyen Van Trong (living in Hanoi) sadly recounted his trip back to his hometown to visit relatives in Tien Yen district (Quang Ninh) at the end of last year.
As a frequent long-distance driver and traveler, Mr. Trong cited that Japan and European countries pay great attention to investing in highway rest stops. These are not only places for drivers to rest, refuel, and passengers to use the restroom, but also become centers for shopping for souvenirs, local products, and gather many restaurants and eateries on extremely large areas. In Japan, many rest stops are also focused on design and architecture, becoming one of the destinations that many tour guides enthusiastically introduce and explain to tourists.
"For safety reasons, some countries stipulate that drivers cannot drive continuously for more than 2-3 hours, so rest stops are a very important and almost mandatory item. Rest stops are not only a place for passengers to meet their basic needs such as going to the toilet, eating or drinking, or additional needs such as shopping, sightseeing, etc., but also to ensure traffic safety. The highways in our country are narrow, have few lanes, and some routes do not even have bypasses, so it is very necessary to ensure compliance with regulations on arranging rest stops," said Mr. Nguyen Van Trong.
According to the initial plan, 4-5 locations for building rest stops, including gas stations, were planned along the entire 200 km highway. Later, 2 locations were agreed upon, but due to the lack of a suitable financial plan, the projects could not be implemented immediately.
Similarly, the 64km Bac Giang - Lang Son expressway has been in operation for 3 years, but there is no rest stop for drivers to rest and refuel. According to the expressway operator, the traffic volume on the route is about 6,000 - 8,000 vehicles per day. The location of the rest stop has been determined by the locality but has not been implemented.
The entire Ho Chi Minh City - Trung Luong - My Thuan expressway has only one rest stop in Thu Thua District, Long An.
Urgent but cannot be done for the sake of it
According to National Standard 5729:2012 on highway design, every 15 - 25 km there should be a stop along the route outside the roadbed. Here, road users can stop to rest, enjoy the natural scenery and maintain their vehicles. Every 50 - 60 km there should be a regular technical service station (capable of supplying gasoline, oil, minor repairs and stopping vehicles, with a motel, toilet, and restaurant). Every 120 - 200 km there should be a large service station (capable of repairing vehicles, supplying gasoline, oil, and receiving road users with a restaurant and hotel). Compared with the above standard table, more than 2/3 of the highways in Vietnam that have been put into operation do not meet the standards.
At the question-and-answer session of the National Assembly deputies on the transport sector at the recent 5th National Assembly session, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang admitted that the implementation of the construction of rest stops on some expressways was a bit slow and had many shortcomings. Many expressways have built rest stops, but some routes, especially the North-South expressway in the East, are currently lacking. Recognizing this, from the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Transport has directed very strongly to compensate, develop guiding circulars and organize bidding to urgently build rest stops. Minister Nguyen Van Thang also committed to the delegates that when the North-South expressways in phase 2 are completed, there will be enough rest stops according to the planning to put them into operation.
"Currently, many investors are approaching and interested, but they also want the management agency to clearly define the standards and regulations of the rest stops to invest professionally and systematically, increasing the ability to recover capital and generate profits. All work is being done in parallel, vigorously implemented with the goal that from now until the end of the year, the entire legal basis, standards and regulations will be completed to organize bidding to select investors to build the rest stops that have been included in the documents."
Representative of Ministry of Transport
Rest stops on highways in Japan incorporate many amenities, each with its own unique character.
Rest stop is an auxiliary item of the highway.
The Association of Transport Construction Investors recommends that the Ministry of Transport plan a comprehensive network of rest stops nationwide, according to Vietnamese standards and international practices. Accordingly, rest stops will be considered an auxiliary item of the highway. This is to quickly deploy rest stops, avoiding the messy and fragmented planning of rest stops. In addition, to attract investors, it is necessary to standardize the design of rest stops according to their functions and should determine that rest stops not only serve passengers but also facilitate business operations.
Criteria for selecting investors for rest stops
The selection of investors for rest stops has been clearly regulated in Circular No. 01/TT-GTVT. In addition to meeting the criteria on capacity and experience, investors must have a bid value, a proposal for total project implementation cost (M1) not lower than (m1) approved in the bidding documents; a proposal for compensation, support, and resettlement value for the project (M2) not lower than (m2) determined in the bidding documents; a proposal for payment to the state budget in cash in addition to the investor's obligations to the state budget according to current law (M3) not lower than the floor price (m3) and the highest.
Electric vehicle service calculation
Rest stops are no longer just places for drivers and passengers to stop by to use the restroom, stop, eat, and drink, but also need to consider areas for charging when the trend of developing electric vehicles is growing stronger. Then there must be areas for drivers to sleep overnight, areas for long-distance drivers to sleep, or service centers, entertainment, relaxation to relieve pressure for drivers as well as passengers after a long journey...
Speaking to Thanh Nien , a representative of the Ministry of Transport said: since the feasibility study report of the expressway project was prepared, the design has determined the location of the rest stops. However, this is a part of the transport infrastructure and is large-scale. Therefore, when planning and calculating the construction of expressways, it is impossible to include these items because it will increase the total investment of the project very high. In addition, the Ministry of Transport also identified rest stops as a priority component calling for socialization, instead of using the investment budget right along with the expressways. However, because the legal regulations of the previous period were not complete and clear, the implementation of socialization still encountered many difficulties and was not synchronized with the construction of expressways.
To address the shortcomings, in early 2023, the Ministry of Transport issued Circular No. 01 providing guidance on the preparation, approval and publication of project lists; methods and standards for evaluating bidding documents and proposal documents in bidding for selecting investors for specialized road transport service works at projects managed by the Ministry of Transport. The most important task now is to review the standards and norms of rest stops to meet long-term needs in the future.
"The need for rest stops of course does not need further comment, but it is not urgent that we bid "big" just to do it. The Ministry of Transport's viewpoint is to look for methodical, professional investors, not just those with enough money to do it. Only then can we create a rest stop ecosystem with long-term benefits, meeting all needs both now and in the future," emphasized the representative of the Ministry of Transport.
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