Proposal to expand Cam Lo - La Son expressway under emergency order

The investment project to expand the North-South expressway, Cam Lo - La Son section, is proposed to apply an emergency construction order.

The Ho Chi Minh Road Project Management Board has just sent a document to the Ministry of Construction requesting approval to implement the North-South Expressway expansion project, Cam Lo - La Son section, according to the emergency construction order.

Explaining this proposal, the Ho Chi Minh Road Project Management Board said that up to now, the Board has completed the selection of a consulting contractor to implement the project. In addition, the project feasibility study report has been developed and submitted for appraisal and approval.

During the process of being assigned to the investor to prepare the project feasibility study report, the Ho Chi Minh Road Project Management Board immediately implemented the work of selecting consultants and urged relevant units to carry out procedures according to the schedule directed by the Ministry of Transport (now the Ministry of Construction). However, during the implementation process, some procedures were delayed, affecting the project progress.

Shorten construction procedures and processes

Based on the above reality, the Ho Chi Minh Road Project Management Board recommends that the Ministry of Construction report to the competent authority for approval for the project to be implemented according to the order and procedures for emergency construction works in order to shorten the construction start time, select contractors simultaneously with design and construction, minimize preparation time, shorten the construction start time and completion time.

In addition, the conversion of forest use purposes and environmental impact assessment will be carried out in parallel, ensuring the construction progress according to regulations.

Once approved, the Ho Chi Minh Road Project Management Board will proceed with the next steps in an urgent order, including contractor selection, construction design will be carried out simultaneously with design approval. The contractor will start construction immediately after the contract is signed, without having to wait for the design process to be completed.

Accordingly, the technical design will be approved, the contractor selected in special cases will be selected and construction will start in May 2025. Construction will take about 15 months (completed in August 2026), and it is expected that 60% of the contract value will be completed in 2025, with a disbursement value of more than VND 4,400 billion.

According to the Ho Chi Minh Road Project Management Board, if the project is implemented according to the usual plan, the project will not start until the end of August 2025 and will not be completed until December 2026. By the end of 2025, the project will have completed only 15% of the contract value with a disbursement value of more than VND 2,000 billion.

Previously, in October 2024, the Government approved the investment policy for the North-South Expressway expansion project in the East, Cam Lo - La Son section. The decision clearly stated the investment in expanding the roadbed, road surface and works on the route from 2 lanes to 4 lanes.

The project has a route length of about 98.35km. The starting point (Cam Lo) is at Km0+000, connecting to the end point of the expressway project section Van Ninh - Cam Lo in Cam Hieu commune, Cam Lo district, Quang Tri province. The end point (La Son) is at about Km102+200, connecting to the starting point of the La Son - Hoa Lien project in Loc Bon commune, Phu Loc district, Thua Thien Hue province.

The total investment of the project is about 6,488 billion VND from the State budget. Of which, the general reserve capital for the medium-term public investment plan from the central budget for the period 2021 - 2025 corresponding to the increased revenue from the central budget in 2023 approved by the National Assembly is 5,488 billion VND. The capital source for the medium-term public investment plan for the period 2026 - 2030 is 1,000 billion VND.

The project is implemented in Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue provinces, aiming to gradually complete the regional transport network according to the planning, improve the exploitation capacity, ensure traffic safety on the Cam Lo - La Son expressway and promote the effectiveness of the North - South expressway in the East.

Cam Lo - La Son Expressway will be put into operation from the end of 2022 with a 2-lane investment scale, without a hard median strip in the middle. Along the entire route, there are 9 overtaking sections designed with 4 lanes, with a median strip.

After being put into operation, there have been many traffic accidents on the Cam Lo - La Son highway. Among them, there are particularly serious cases such as the accident that occurred on February 18, 2024 between a 7-seat car and a tractor-trailer, killing 3 people.

Along with implementing measures to increase traffic, from April 4, 2024, the Vietnam Road Administration has banned passenger vans with more than 30 seats, sleeper buses, and trucks with 6 axles or more from entering the Cam Lo - La Son expressway to reduce traffic on the route.

Phan Trang

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/de-xuat-mo-rong-cao-toc-cam-lo-la-son-theo-lenh-khan-cap-10225041812573063.htm