Preparing to invest in the project to renovate and upgrade National Highway 14D

Traffic and cargo volume through National Highway 14D is increasing dramatically.

According to this decision, the project to renovate and upgrade National Highway 14D in Quang Nam is on the list of 18 investment, upgrade and repair projects for traffic on inter-regional and local highways and national highways that are being prepared for investment in 2024.

Mr. Thieu Viet Dung - Deputy Head of Quang Nam Economic Zone and Industrial Park Management Board said: Quang Nam Provincial People's Committee has proposed methods of opening new routes or investing in public-private partnerships (PPP) but they could not be implemented for upgrading and expanding National Highway 14D. Quang Nam has decided to "ask" the Central Government for investment from the budget.

QL 14D is on the list of roads approved by the Government for the 2021-2025 road network planning (with a vision to 2050) with a scale of level III - VI, 2 - 4 lanes. However, the 2021-2025 medium-term investment plan does not include QL 14-D. The Ministry of Transport said that there is no plan to balance capital sources (about 2,500 billion VND) to upgrade and expand the national highway during this period. The increasing volume of goods transported from Laos to Central Vietnam has caused QL 14D to become increasingly damaged and seriously degraded.

Mr. Van Anh Tuan - Director of Quang Nam Department of Transport said that he had surveyed and calculated the traffic volume, identified points, sharp bends, narrow corners, stopping points... and proposed plans to upgrade and expand to ensure traffic safety and meet transport capacity... Currently, the transport sector is carrying out periodic repairs, maintenance, and upkeep of roads, "fixing where it breaks".

National Highway 14D is increasingly damaged. The local transport sector only carries out regular maintenance and repair work, and has no capital to invest.

Unable to find a method and capital for investment, the People's Committee of Quang Nam province sent a document and proposal to the central government. Most recently, on August 17, 2023, Quang Nam proposed that the central government study, propose, and add the project "Expanding and upgrading National Highway 14D to the list of projects using foreign loans to upgrade and renovate national highways connecting Laos", public investment (2021 - 2025 and 2026 - 2030). It is expected that the investment cost to expand and upgrade National Highway 14D, from Ben Gieng bridge to Nam Giang international border gate (about 76km) according to standards to ensure convenient and safe transportation of container trucks will be about 2,800 billion VND.

Mr. Thieu Viet Dung - Deputy Head of the Management Board of Quang Nam Economic Zones and Industrial Parks said that this initial capital (more than 4.6 billion VND) is used to prepare documents and submit them to the Government for decision on investment policy. It is not yet known how much capital the Government will decide to invest in this project and when the implementation will start. However, this move shows that this is an opportunity for National Highway 14D to be invested with budget capital, opening up an East-West Economic Corridor 2 (EWEC2) in the future.

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/chuan-bi-dau-tu-du-an-cai-tao-nang-cap-quoc-lo-14d-3147085.html