Heavy trucks passing through Provincial Road 585C have increased dramatically, causing the road to deteriorate rapidly.

Provincial Road 585C is a provincial road invested in and built to connect the eastern part of Cam Lo district with localities in the province, serving the socio-economic development process. However, after the Cam Lo - La Son expressway was put into operation, the traffic volume of heavy vehicles passing through Provincial Road 585C increased dramatically, seriously affecting the infrastructure, people's lives and posing potential risks to traffic safety.

The increased traffic of heavy trucks has caused many sections of Provincial Road 585C to sink and become muddy during the rainy season - Photo: LT

" Struggling" to carry hundreds of heavy trucks every day

On Provincial Road 585C, through Lam Lang 1 village, Cam Thuy commune, Cam Lo district, Quang Tri Newspaper reporters noticed that the traffic volume on the route was quite high, mostly heavy 4-axle trucks, containers, passenger cars... coming and going from Cam Lo - La Son highway. The road surface in many sections had cracks, peeling, rutting and potholes. There were many deep grooves on both sides of the road, and in some places the situation was even more serious when the asphalt layer had peeled off, revealing layers of gravel and rocks.

Chairman of Cam Thuy Commune People's Committee Le Nhat Tien informed that after many years of construction, Provincial Road 585C when put into operation has created favorable conditions for people to travel as well as develop the local socio-economy. However, recently, many damaged spots have appeared on the route, posing potential risks of traffic safety due to the sudden increase in traffic volume.

Not to mention the shortcomings that began to be exposed, such as in the rainy season, this road becomes a "dyke" to block water, while the drainage system was not built properly, causing many residential areas to be flooded. Faced with this situation, people have repeatedly reported it, and the locality has also proposed appropriate solutions to upgrade the road.

According to the Department of Transport, Provincial Road 585C will be put into operation from September 2022 to connect the eastern part of Cam Lo district with other localities in the province. Previously, the operation of this route was relatively stable with about 411 vehicles per day, of which the number of heavy trucks was about 100 vehicles.

However, since the Cam Lo - La Son expressway section was put into use from December 31, 2022, the traffic volume from this expressway to National Highway 1 via Provincial Road 585C and vice versa has increased dramatically, especially heavy trucks, tractor-trailers...

Specifically, the current number of vehicles passing through the route is about 1,320 vehicles/day, of which heavy trucks with 4 axles or more have increased nearly 4.5 times with about 450 vehicles/day compared to when the highway was not yet in operation. This has seriously affected the traffic infrastructure on the route, while also posing many potential risks of causing traffic safety loss and disrupting people's lives.

Proposal to convert Provincial Road 585C into a national highway

According to the Department of Transport, Provincial Road 585C was previously part of the Cam Hieu Bridge Construction Investment Project in Cam Lo District, with the Traffic Construction Investment Project Management Board (now the Provincial Construction Investment Project Management Board) as the investor representative. The project was implemented at the end of 2012, but due to insufficient funding, problems with site clearance and flooding, and multiple design adjustments, it was delayed and delayed in completion.

After nearly 10 years of construction, on September 15, 2022, the 3,314 km long route was handed over for management and operation with the final settlement value of the project being 129 billion VND (Cam Hieu bridge alone is worth 48.8 billion VND). This route was then assigned by the Provincial People's Committee to the Department of Transport for management.

According to the design, Provincial Road 585C is a level III plain road, with a 12 m wide roadbed and a 7 m wide asphalt concrete road surface. The route starts at km 0+00, intersects with National Highway 9 at km 8+750 in Cam Hieu commune, Cam Lo district and ends at km 3+314, intersects with National Highway 9, the northern bypass of Dong Ha city, at km 3+900 through Cam Thuy commune, Cam Lo district.

Deputy Director of the Department of Transport Tran Ngoc Son said that the road surface structure of Provincial Road 585C is much lower than that of neighboring national highways. On the other hand, because it is in the investment phase, mainly serving local traffic, the project when put into use does not ensure the required cross-sectional scale and elastic modulus to serve vehicles participating in traffic such as national highways and expressways.

Therefore, when the Cam Lo - La Son expressway was put into use, the number of vehicles on Provincial Road 585C increased dramatically, greatly affecting the traffic infrastructure. To overcome this, the unit continuously inspected and directed the Traffic Maintenance Management Board and the road management unit to supplement the sign system and paint the speed bump clusters.

At the same time, from the beginning of 2023 to now, the road management unit has carried out 7 repairs with an area of about 500 m2. However, due to limited regular maintenance funding, the damage cannot be completely repaired.

According to Mr. Son, with the increasing traffic density on the route as it is now, the potential risk of traffic accidents and damage to traffic infrastructure is too obvious. While the province's budget is still limited, maintenance and upkeep face many difficulties.

Faced with this situation, on April 3, 2023, the Provincial People's Committee sent a document to the Ministry of Transport proposing to convert Provincial Road 585C from a local road to a national highway; The Department of Transport also sent a document reporting to the Vietnam Road Administration on the transfer of Provincial Road 585C to join National Highway 9, the southern bypass of Dong Ha City, to ensure connectivity, synchronization and capacity for long-distance vehicles when entering and exiting the Cam Lo - La Son expressway. However, because Provincial Road 585C is not included in the local road planning to be converted into a national highway, the Ministry of Transport has no basis to implement the transfer.

“In the coming time, we will continue to propose planning adjustments and add Provincial Road 585C to the national highway to increase its operational capacity and ensure smooth and safe traffic. In the immediate future, the Department of Transport requests the Provincial People's Committee to allocate capital and upgrade some key locations of the route to serve the work of ensuring traffic safety on the route while waiting for the decision of the Ministry of Transport,” Mr. Tran Ngoc Son added.

Le Truong

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