Expect connecting routes

The Central Highlands - South Central region has a differentiated terrain, so investment in transport infrastructure always faces many difficulties because the distance between centers is far and the investment cost is high.

Faced with urgent development needs, traffic routes have been and are being deployed, becoming the driving force for intra-regional and inter-regional development.

National Highway 28B is being urgently constructed to expand the East-West axis of Lam Dong province to the North-South Expressway (section through Lam Dong province). Photo: DOAN KIEN

Connecting the mountains with the sea

While waiting for the Quang Ngai - Kon Tum Expressway Project to be approved, the Quang Ngai Provincial People's Committee recently proposed the Prime Minister to support 2,350 billion VND to invest in upgrading and expanding National Highway 24, 57.5 km long (from Ba To commune to Kon Plong commune).

National Highway 24 is about 165km long, the only traffic route connecting the West and East of Quang Ngai . Currently, most of this national highway through Violak Pass is quite narrow, degraded, and poses a potential risk to traffic safety.

Ms. Bach Thi Man, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Quang Ngai province, emphasized that investing in the two above-mentioned routes is the key to opening the door to comprehensive tourism development. Not only are they routes, they are also corridors connecting forests and seas, connecting experiences between the West of Quang Ngai with the beautiful beaches in the East. This will be the foundation for forming inter-regional tours, extending the length of stay, creating opportunities for investment businesses and local communities to benefit from sustainable tourism.

In Gia Lai, the Quy Nhon - Pleiku Expressway Project has received great expectations in promoting economic development. Over the past time, provincial leaders have continuously inspected and worked with localities where the project passes through to speed up site clearance, resettlement, and preparation of material mines for project construction, striving to start construction in October 2025.

In Lam Dong, the project to upgrade National Highway 28B connecting two famous tourist destinations Da Lat - Mui Ne with a scale of nearly 68km and an investment capital of 1,435 billion VND is the key point connecting the East - West region. In addition to National Highway 28B, National Highway 28 connecting from the sea to the West of Lam Dong province is also being calculated to be upgraded to meet regional connectivity.

When the project to upgrade and renovate National Highway 28 and National Highway 28B is completed, directly connecting with the Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet and Phan Thiet - Dau Giay expressways, it will help solve the traffic problem for regions of Lam Dong province; at the same time, create an "East - West corridor", bringing Central Highlands agricultural products to the sea faster, connecting the sea - plateau - energy industry triangle and opening up opportunities for "two in one" tourism - sea and mountain, raising the position of Lam Dong province as a strategic inter-regional gateway.

Vertical axis connecting inter-regions

On the North-South axis of Lam Dong province, the Bao Loc - Lien Khuong expressway (with a total length of 73.62km) started construction in June 2025. This is the extremely important final component of the Dau Giay - Lien Khuong expressway, one of the 10 key national expressways in the Southern region approved by the Prime Minister.

Similarly, the Tan Phu (Dong Nai) - Bao Loc (Lam Dong) Expressway Project, 65.88km long, is currently being urgently completed by Lam Dong province to start construction soon. The project has completed temporary staking in Lam Dong province and handed over to the localities where the project passes through for management.

This expressway will connect with the Dau Giay - Tan Phu expressway (Dong Nai). Once completed, it will contribute to the seamless expressway connecting Ho Chi Minh City to the center of Lam Dong province, helping to shorten travel time, increase transport capacity and reduce pressure on National Highway 20, which is already overloaded and potentially risky.

In recent times, in Khanh Hoa province, many key national and local transport projects have been deployed and put into use, contributing to strengthening regional connectivity and promoting socio-economic development. Expressway projects through the province such as Nha Trang - Cam Lam and Cam Lam - Vinh Hao sections have been completed in 2023 and 2024.

By April 2025, more than 70km of the Van Phong - Nha Trang expressway had been put into operation, the remaining 13km was completed on September 2 this year, shortening the journey from Ho Chi Minh City to Deo Ca tunnel (bordering Khanh Hoa - Dak Lak) to just over 5 hours. The smooth operation of the expressway helps people to shorten their travel time much more than traveling by national highway.

The Khanh Hoa - Buon Ma Thuot Expressway started construction in June 2023 and is expected to be operational in 2027, with the first 20km completed by the end of 2025 under the direction of the Prime Minister. This is a strategic horizontal axis connecting Dak Lak to Van Phong Economic Zone, helping to solve traffic problems and develop the economy and tourism for the Central Highlands and South Central Coast.

In Dak Lak, these days, the provincial authorities are focusing on site clearance to serve the North-South High-Speed ​​Railway Project through Dak Lak province. In Dak Lak province, the route is about 96km long, passing through 12 communes and wards with the starting point in Xuan Loc commune and the ending point in Hoa Xuan commune.

Mr. Dao My, Vice Chairman of Dak Lak Provincial People's Committee, said that the North-South High-Speed ​​Railway Project has a key significance in connecting regions, promoting socio-economic development, and meeting national defense and security requirements.

Therefore, the Provincial People's Committee requested departments, branches and localities to continue reviewing affected cases, promptly hand over the site to investors and construction units; complete infrastructure of resettlement areas, arrange resettlement fairly, transparently and promptly to stabilize people's lives.

DOAN KIEN - NGUYEN TIEN - HUU PHUC - MAI CUONG - HIEU GIANG

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/ky-vong-nhung-cung-duong-ket-noi-post811291.html