Date set for starting construction of Yen Bai - Lao Cai expressway expansion to 4 lanes

The Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway currently has 2 lanes for traffic and 2 emergency lanes, but no median strip.

On the afternoon of September 19, Mr. Nguyen Cong Hung - Chief of VEC Office said that the Corporation has planned the project to expand the Yen Bai - Lao Cai section of the Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway on September 27.

Previously, the General Director of VEC signed Decision No. 889/QD - VEC approving the project to expand the Yen Bai - Lao Cai section of the Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway.

According to this decision, the Project aims to invest in expanding the section from Km123+080 - Km244+155 with a total length of 121.33 km, with the ITS category covering the entire route.

Specifically, regarding the road, the Project will expand the road surface from 2 lanes to 4 lanes, with a road surface width of 24m, with a median strip in sync with the sections that have been expanded in phase 1; extend the residential underpass to match the scale of the highway from 2 lanes to 4 lanes.

Regarding the bridge, the Project will construct a new bridge unit on the left side of the route like the current bridge; The length and basic span span will be consistent with the bridge built in phase 1.

Regarding the tunnel, in phase 1, the Project built a tunnel with a scale of 2 lanes at Km 186 on the right side of the route. However, due to the adjustment of the planning of the Yen Bai - Lao Cai section from 4 lanes to 6 lanes, when investing in the expansion of the Project, it will study the construction of a new tunnel unit on the left side of the current tunnel with a tunnel cross-section scale suitable for the scale of the 6-lane highway, 1-way 3 lanes in the direction of Lao Cai - Noi Bai (length of about 530 m).

With the above investment scale, the total investment of the Project is 7,667.84 billion VND, of which compensation, support and resettlement costs are 0.5 billion VND; construction costs are 5,788 billion VND; equipment costs are 373.43 billion VND; project management costs, investment consulting, other costs are 704.64 billion VND; contingency costs are 800.45 billion VND.

The project uses 3,000 billion VND of State budget capital (1,500 billion VND from the capital source to increase the central budget revenue in 2024 and 1,500 billion VND from the medium-term public investment capital source for the period 2026 - 2030); VEC's equity capital is 937.84 billion VND (including loan interest during the construction period); VEC's mobilized capital is 3,730 billion VND.

The project will start construction in 2025 and be basically completed in 2026 as directed by the Prime Minister in Official Dispatch No. 624/TTg-CN dated May 30, 2025.

It is known that the Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway has a total length of 264 km, starting at the intersection between National Highway 2 and the North Thang Long Noi Bai expressway; ending at Bat Xat commune, Lao Cai province.

The route is part of the Trans-Asia Highway, passing through the provinces and cities of Hanoi, Phu Tho and Lao Cai, connecting with China's Kunming - Hekou Expressway and is also a component of the transport infrastructure development project of the Kunming - Hanoi - Hai Phong Economic Corridor.

Of which, the Noi Bai - Lao Cai Expressway Construction Investment Project (phase 1) with a length of nearly 245 km invested by VEC, was completed and put into operation in 2014, including the Noi Bai - Yen Bai section with a scale of 4 lanes, designed speed of 100 km/h, and the Yen Bai - Lao Cai section with a scale of 2 lanes, designed speed of 80 km/h.

The Noi Bai - Lao Cai Expressway, when put into operation, is a breakthrough for the transport industry: helping to reduce travel time from Hanoi to Lao Cai international border gate to 3.5 hours compared to 7 hours before; opening up great opportunities for socio-economic development and tourism of localities in the Northwest region; connecting to economic, industrial and tourism zones; reducing pressure and traffic accidents on National Highways.

In phase 1 of the Project, the section from Km123+080 to Km244+155 from Yen Bai to Lao Cai has been invested in with a 4-lane roadbed, 2-lane road surface, bridge works, mountain tunnels, and residential underpasses on the route have been built corresponding to the scale of 2 lanes.

During the operation, some sections of the route have been expanded to 4 lanes, and a non-stop toll collection system (ETC) has been installed on the route. Because the Km123+080 - Km244+155 route has many locations without a median strip, when the traffic volume on the route increases, there will be potential risks of traffic insecurity, and the operating speed on the route will not meet the design speed.

According to statistics since its operation, traffic volume on the Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway has continuously increased by about 10% per year.

With the current scale, the Yen Bai - Lao Cai section cannot meet traffic demand and by 2027 will exceed the section's capacity, so it is necessary to soon invest in expanding to the approved planning scale.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/chot-ngay-khoi-cong-mo-rong-doan-cao-toc-yen-bai---lao-cai-len-4-lan-xe-d389630.html