Develop a scenario to cool down the "hot spot" of Cam Lo highway

Develop a scenario to cool down the "hot spot" of Cam Lo - Hoa Lien highway

The 163.3 km long Cam Lo - Hoa Lien route (of which the Cam Lo - La Son section is 98.35 km long, the La Son - Hoa Lien section is 64.95 km long) is currently one of the 5 most congested highways in the country because it only has 2 lanes with a cross-section of 12 m.

Early termination

Although not the investor, only playing the role of the locality where the route passes through, in Official Dispatch No. 2854/UBND-GT sent to the Ministry of Transport (MOT) earlier this week, the People's Committee of Thua Thien Hue province made a series of detailed and highly practical recommendations related to the investment plan and upgrading of the Cam Lo - La Son and La Son - Hoa Lien expressways.

Accordingly, the People's Committee of Thua Thien Hue province proposed to continue investing in phase II of the entire Cam Lo - Hoa Lien expressway to meet the 4-lane standard; at the same time, complete the construction of 4 interchanges; add 1 more interchange at Provincial Road 15 - Km95+600 on the Cam Lo - La Son expressway.

Mr. Nguyen Van Phuong, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, said that the proposed additional connection point is a direct connection point to Phu Bai Industrial Park and Phu Bai International Airport, combined with the expansion and extension of the feeder road along the highway connecting from Provincial Road 15, the western bypass of Hue City to the intersection with Provincial Road 14B, creating conditions for fast and convenient transportation of passengers and goods, reducing the load on National Highway 1.

In addition, the leader of the People's Committee of Thua Thien Hue province proposed that the Ministry of Transport adjust the sections of the route with small curve radius, large turning angle, large longitudinal slope, and limited visibility, ensuring compliance with expressway standards for heavy-duty vehicles and container trucks to participate in traffic, ensuring smooth traffic on the route, improving traffic capacity and safety.

“Authorities also need to soon install lighting systems at expressway entry and exit points, telecommunications broadcasting stations, camera systems, and intelligent transportation systems (ITS) to monitor, handle, and manage more conveniently, safely, and effectively,” the Chairman of the People's Committee of Thua Thien Hue province proposed.

It should be added that according to the Road Network Planning for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050, the Cam Lo - Hoa Lien expressway section is planned to have 6 lanes; the investment process is before 2030.

The Cam Lo - La Son expressway, 98.35 km long, will be put into use from December 31, 2022; the La Son - Hoa Lien expressway, 64.95 km long, will be put into operation from April 2022.

This is one of the 5 expressways in the country that currently has 2 lanes, a road surface width of 11 m, a roadbed width of 12 m, and only overpasses that meet the standard of 4 lanes, a road surface width of 21.5 m, and a roadbed width of 23 m.

According to the calculation of traffic capacity, the La Son - Hoa Lien section with the current 2-lane scale can only meet transportation needs until 2028; from 2028 onwards, it must be upgraded to a 4-lane scale.

In addition, due to no toll collection, most heavy trucks and cross-Vietnam container trucks have abandoned National Highway 1 to join the Cam Lo - Hoa Lien expressway, causing traffic congestion on this expressway, posing a very high risk of traffic safety.

“The investment in expanding the Cam Lo - La Son and La Son - Hoa Lien sections (Quang Tri - Thua Thien Hue - Da Nang) to a scale of 4 lanes is very urgent to soon synchronize the North - South expressway system through the Central region, improve operational capacity, and ensure traffic safety,” the leader of the People's Committee of Thua Thien Hue province assessed.

Priority investment in 4 lanes

According to Dau Tu Newspaper, by the end of March 2024, the Ministry of Transport had received the project appraisal results and capital appraisal for the "upgrade" of the North-South expressway in the East, the La Son - Hoa Lien expressway section from the Ministry of Planning and Investment on the basis of the Pre-Feasibility Study Report prepared by the Ministry of Transport with a total investment of about 3,011 billion VND, from the state budget.

In Report No. 2155/BC-BKHĐT, the Ministry of Planning and Investment said that the North-South Expressway expansion project in the East, La Son - Hoa Lien section, has capital sources and the ability to balance capital in accordance with Decision No. 888/QD-TTg dated July 24, 2023 on assigning the central budget capital investment plan of the Socio-Economic Recovery and Development Program; assigning and adjusting the Medium-term Public Investment Plan of the central budget capital for the period 2021 - 2025.

However, the Ministry of Planning and Investment noted that the Ministry of Transport needs to review the progress of the Project implementation, ensuring the disbursement of all assigned capital plans (2023: VND 1,173 billion; 2024: VND 1,200 billion; 2024: VND 1,809.8 billion).

Previously, the Ministry of Transport proposed an investment plan to upgrade the La Son - Hoa Lien section in the direction of maintaining the current highway level, expanding the road surface, and constructions on the route to ensure a scale of 4 lanes, instead of investing according to the planning scale.

"It is forecasted that by 2040, the traffic volume on the La Son - Hoa Lien route will be about 30,073 converted vehicles/day and night and by 2050 it will be about 44,037 converted vehicles/day and night, so the route will be expanded to 4 lanes to meet the transportation demand until 2050 (full load)", Mr. Nguyen Danh Huy, Deputy Minister of Transport analyzed.

For the Cam Lo - La Son section, the Ministry of Transport has assigned the Ho Chi Minh Road Project Management Board to study and prepare a pre-feasibility study report for the project to invest in expanding the section to a scale of 4 lanes, similar to the investment plan to expand the La Son - Hoa Lien section. Preliminary estimates show that the total cost to upgrade the Cam Lo - La Son section to a standard 4-lane scale is about 6,715 billion VND.

A major advantage for upgrading the Cam Lo - Hoa Lien expressway is that the majority of the land has been cleared by the Ministry of Transport to a scale of 4 lanes right in the phase. Therefore, as soon as the project is approved and funding is arranged, both Cam Lo - La Son and La Son - Hoa Lien expressway upgrade projects will only take a maximum of 2 years to construct.

“We are reporting to the competent authority the investment plan to expand the Cam Lo - La Son section using excess revenue in 2023; at the same time, it is expected to be included in the priority investment list in the Medium-Term Public Investment Plan 2025 - 2030 to soon invest in expanding the section to exploit synchronously, ensuring efficiency and long-term”, said the leader of the Ministry of Transport.

Source