Gradually developing a plan for upgrading the expressway in phases.

Although still in its initial stages, the capital requirements and necessary policy mechanisms for upgrading phased expressways to four lanes have been clarified by many localities.

The Tuyen Quang - Phu Tho expressway connects with the Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway.

Eager to upgrade

To date, the People's Committee of Tuyen Quang province has been the most enthusiastic and proactive agency in investing in and upgrading the phased expressways to achieve complete scale. In less than a month, the locality has submitted proposals to the Prime Minister and relevant ministries and agencies twice.

Although Tuyen Quang is a small locality in the northern mountainous region, the Provincial People's Committee assumes the role of managing agency for two major expressway projects using state budget funds: the Tuyen Quang - Phu Tho expressway connecting with the Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway and the Tuyen Quang - Ha Giang expressway (phase I), the section passing through Tuyen Quang province.

Specifically, the Tuyen Quang - Phu Tho Expressway project, connecting with the Noi Bai - Lao Cai Expressway, has a length of 40.2 km, with a phased investment scale of 4 limited lanes, a roadbed width of 17 m, a road surface width of 14 m, and discontinuous emergency stopping lanes. This project, with a total investment of VND 3,753 billion, has been completed and put into temporary operation since December 24, 2023.

The Tuyen Quang - Ha Giang expressway project (phase I), the section passing through Tuyen Quang province, has a length of 69.7 km, an investment scale of 2 lanes for motor vehicles, a cross-section of 12 m, and includes overtaking points at intervals of 2.2 km to 9.81 km/point, similar to the Cam Lo - La Son section of the North-South expressway.

With the scale of construction as described above, the Tuyen Quang - Ha Giang Expressway Project (Phase I), the section passing through Tuyen Quang province, has a total investment of 6,800 billion VND. This project is currently in the final stages of construction and aims for completion by the end of 2025.

In Official Letter No. 858/UBND-ĐTXD sent to the Ministries of Transport and Planning and Investment last weekend, Mr. Nguyen Van Son, Chairman of the People's Committee of Tuyen Quang province, affirmed that the early upgrading of the Tuyen Quang - Phu Tho expressway, connecting with the Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway and the Tuyen Quang - Ha Giang expressway, the section passing through Tuyen Quang province according to the planned scale (4 standard lanes), will not only contribute to promoting the socio-economic development of the locality, but also improve the efficiency of operation and safety for road users.

According to calculations by the managing agency, the preliminary cost to upgrade the Tuyen Quang - Phu Tho expressway, connecting with the Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway to a standard 4-lane road with a 25.25m wide roadbed and an intelligent traffic management system, is approximately 3,200 billion VND.

Since the project passes through the territories of two provinces, Tuyen Quang (11.3 km) and Phu Tho (28.9 km), the People's Committee of Tuyen Quang province proposes that Tuyen Quang province be the managing agency for the section of the project within its territory, and Phu Tho province be the managing agency for the section within its territory.

In addition, to secure the resources for the complete construction of the Tuyen Quang - Phu Tho expressway, connecting with the Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway, to a full 4-lane scale with a roadbed width of 25.25 m, the locality has requested the Government to allocate the entire 3,200 billion VND from the central budget for the two provinces to implement the project.

For the Tuyen Quang - Ha Giang expressway, the section passing through Tuyen Quang province has an estimated investment cost of approximately 7,437 billion VND to upgrade it to a full 4-lane expressway with a width of 25.25 meters, as per the approved plan. The investment capital will be provided by the central government budget.

Regarding the implementation plan, the People's Committee of Tuyen Quang province proposes that the competent authority allow the continued implementation of the Tuyen Quang - Ha Giang Expressway Project (Phase I), the section passing through Tuyen Quang province, according to the approved plan; and at the same time, proceed with the investment procedures for a new project, the Tuyen Quang - Ha Giang Expressway Project (Phase II), the section passing through Tuyen Quang province, with the expected commencement date in October 2024.

Previously, in mid-February 2024, the People's Committee of Ha Giang province also submitted Document No. 05/TTr-UBND to the Prime Minister regarding the investment plan for the complete 4-lane Tuyen Quang - Ha Giang Expressway Project (Phase I), the section passing through Ha Giang province.

Specifically, the People's Committee of Ha Giang province has requested the head of the Government to approve the adjustment of the Tuyen Quang - Ha Giang Expressway Project (Phase I), the section passing through Ha Giang province, to expand it to a standard 4-lane capacity with a length of 27.48 km, and a total investment after adjustment of 5,073 billion VND. Of this, Phase I (2 lanes) has already been approved at 3,198 billion VND; the expansion phase to 4 lanes will cost 1,875 billion VND.

