Activating the process of upgrading Cam Lo - La Son expressway, revealing the starting time
Investment preparation work for the North-South Expressway Expansion Project in the East, Cam Lo - La Son section from 2 lanes to 4 lanes is being accelerated by ministries and branches so that construction can begin in January 2025.
Clarify the need for early upgrade
The urgency can be seen in Official Dispatch No. 5121/BKHĐT-PTHTĐT that the Ministry of Planning and Investment has just sent to 8 ministries, branches and People's Committees of provinces and cities: Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue, Da Nang City to request opinions on the Pre-Feasibility Study Report of the North-South Expressway Expansion Project in the East, Cam Lo - La Son section proposed by the Ministry of Transport.
This dispatch was issued just 2 working days after the Ministry of Planning and Investment was assigned by Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha to preside over and coordinate with relevant agencies to appraise the Pre-Feasibility Study Report of the North-South Expressway Expansion Project, Eastern section, Cam Lo - La Son section in accordance with legal regulations.
In the above dispatch, it is worth noting that the Ministry of Planning and Investment requested the Ministry of Finance to give its opinion on the necessity, suitability with the planning, and impact of the Project on the general socio-economic development; capital sources and the ability to balance capital (capital sources to increase revenue, save regular expenditures of the Central budget in 2023; expected disbursement plan of this capital source; ability to arrange other capital sources in the period 2026 - 2030, if any).
Because the North-South Expressway Expansion Project, Eastern section, Cam Lo - La Son section is an upgrade and renovation project of existing works, the Ministry of Planning and Investment consults the Ministry of Finance on the compliance with legal regulations on public assets for the implementation of the new project.
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| An existing section of the Cam Lo – La Son expressway with 2 lanes. Photo: AM |
In fact, the Cam Lo-La Son section project of the North-South Expressway Construction Project, Phase I (2017-2020) was also only inaugurated on the last day of 2022.
As the state management agency for construction, the Ministry of Construction is requested to give its opinion on the preliminary total investment, investment rate, and preliminary calculation method of the total investment, including clarifying the suitability of construction investment cost items in the Pre-Feasibility Study Report of the North-South Expressway Expansion Project, Eastern Section, Cam Lo - La Son Section.
The Ministry of Construction will also have to give opinions on the scope, scale, technical infrastructure; preliminary design of the Project, including assessing the utilization and transfer of items from the old project; reviewing the implementation of contracts (including warranty terms) of the old project; investment in intelligent transportation systems (ITS), toll stations, and vehicle weight inspection stations on the La Son - Tuy Loan section.
The People's Committees of Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue and Da Nang will give their opinions on the necessity of investment, its conformity with regional and provincial planning, the impact of the project on the socio-economic development of the locality; scope, scale, technical infrastructure; connection points, service roads, bypasses, related projects in the area; land use plan, site clearance and resettlement (if any)...
“In order to promptly synthesize the appraisal results, ministries, branches and 3 localities must study and give appraisal opinions on the Project Pre-Feasibility Study Report and send it to the Ministry of Planning and Investment before July 20, 2024,” Official Dispatch No. 5121 stated.
Previously, in early June 2024, the Ministry of Transport issued Document No. 6182/TTr-BGTVT requesting the Prime Minister to consider and approve the Pre-Feasibility Study Report of the North-South Expressway Expansion Project, Eastern section, Cam Lo - La Son section.
This is one of the North-South expressways in the East that the Ministry of Transport has assessed as having urgent needs and needs to be prioritized for upgrading and expanding immediately in this term, including: La Son - Hoa Lien, Cam Lo - La Son, Cao Bo - Mai Son, Trung Luong - My Thuan.
Of which, the North-South expressway section in the East is Cam Lo - La Son with the longest length of 98.35 km, of which the route through Quang Tri province is 36.3 km, Thua Thien Hue is 62.05 km.
According to Mr. Nguyen Vu Quy, Director of the Ho Chi Minh Road Project Management Board, the unit assigned to prepare the investment for the Project, the Cam Lo - La Son route is currently in operation with most sections having a scale of 2 lanes, a roadbed width of 12 m, and a road surface width of 11 m; the deep excavation sections have a scale of 2 lanes, a roadbed width of 23.25 m, and a road surface width of 11 m; the overtaking sections have a scale of 4 lanes, a roadbed width of 23.25 m, and a road surface width of 21.25 m.
There are also 38 bridges on the route, of which 4 bridges have been completed with a complete 4-lane scale and 34 bridges with a 2-lane scale.
“The scale of the North-South Expressway, Cam Lo – La Son section, clearly cannot meet the increasing transportation demand, improve operational capacity and ensure traffic safety on the route,” the leader of the Ho Chi Minh Road Project Management Board assessed.
Will charge a return fee
It should be added that, in Document No. 6182, the Ministry of Transport explained the rapid "backwardness" of the Cam Lo - La Son expressway.
