Proposal to expand Cau Gie - Ninh Binh expressway to 6 lanes

TPO - After more than a decade of operation, the Cau Gie - Ninh Binh Expressway is seriously overloaded as traffic volume increases by an average of more than 10% per year. The Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) has just submitted a document to the Prime Minister, requesting to be assigned as the managing agency to expand this route from 4 to 6 lanes.

According to VEC, the Cau Gie - Ninh Binh Expressway (Km210+000 - Km260+030) is 50 km long and has been put into operation since 2012 with a scale of 4 lanes. After more than 10 years of operation, traffic volume on the route has increased by an average of more than 10% per year, causing frequent traffic jams, especially during holidays and Tet.

VEC believes that the expressway is currently overloaded and is at risk of becoming a "bottleneck" of the Eastern North-South expressway axis, as the connecting sections at both ends, Phap Van - Cau Gie and Cao Bo - Mai Son, have been or are being expanded to 6 lanes.

Cau Gie - Ninh Binh Expressway is overloaded.

In particular, the survey shows that on the Cau Gie - Ninh Binh expressway, the Dai Xuyen - Phu Thu section (Km210+000 - Km226+200) has exceeded the traffic capacity by 20 - 40%; the Phu Thu - Cao Bo section (Km226+200 - Km260+030) is also overloaded and needs to be upgraded immediately after 2027.

Mr. Truong Viet Dong - Chairman of the Board of Members of VEC - said that the synchronous expansion of this expressway will help improve the exploitation capacity of the entire North - South route in the East, while promoting the efficiency of public investment, creating momentum for economic growth.

“Allocating a portion of the budget to participate in the project will help promote the role of state-owned enterprises, improve capital efficiency and contribute to the GDP growth target of 8% or more,” Mr. Dong emphasized.

According to the report, VEC proposed to divide the project investment into phases to suit transportation needs and capital mobilization capacity: Phase 1 (until 2027) will expand the entire route to 6 lanes, meeting the exploitation needs until 2038; Phase 2 (after 2038) will continue to expand to 10 lanes, according to the national road network planning.

Total investment in phase 1 is about 3,013 billion VND, of which construction cost is more than 2,000 billion VND.

VEC has just proposed to the Prime Minister to be assigned as the governing body to expand the Cau Gie - Ninh Binh expressway from 4 to 6 lanes. Photo: VEC.

Pursuant to the Law on Management and Investment of State Capital in Enterprises (2025), VEC can mobilize a maximum of about VND 115,854 billion, with enough capacity to implement expansion projects, including the Cau Gie - Ninh Binh route.

According to plan, the project will start construction in the third quarter of 2026 and be completed and put into operation in the fourth quarter of 2027, or as directed by the Prime Minister.

VEC leaders affirmed that the synchronous expansion of the Cau Gie - Ninh Binh route will not only remove traffic congestion but also increase transport capacity, promote socio-economic development in the Northern region, and at the same time improve the operational efficiency of the entire North - South expressway.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/de-xuat-mo-rong-cao-toc-cau-gie-ninh-binh-len-6-lan-xe-post1791023.tpo