Urgent need to renovate and upgrade Provincial Road 532

State of degradation
Provincial Road 532, which passes through 5 communes: Chau Loc, Lien Hop, Chau Tien, Chau Hong and Chau Thanh (Quy Hop), is about 28.5 km long and is severely damaged, making it difficult for people to trade and travel. The road is curved and near stone and ore mines, so heavy trucks often travel there; for the past 15 years, people have been extremely upset by the smoke and dust caused by stone trucks. In addition, the road surface is damaged, posing a potential risk of traffic accidents.

Mr. Vi Van Binh - a resident of Chau Tien commune (Quy Hop) said: The road surface is full of potholes. On hot sunny days, cars passing by are covered with dust, and when it rains, it is muddy and slippery, making it difficult for people and vehicles to travel here. Every day, hundreds of large and small trucks go in and out of the quarry to get stone, day and night. There have been many accidents, we hope that the authorities will pay attention to repairing and upgrading the road soon to reduce people's suffering.

The road surface on the border of Chau Tien and Lien Hop communes is peeling off. Photo: Chau Tuan

Mr. Truong Van Hoa - Chairman of Chau Hong Commune People's Committee (Quy Hop) said: The situation of oversized and overloaded vehicles transporting minerals from mines in Chau Hong and Chau Tien communes causing serious road degradation has been reflected at the forums of voters' contact with elected representatives; the affected communes and Quy Hop district have reported in writing to superiors. Although the province has invested funds to repair, after repairing one place, another place is damaged.

To fix the problem, the local people and authorities had to dump soil and rocks into the severely damaged areas. But this was only a temporary solution. The people of the communes have been waiting for an optimal solution for decades and this issue has been mentioned over and over again at meetings with voters!...

The section passing through Chau Loc commune (Quy Hop) is seriously degraded. Photo: Chau Tuan

This issue was also discussed by delegate Vi Van Quy - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Quy Hop district (delegate of the Provincial People's Council) at previous sessions of the Provincial People's Council as well as at the group discussion and question-and-answer sessions of recent Provincial People's Council sessions.

According to delegate Vi Van Quy, the province is implementing 3 National Target Programs, including economic development in ethnic minority areas. In fact, transportation plays a very important role, being the driving force for development. However, the degraded state of Provincial Road 532 passing through 5 communes: Chau Loc, Lien Hop, Chau Tien, Chau Hong and Chau Thanh has become one of the reasons hindering the development of the above localities. On the other hand, because the road is seriously degraded, it has caused many traffic accidents, affecting the psychology and safety of people traveling on this road.

People and vehicles traveling on the road face many difficulties. Photo: Chau Tuan

“The communes through which Provincial Road 532 passes are the “navel” of the mineral capital. Every year, these communes contribute hundreds of billions of VND to the provincial budget from collecting mineral exploitation taxes. Not to mention some regulations, localities with mineral exploitation activities must regulate resources to serve social security in that locality according to regulations. I propose that the Provincial People's Committee agree to switch from maintenance and repair to upgrading this road to contribute to the socio-economic development of Quy Hop district in general and the above 5 communes in particular, meeting the aspirations and expectations of local people for decades,” Mr. Vi Van Quy suggested.

Early upgrade and renovation

It is known that Provincial Route 532 is 28.5 km long, of which 17 km from Km0 - Km17 was converted from a district road to a provincial road according to Decision No. 5394/QD-UBND dated November 1, 2016 of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee. The current status of the route from Km0 - Km17 at the time of handover to be converted into a provincial road was damaged and degraded; for the old route from Km17 - Km28+500, due to being invested and built a long time ago, in addition to serving people's travel, the route also serves the transportation of stone from the mines on both sides of the route. Therefore, currently, the route has many degraded road sections that need to be repaired, the traffic safety and drainage systems are not yet synchronized (including reinforced dirt ditches and trapezoidal open ditches).

Recently, the Department of Transport has directed the management unit to strengthen regular maintenance, carry out route renovation, repair damaged items, and add signs to ensure traffic safety. In 2017-2020, the Department of Transport repaired the sections Km8 - Km10+500, Km7 - Km9+170, Km0+552 - Km4+500, Km9+790 - Km11+900, Km7 - Km8+340, Km8+773 - Km9+160, Km16+500 - Km17, and the spillway bridge on the route with a total investment of 12.8 billion VND. In 2021, the section Km0+550 - Km4+500 was repaired with a total investment of 7 billion VND. In 2022, repair section Km3+535 – Km7 and spillways Km4+480, Km4+850, Km5+550, Km6+925, with a total investment of 9.4 billion VND.

Survey on Provincial Road 532 through Chau Tien Commune, Quy Hop District. Photo: Chau Tuan

Mr. Hoang Phu Hien - Director of the Department of Transport said: Due to the difficulty in funding for maintenance work, while on Provincial Road 532 there are many sections of road surface that have degraded and are seriously damaged and need to be repaired, so recently, the department has prioritized repairing the road surface and damaged construction items, and adding culverts across the level crossing to ensure traffic safety.
The Department of Transport has also directed the management unit to strengthen the work of dredging longitudinal ditches, and at the same time, dig ditches for sections without ditches to ensure drainage along the entire route; including the section through the center of Chau Hong commune.

In 2023, the repair of the roadbed, road surface, and drainage system will be implemented for about 3,362 km with a cost of about 12 billion VND (including sections: Km4 + 342-Km4 + 628, Km4 + 960-Km6 + 029, Km6 + 247-Km7 + 100, Km9 + 700-Km10 + 800). At the same time, the Department will continue to coordinate with relevant sectors to advise the Provincial People's Committee to pay attention and arrange funds to overcome, repair damage and invest in building a longitudinal ditch system on the route (for necessary sections).

Regarding the proposal of the People's Committee of Quy Hop district on renovating and upgrading Provincial Road 532, at the meeting between Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung and leaders of Quy Hop district on August 22, 2023, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee agreed in principle to request the Provincial People's Committee to direct the Department of Transport and related departments, branches and sectors to renovate and upgrade Provincial Road 532; assign the Department of Transport to preside over and coordinate with the Department of Planning and Investment, the Department of Finance and related agencies to review the scale, prepare documents and procedures for investment preparation.
Implementing the conclusion of the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, the Department of Transport has submitted the investment policy, the Department of Planning and Investment has given its opinion; currently the Provincial People's Committee is appraising the investment policy to submit to the Provincial People's Council for approval.

Source: https://baonghean.vn/cap-thiet-viec-cai-tao-nang-cap-tinh-lo-532-post282255.html