Rush to build highway rest stops to serve Tet

At this time, rest stops on the North-South Expressway are being urgently built to serve people during Tet.

Giao thong Newspaper talked with Mr. Nguyen Quang Giang, Deputy Director of Vietnam Expressway Administration about the progress of these projects.

Mr. Nguyen Quang Giang.

8 temporary stations operating during Tet

- Of the 36 rest stops on the North-South Expressway in the East, in addition to the stations that have been invested in and are being built or managed by localities, the Ministry of Transport manages 21 stations. How is the construction progress of these stations, sir?

To date, the selection of investors for 8 stations of the North-South Expressway component projects, phase 1, has been completed, and bidding is being organized for 13 stations of the phase 2 component projects.

For the 8 stations that have selected investors, 2/8 stations have been and are under construction, namely Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet and Phan Thiet - Dau Giay, completing part of the essential public service works before Tet. For the remaining 6/8 stations, investors are approving the design and selecting contractors.

- As you said, there are only 2 stations under construction, so what will people who want to rest on the highway do during Tet?

The biggest difficulty encountered is site clearance. Currently, only 3/8 stations have been handed over, basically meeting the conditions for implementation; 2/8 stations have been partially handed over, and the remaining 3/8 stations do not have site clearance.

Therefore, it is impossible to complete essential services before Tet. We have advised the Ministry of Transport to issue Official Dispatch No. 59 dated December 20, 2024, directing investors to take over the previous temporary stations and add a new temporary station, to be completed before January 20, 2025.

Thus, along with 5 temporary stations currently in operation, 2 more stations will be added with a part of essential construction and 1 more temporary station will be added at the Nghi Son - Dien Chau project. By Tet, there will be a total of 8 temporary rest stops with an average distance of about 60km/station, basically meeting the demand.

- That is the progress of stations belonging to the expressway component projects phase 1, so how are the stations in phase 2 being implemented, sir?

For the remaining 13 stations, bidding is being held to select investors. To date, 8 stations have opened bidding, 3 stations are processing the situation of extending the deadline by 10 days due to fewer than 3 participating investors; 2 stations are processing the situation of extending the deadline by 30 days due to no investors.

Project management boards and the Vietnam Expressway Administration will also focus on minimizing the time for evaluating bid documents, appraising selection results, and negotiating contracts, expected to be completed in January 2025 in favorable cases.

Similar to the 8 stations under construction, the Department will negotiate and request the winning investors to shorten the construction progress and strive to basically complete essential public service works (restrooms, parking lots) when the component projects are put into operation.

Urgent site clearance

- The site is hindering the construction progress of the highway rest stops in phase 1, so how will the stations in phase 2 be removed?

Although the Ministry of Transport has sent many documents and telegrams to the provinces to coordinate in site clearance, so far only 3/8 stations have been handed over (October 2024 and December 2024), while 2/8 stations have only partially cleared the site, and 3/8 stations have not yet cleared the site.

The Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet expressway rest stop is under urgent construction to put essential items into operation before Lunar New Year 2025.

The Vietnam Expressway Administration has also worked with localities many times to resolve difficulties and problems. However, according to the local plan, it is expected to be basically handed over in the first quarter of 2025.

In that context, we discussed with the local authorities that waiting for an official compensation plan would take a long time, and suggested that the local authorities mobilize people to agree for an early handover.

At the same time, it is recommended that investors advance the land clearance advance payment to the locality for payment, which is also the solution that has been implemented at Station Km 205+092 of the Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet project. Localities have also recorded the opinions exchanged and studied to apply appropriately to the specific situation.

Drawing on the experience of the 8 stations currently under construction, the project management boards are also coordinating with the local authorities to soon complete the site clearance of the remaining 13 rest stops; ensuring a clean site immediately after the results of the investor selection are available. To date, 2/13 stations have been completed.

"Running and queuing at the same time"

- Besides the land issue, what other issues do you think need to be solved?

According to regulations, to implement construction, investors must complete the procedures for approving investment projects and designs after basic design. However, the work of preparing environmental impact assessments (EIAs) takes a lot of time.

Among the winning investors, the special feature of the Petrolimex Joint Venture (winning the bid for 4 stations) is that it is a state-owned enterprise, and must go through open bidding procedures. Currently, the Vietnam Expressway Administration is asking Petrolimex to study a flexible and suitable plan, following the spirit of running while queuing to minimize this time.

Due to land issues, in order to continue maintaining and adding temporary rest stops, investors must take over and operate previously built stations and build new stations, to be completed before January 20, 2025.

There are currently no specific regulations on the construction and connection of temporary stations to the highway. The Vietnam Road Administration has held a meeting with relevant agencies and will issue a document to guide project management boards and investors on the procedures for connecting temporary stations.

Thank you!

8 rest stops have selected investors including: Mai Son - QL45; Nghi Son - Dien Chau; Dien Chau - Bai Vot; Nha Trang - Cam Lam; Cam Lam - Vinh Hao; Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet (2 stations); Phan Thiet - Dau Giay.

The remaining 13 stations are bidding to select investors, including: QL45 - Nghi Son, Ham Nghi - Vung Ang, Vung Ang - Bung, Bung - Van Ninh, Van Ninh - Cam Lo, Cam Lo - La Son, Quang Ngai - Hoai Nhon (station Km 15+620 and station Km 77+820), Hoai Nhon - Quy Nhon, Quy Nhon - Chi Thanh, Van Phong - Nha Trang, Can Tho - Hau Giang and Hau Giang - Ca Mau.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/gap-rut-xay-tram-dung-nghi-cao-toc-phuc-vu-tet-192241231162734741.htm