According to Mr. Nguyen Danh Huy, Deputy Minister of Transport, when implementing the investment in the Cam Lo - La Son expressway section according to Resolution No. 52/2014/QH14 dated November 22, 2017 of the National Assembly, there was no plan to exploit coal mines in Sekong and Salavan provinces (Laos). However, from 2022 to present, coal mines in Sekong and Salavan provinces (with reserves of 0.8 - 1 billion tons) have been exploited, mainly exported through Vietnam's border gates and seaports (Chan May wharf area and Thuan An wharf area), leading to increased transportation demand on the Cam Lo - La Son expressway with a scale of 2 lanes, especially heavy-duty vehicles and container trucks with a speed of 30 - 35 km/h.
Statistics from Thua Thien Hue province show that the current traffic volume on the expressway reaches 6,000 vehicles/day and night, approaching the forecast figure of 7,545 vehicles/day and night by 2025.
This is one of the reasons why drivers on the route have to encroach on lanes and recklessly overtake, causing traffic insecurity on the Cam Lo - La Son expressway section.
“Therefore, expanding the Cam Lo – La Son section from a 2-lane scale to a complete 4-lane scale, in addition to synchronizing the North-South Eastern Expressway that is being invested with a scale of 4-6 lanes, also helps to solve the increasing transportation demand, improve the exploitation capacity and ensure traffic safety on the route,” said the leader of the Ministry of Transport.
According to the proposal of the Ministry of Transport, the project will expand the cross-section of the existing Cam Lo - La Son expressway from 2 lanes to 4 lanes, the roadbed width from 12 m to 22 m, the road surface width from 11 m to 20.5 m. The sections with 23.25 m roadbed investment will have their cross-sections restructured to expand the emergency stop strip.
The project will invest in completing 2 intersections with Provincial Road 16 and Provincial Road 12B in the form of different levels of connection, ensuring synchronous and safe exploitation; maintain the invested bridges with a scale of 4 lanes; expand the remaining bridges to ensure a scale of 4 lanes, the bridge width is suitable for the width of the roadbed.
The works on the route will be utilized, extended or newly built to suit the width of the roadbed; service roads will be built to ensure regional connectivity and people's welfare.
In addition to upgrading and expanding the main highway, the project also invests in an intelligent traffic system, toll stations, and vehicle weight inspection stations on the La Son - Tuy Loan section.
With the above investment scale, the preliminary total investment of the Project is about 7,000 billion VND, invested from the state budget, expected to be arranged from increased revenue and regular expenditure savings of the central budget in 2023, which has been submitted by the Government to the National Assembly in Document No. 12/TTr-CP dated May 17, 2024.
It is estimated that the total land area occupied by the Project is not large, about 29.05 hectares (0.57 hectares of traffic land; 1.65 hectares of residential land and 26.83 hectares of various types of land), with compensation, support and resettlement costs (including contingency) of about 92 billion VND.
Based on the necessity, urgency, and investment efficiency, to ensure successful implementation and early completion of the expansion of the Cam Lo - La Son Expressway, the Ministry of Transport proposes to implement the Project in the form of public investment, after completing the development of a plan to recover state capital. This is also a form of mobilizing social resources to continue investing in infrastructure in general and transport infrastructure in particular.
To ensure sufficient and timely material sources for the Project, the Ministry of Transport proposes to apply a mechanism that does not require the issuance of a license to exploit minerals for common construction materials included in the Construction Materials Survey File serving the Project.
According to the leader of the Ministry of Transport, the implementation of expressways in recent times has shown that the supply of materials for the Project is still difficult and inadequate.
According to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 64 of the Law on Minerals, mineral mines used as common construction materials are included in the construction material survey dossier for the project, but are not located in the land area of the construction project, and must undergo licensing procedures. Meanwhile, the licensing procedures for new mines according to the provisions of the Law on Minerals are complicated, lasting through many stages and levels, and have not met the progress of project implementation.
Therefore, the Ministry of Transport recommends that the Project should apply the above-mentioned special mechanism to shorten the time and ensure the supply of materials, promote disbursement, put the project into operation soon, and promote socio-economic efficiency.
“Currently, the route has basically cleared the land. If these policy mechanisms are approved, the project will complete the preparation work by the end of 2024 so that contractors can be selected and construction can be organized in early 2025; and the project will be completed by the end of 2025 (excluding the time affected by rain and floods), Mr. Huy emphasized.
Because the investment policy for the Hoa Lien - Tuy Loan and La Son - Hoa Lien expressway sections was approved at different times, under the condition that the capital allocated for the projects is limited, only the infrastructure for the ITS system has been invested in because the ITS equipment item will be studied and invested later to ensure the synchronization of equipment, convenience in the management and operation of the ITS system of the projects on the section from Cam Lo to Tuy Loan; the ETC toll collection item and vehicle load inspection station have not been invested in yet.
Therefore, the Ministry of Transport proposed that the Prime Minister allow investment in ITS smart traffic equipment, ETC toll stations, and vehicle load inspection stations on the La Son - Tuy Loan section in the North - South Expressway Expansion Project, Eastern section, Cam Lo - La Son.
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