The highway runs ahead, the rest stop is 'slow'

While the expressways are being accelerated with the goal of reaching 3,000 km of road by the end of 2025, the construction of rest stops seems to be “slow”. Many problems regarding land and implementation procedures need to be resolved to ensure the operation of rest stops in sync with the expressways.

The rest stop at Km427+035 Nghi Son - Dien Chau highway is currently a temporary rest stop. Photo: Huu Quyet/VNA

There are 24 newly invested rest stops along the entire North-South Expressway in the East. Up to this point, 21 stations have signed contracts with investors; 3 stations are completing investment procedures. Of the 21 stations that have signed contracts, 16 are under construction; of which, 5 stations have built the foundation, the rest are mainly gathering materials and leveling the ground. In addition, 5 stations have not yet started construction because they have just signed contracts or have been slow to hand over the site.

According to the assessment of the Vietnam Road Administration, the progress of investment in rest stops is an urgent requirement to serve the people and create conditions for toll collection on expressways invested by the State. However, the overall progress is still slow compared to the plan.

One of the main reasons is the change in the scale of investment in rest stops. Previously, each station only had an area of ​​about 1 hectare, but according to Decision No. 938/QD-BGTVT dated July 31, 2023 on approving the rest stop network on the North-South expressway in the East, the required scale increased from 3 - 5 hectares to meet service functions. This makes the adjustment procedure longer, while many new regulations on land also make it difficult to clear land in localities.

Some rest stop projects are slow to develop, mainly due to problems in site clearance, slow handover by local authorities to investors, and lack of clean land, affecting the completion of construction items.

Specifically, at the Km144+560 rest stop of the Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet component project, by October 2025, the locality had only handed over more than 1.7 hectares out of a total of 10.8 hectares. Similarly, Khanh Hoa province has not yet handed over the entire site at the Km33+930 rest stop (Nha Trang - Cam Lam project) or the Km90+900 station (Cam Lam - Vinh Hao project), affecting the construction progress of investors.

Recently, at the 21st meeting of the State Steering Committee for important national projects and works, key to the transport sector, the Minister of Construction requested localities such as Quang Tri, Quang Ngai, Khanh Hoa, Lam Dong, Dong Nai to completely resolve existing problems and difficulties to hand over the entire remaining land of rest stops on the Eastern North-South Expressway in November 2025.

The investment in building rest stops is to serve the essential needs of traffic participants on the national arterial highway. Slow construction progress not only affects the reputation of the investor but also directly impacts the goal of synchronous development of infrastructure and services on the North-South highway.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thach, Vietnam Traffic Safety Association emphasized that rest stops must be identified as a project to ensure road safety. Therefore, when constructing, investors need to synchronously deploy essential items.

“If funding is difficult, priority can be given to building basic items such as toilets, gas stations, places for drivers to check their vehicles... Rest stops in areas with low traffic density and no commercial potential should be directly managed by the State and provided with essential services,” Mr. Thach suggested.

Speaking to VNA reporters, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Road Administration Nguyen Thanh Hoai said: The Vietnam Road Administration and project management boards under the Ministry of Construction are making efforts to speed up progress and complete the stations by the end of 2025. Investors are actively implementing the construction of rest stops on the North-South expressways.

“In the immediate future, by the end of 2025, the system of entrances and exits, parking lots, and restrooms will be completed. By the first quarter of 2026, the service, technical, food, gas station, charging station, etc. areas will be completed to ensure smooth, safe, and efficient traffic on the entire expressway, while also bringing convenience to traffic participants,” Deputy Director Nguyen Thanh Hoai informed.

The Vietnam Road Administration also assigned the Appraisal Department to strengthen on-site inspection and supervision, promptly detect and remove difficulties for contractors; at the same time, require investors to commit to specific monthly progress, assigning responsibility to the head of each rest stop.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/kinh-te/cao-toc-chay-truoc-tram-dung-nghi-cham-nhip-20251117085124031.htm