Address infrastructure issues more promptly
National Highway 17B passes through Kim Thanh district, about 14 km long, the road surface is about 5.5 m wide, with heavy traffic.
Mr. Nguyen Van Thai in Dong Cam Commune (Kim Thanh) said that National Highway 17B is narrow and has many vehicles passing by, including many container trucks from Hai Phong. There are many residential areas, factories, enterprises, schools on both sides of the road, and many complicated intersections, so there is always a potential risk of traffic accidents. Kim Thanh voters hope that the road will soon be upgraded and expanded to meet travel and trade needs.
Responding to voters' opinions on this issue in January 2024, the Ministry of Transport acknowledged voters' recommendations and will study to prioritize capital allocation in investment to renovate and upgrade National Highway 17B when resource conditions allow according to regulations.
However, in the immediate future, due to the limited allocation of the Ministry of Transport's medium-term public investment plan for the 2021-2025 period, the remaining resources are focused on national target programs, important national projects, and strategic transport infrastructure projects under the direction of the National Assembly and the Government, so it is not possible to allocate capital to implement investment in upgrading National Highway 17B in particular and other routes in general.
It was not until October 31, 2024 that the Vietnam Road Administration approved the project to repair damaged foundations and surfaces of National Highway 17B, section km17+900 - km20+500; replace the sign system; paint road markings on sections from km17+900 - km28+890; and add a traffic safety system at school gates (km21+180, km25+200, km27+600). The project has a total investment of nearly 15.6 billion VND from the capital source for road economic activities.
However, the repaired section is only over 2 km, too little compared to the overall route.
In the future, when decentralizing national highway management is implemented, the province will be more proactive in planning and implementing maintenance projects, upgrading the traffic system, and implementing infrastructure renovation and repair projects in a flexible and timely manner. Localities will also be proactive in handling and overcoming infrastructure shortcomings more quickly.
Decentralization of responsibility
From January 2025, the provincial People's Committees will be decentralized to manage national highways in the provinces and centrally run cities, and infrastructure works associated with national highways will be decentralized. This is clearly stated in Article 4 of Decree 165/2024/ND-CP dated December 26, 2024 detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Road Law and Article 77 of the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety, effective from January 1, 2025. Particularly, expressways are managed by the Ministry of Transport; National Highway 1, Ho Chi Minh Road, national highways with special requirements, national highways assigned to state-owned enterprises for investment, construction, management, operation, exploitation... are not decentralized to the provinces for management.
Capital sources for investment, construction, management, operation, exploitation and maintenance of national highway infrastructure when decentralized to provincial People's Committees are implemented in accordance with the provisions of law.
The Ministry of Transport is currently drafting a circular regulating the decentralization of national highway management. According to the draft, Hai Duong will be decentralized to manage 3 routes including National Highway 37 (km26+480 - km99+680), National Highway 38B (km0 - km19+150), National Highway 17B (km15+500 - km28+890).
In fact, the Ministry of Transport has authorized the Department of Transport to manage the above 3 national highways. However, the decentralization is not thorough, and the role of the provincial People's Committee in managing, operating, exploiting and maintaining the routes is unclear. The management authorization is likened to "taking care of the road", all matters related to repair and maintenance must be consulted with the Department of Roads.
Therefore, when the provincial People's Committee is decentralized to manage national highways, localities will be more proactive. This is considered an important step in the administrative reform process, not only helping to reduce the burden on the central government but also promoting the initiative and creativity of localities in managing and maintaining the national highway system.
The Decree also clearly states the responsibilities of the provincial People's Committee for the decentralized national highways. The provincial People's Committee is responsible for managing, operating, exploiting, maintaining, and protecting the road infrastructure of the decentralized national highways, ensuring synchronous traffic connections in terms of load capacity and means of transport on the decentralized national highway sections with the roads in the road network planning, road infrastructure planning, and ensuring convenient traffic connections with other roads in the area.
The Ministry of Transport will inspect and examine decentralized national highways to ensure scale and quality according to road network planning, and compliance with technical regulations and standards in the road sector.
To ensure effective decentralization of national highway management, appropriate support policies are needed so that national highway system maintenance work can be carried out synchronously and effectively.
PVSource: https://baohaiduong.vn/phan-quyen-quan-ly-quoc-lo-dia-phuong-chu-dong-xu-ly-bat-cap-ha-tang-402916.html
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