Proposal of over 152,000 billion VND to expand 1,144km of North-South expressway

The Ministry of Construction has just sent a report to the Prime Minister on research on investment in expanding the eastern sections of the North-South Expressway in the 2017-2020 and 2021-2025 phases on a complete scale.

The North-South Eastern Expressway has a total length of 2,063 km, starting at Huu Nghi border gate (Lang Son) and ending at Ca Mau. The expressway consists of 39 sections. Of which, many expressways are being built in the form of investment phases.

The Ministry of Construction said that in the previous investment phase, the roadbed was basically built on one side compared to the planned centerline, with 2 roofs invested, so when the investment is completed according to the plan, the roadbed will be expanded to the other side.

The Ministry of Construction has proposed expanding sections of the North-South Expressway in the East. Photo: N. Huyen

Accordingly, the plan to expand to 6 lanes has more advantages than the plan to expand to 4 complete lanes. Therefore, in the case of investment, the Ministry of Construction recommends expanding to 6 lanes according to the planning scale.

"Regarding the scope, to facilitate construction work, speed up investment progress, disbursement, and meet transportation needs, in the immediate future, consider the scope of the North-South expressway in the East, belonging to the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City section, with an investment length of about 1,144km and a preliminary total investment of about 152,135 billion VND," the Ministry of Construction informed.

According to the Ministry of Construction, there are 5 necessary reasons to invest in expanding the North-South expressway in the East.

First of all, the expansion of the expressway aims to implement the Party and State's policy on investing in completing the diverging expressways; the Prime Minister has issued telegrams and notices directing investment in completing the routes to meet expressway standards.

Second, meet the increasing transportation demand in line with the country's GDP growth, over 10% or more.

Third, the expansion investment to improve exploitation capacity and enhance traffic safety due to the exploitation of some expressways with investment phases (limited 4 lanes, 17m roadbed width without continuous emergency stopping strips) has caused some problems.

Fourth, in accordance with highway standards. On November 15, 2024, the national technical regulations on highways were issued. In particular, the regulations stipulate that highways must have a minimum scale of 4 lanes, with emergency lanes arranged continuously. Meanwhile, the North-South Eastern Expressway, which is currently the most important vertical axis, is currently arranged with emergency lanes that are not continuous.

Finally, the investment in upgrading and expanding contributes to achieving the GDP growth target of 8% or more in 2025 and double-digit growth in the 2026-2030 period as directed by the Party Central Committee and the Politburo, promoting public investment, creating favorable conditions to support and stimulate economic development.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/de-xuat-dau-tu-hon-152-000-ty-dong-mo-rong-1-144km-cao-toc-bac-nam-2383923.html