The Eastern bypass of Thanh Hoa City is seriously degraded.

Section QL1, the eastern bypass of Thanh Hoa City, is degraded, the road surface is damaged, posing a potential risk to traffic safety.

According to people's feedback, the section of National Highway 1, the eastern bypass of Thanh Hoa City, is seriously degraded, making travel difficult for people.

Section QL1, the eastern bypass of Thanh Hoa City, invested by Thanh Hoa City Bypass BOT Joint Stock Company, was put into use in 2009 with a total length of more than 10km.

In reality, over the past years, the section of National Highway 1, the bypass route through Thanh Hoa City, which is more than 10km long, has seriously degraded, posing a potential risk to traffic safety, but has not been overhauled, causing frustration for traffic participants.

"This road is badly damaged and stretches from the intersection of Quang Thinh ward to the Big C roundabout. The road surface is uneven and patched like a torn shirt with patchy stitching. It is dusty in the dry season and waterlogged in the rainy season. Driving on the road is like riding a horse on a forest road," said Mr. NVN, a resident of Thanh Hoa city.

Water stagnates on the roadside every time it rains.

It is known that the National Highway 1 section, the eastern bypass of Thanh Hoa City, invested by Thanh Hoa City Bypass BOT Joint Stock Company, was put into use in 2009 with a total length of more than 10km and a roadbed width of 26m.

The route is designed with four lanes for motor vehicles and two lanes for non-motor vehicles, a 5-meter wide median strip, and five bridges and intersections. The total initial investment capital of the project is VND822 billion, under the BOT form.

According to the contract and appendices of the project contract between the Vietnam Road Administration (now the Vietnam Road Administration) and the investor, the toll collection period to recover capital for the Thanh Hoa City bypass is expected to be implemented within 27 years and 8 months, and the toll collection period to generate profit will be extended by 3 years.

However, in August 2017, after assessing the situation, the Ministry of Transport concluded that the operator had recovered more than the investment capital, so it requested to stop the operation of the Tao Xuyen BOT station after 7 years and 2 months.

Expansion joints on bridges are also loose and not repaired regularly.

Since then, the maintenance and repair of the eastern bypass of Thanh Hoa City has been left in limbo. For many years, representatives of the Thanh Hoa Bypass BOT Joint Stock Company said that due to the cessation of toll collection, there was no source of funding to repair damage and ensure traffic.

On the other hand, the route has not been handed over from Thanh Hoa Bypass BOT Joint Stock Company to the Ministry of Transport (now the Ministry of Construction). To ensure the safety of traffic participants, Highway QLDB II has directed Road Management and Construction Joint Stock Company 472 to maintain and repair it, but it is still mainly temporary.

In the past, temporary patching was only temporary, making it difficult for people to travel.

Regarding this issue, speaking with Giao thong Newspaper, Mr. Trinh Dinh Quang, Deputy General Director of Thanh Hoa Bypass BOT Joint Stock Company, said that currently, the National Highway 1 section, Thanh Hoa City bypass has been handed over to Highway QLDB II. Maintenance and repair are undertaken by Highway QLDB II.

Regarding this, Mr. Bui Trong Tue, Head of the Office of Highway Management II.1 (under Highway Management Area II) said: "This section of the route is in the process of inventorying assets for handover and has not yet established public ownership, so the Ministry has not yet allocated funds for regular maintenance."

According to Mr. Tue, over the years, the road has not been repaired, causing severe damage to the road surface, causing traffic safety problems. In this situation, in 2023, Highway QLDB II mobilized nearly 4 billion VND to repair the road surface, sign systems, paint lines, expansion joints, etc.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/tuyen-duong-tranh-phia-dong-tp-thanh-hoa-xuong-cap-nghiem-trong-192250221162211447.htm