Project to upgrade and expand DT609 route: Go first, come back later

Two cars had to give way to each other because they could not cross Ba Khe 1 bridge at the same time. Photo: CT

Long way

On October 22, 2009, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 3566 approving the Project to upgrade and expand Route DT609 (Dien Ban - Dai Loc) with a total investment of more than 997.9 billion VND.

At that time, this route, which was more than 46.2km long, had its starting point in Vinh Dien town (now Vinh Dien ward, Dien Ban town) and its ending point in Dai Hung commune (Dai Loc).

In addition to the road section, this strategic horizontal axis also has 9 bridges that need investment in construction and expansion (Phong Thu bridge is not included in the project). By the end of 2023, the road section has been expanded or urgently upgraded for 42.46/46.25km; 5 bridges have been completed, including Binh Long, Phuong Hue, Ai Nghia, Quan Am, and Ha Tan.

On April 5, 2021, the Provincial People's Committee issued a decision to convert route DH11.DG, Dong Giang district into a provincial road and add it to route DT609 according to the planning. Thus, after being added, DT609 has a total length of 74.013km with the end point connecting to Ho Chi Minh road in Ma Cooih commune (Dong Giang).

The newly added section belongs to the former An Diem - A So road. The Provincial People's Committee has decided to invest in upgrading and expanding and has completed the section before Dong Giang Heaven Gate to Ho Chi Minh road; the section from An Diem to Dong Giang Heaven Gate is under construction.

At this time, the project still has the road section km20+960-km24+750 and the bridges Loc My, Ba Khe 1, Ba Khe 2, Ba Khe 3 that have not been implemented.

Meanwhile, Phong Thu Bridge is part of a separate project, approved for investment by the Provincial People's Committee on December 23, 2022, with a total investment of VND 125 billion from the provincial budget. However, the project to open the "bottleneck" section through Phong Thu town of Dien Tho commune (Dien Ban town) to the Da Nang - Quang Ngai expressway intersection has not yet started due to difficulties in the provincial budget.

Ba Khe 3 Bridge is so narrow that it looks like a culvert across the road. Photo: CT

Mr. Tran Cong Vu - Standing Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Council of Dien Tho commune shared that the construction and expansion of Phong Thu bridge is even more urgent because the bridge is located on the access route to the Da Nang - Quang Ngai expressway. Every day, thousands of cars, especially heavy trucks and container trucks, pass through. The old bridge is narrow, two heavy trucks cannot travel at the same time, the western approach road is within a curved radius. Therefore, during rush hour, traffic jams and collisions often occur...

Go ahead, go back

Mr. Ho Quach Trieu Dong - Chairman of Dai Quang Commune People's Committee (Dai Loc District) shared that DT609 route is a strategic traffic axis through the commune center. Although it is part of the upgrading and expansion project, there is currently 3.5km of road that has not been invested in. Along with that, Loc My bridge is too old, the cement concrete railing is broken, and during the rainy season, the water flows rapidly causing landslides near the foot of the bridge, making the project unsafe.

In addition to being narrow, Ba Khe 2 Bridge also has no railings. Photo: CT

Going out of the new Ha Nha bridge (Dai Dong commune, Dai Loc district) to the west, 2 cars do not have enough space to pass through 3 Ba Khe bridges at the same time, because the bridge surface is not exactly 4m wide. The railing of Ba Khe 3 bridge is skewed compared to its current state, with many cracks.

At Ba Khe 2 Bridge, the structure only has a guardrail, no railing. A local resident said that the road section over Ba Khe 2 Bridge is curved, and if a vehicle is not careful, it will crash straight into the guardrail, and in many cases, it has fallen off the bridge, causing casualties.

The lack of investment in this area's road also affects the safety of students, especially during the rainy and stormy season. Teacher Nguyen Ba Ngan - Principal of Chu Van An High School (Dai Dong Commune) shared that the two bridges Ba Khe 2 and Ba Khe 3 are located at the lowest position of the route, the Vu Gia River only needs to rise to alert level 2 to cross.

Many times, students from Dai Lanh, Dai Hung, and Dai Son communes were on their way home from school when they reached Ba Khe 3 bridge and encountered floodwaters and could not continue. Returning to school, at Ba Khe 2, the situation was similar, and Mr. Ngan had to call the authorities to come to the rescue and bring the students to a safe location.

The guardrail wall of the western approach road to Phong Thu bridge was hit by a car and flattened. Photo: CT

Reporting on the current status of the project to upgrade and expand route DT609 to the monitoring delegation of the Economic - Budget Committee of the Provincial People's Council recently, Deputy Director of the Department of Transport - Mr. Tran Ngoc Thanh acknowledged that this is a "first come, last" project.

Head of the Economic - Budget Committee of the Provincial People's Council Nguyen Duc and many members said that voters have repeatedly requested investment in building and replacing old bridges.
Mr. Tran Ngoc Thanh proposed two options, one is to arrange capital to continue construction to complete the project; the other is to stop this project to do a separate project to invest in 4 bridges, widening the remaining road. For the Phong Thu bridge project, Chairman of Dien Ban Town People's Committee - Mr. Tran Uc proposed to recommend the Provincial People's Council to arrange capital in advance to compensate, support, and resettle affected households.

The remaining bridges on DT609 are “bottlenecks” that do not ensure traffic safety. Particularly the section through the 3 Ba Khe bridges, poor traffic conditions make it difficult to promote economic development and ensure essential conditions for the communes in Dai Loc A area. The expansion of this “bottleneck” will promote socio-economic development, exploiting the tourism potential of the western Quang Nam region, with the highlight being the Dong Giang Heaven Gate Eco-tourism Area.

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/du-an-nang-cap-mo-rong-tuyen-dt609-di-truoc-ve-sau-3137479.html