The leaders of Ha Giang province also requested the Government to provide an additional 2,500 billion VND from the central budget to the province to implement the Tuyen Quang - Ha Giang expressway project (phase I), the section passing through Ha Giang province (1,000 billion VND for phase I, which has already been approved for investment, and 1,500 billion VND for the expansion phase to a full 4 lanes).

Similar to Tuyen Quang, the biggest challenge for the People's Committee of Ha Giang province in upgrading the Tuyen Quang - Ha Giang expressway section through Ha Giang province to a standard 4-lane scale is funding. Besides not yet securing funding for phase II, even for phase I, the local budget of Ha Giang only has about 1,000 billion VND available, which is only half of the required amount.

"Ha Giang is one of the poorest and most disadvantaged provinces in the country. Its budget revenue is small and unsustainable, with a low self-sufficiency rate, mainly relying on supplementary funding from the central government. Furthermore, collecting land use fees is unlikely due to the downturn in the real estate market," a leader of the Ha Giang Provincial People's Committee stated.

Capital pressure

Due to funding difficulties, the People's Committee of Son La province had to request the Government to continue implementing the phased plan of 2 lanes instead of the 4-lane investment plan for the Hoa Binh - Moc Chau Expressway project, the section passing through Son La province.

In Report No. 99/BC-UBND submitted to the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Transport in early March 2024, the People's Committee of Son La province requested the two ministries to compile a report for the Government to allow the province to implement the project according to a phased investment plan. Specifically, the phased investment period (from 2024 - 2028) will involve the construction of two lanes (including a continuous emergency stopping lane), with land acquisition for a four-lane road; the subsequent phase (from 2031-2035) will complete the expressway project according to the plan.

With the above scale, the total investment for the Hoa Binh - Moc Chau Expressway Project, the section passing through Son La province, in the phased stage is 4,938 billion VND, of which the central budget is expected to contribute 3,400 billion VND (including 1,700 billion VND projected in the medium-term public investment plan for the period 2021-2025 and 1,700 billion VND from increased central budget revenue); the local budget will contribute 1,538 billion VND.

In Report No. 99/BC-UBND, the People's Committee of Son La province stated that if implemented immediately according to the planned scale, the Hoa Binh - Moc Chau Expressway Project, the section passing through Son La province, would have a total investment of 9,300 billion VND, meaning an additional 4,362 billion VND would be needed compared to the phased plan.

According to the leaders of the Vietnam Expressway Department (Ministry of Transport), the agency has not yet received the full results of investment and upgrading studies for phased expressways from localities and the State Capital Management Committee at enterprises. However, funding is certainly the biggest obstacle to investing in and upgrading phased expressways, despite the advantage of completing the projects sooner according to the planned scale.

According to preliminary calculations, the total capital needed to upgrade 2-lane expressways to standard 4-lane standards is approximately 82,911 billion VND. However, as of early March 2024, only two projects had relatively clear funding sources: the Cao Bo - Mai Son route, 15.2 km long, upgrading from 4 lanes to 6 lanes, valued at 1,995 billion VND, and the La Son - Hoa Lien route, 66 km long, upgrading from 2 lanes to 4 lanes, valued at 3,011 billion VND.

The pressure on the state budget is increasing as many expressway projects currently in the investment preparation phase, such as Cam Lo - Lao Bao, Cho Moi - Bac Kan, and Tan Quang - Thanh Thuy border gate, are being updated by the managing agencies with investment plans for standard 4-lane roads, resulting in significantly higher costs compared to the previous phased investment plan. Notably, the additional costs are all proposed to be mobilized from the central government budget.

According to Mr. Tran Chung, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Road Construction Investors (VARSI), the Ministry of Transport and local authorities need to urgently review and prioritize expressways that have been phased for investment to propose and report to competent authorities for permission to expand them when resources are sufficient. Priority should be given to expanding 2-lane expressways to at least 4 lanes; completing the North-South Expressway (Eastern section) and other inter-regional connecting expressways.

"To avoid placing too much of a burden on the budget, it is necessary to quickly complete the expressway projects and promptly propose to the competent authorities the issuance of a mechanism allowing the expansion, renovation, upgrading, and modernization of expressways using the PPP method, specifically the BOT contract type," the VARSI leader suggested.

Over the past period, the Ministry of Transport, localities, and relevant agencies have been reviewing and mobilizing investment resources to expand 12 currently operating expressways, including 5 two-lane routes and 7 four-lane routes with intermittent emergency stopping lanes.

Specifically, a review has been conducted and a report submitted to the competent authority requesting permission to invest in expanding the La Son - Hoa Lien route (66 km) from 2 lanes to 4 lanes; expanding the Cao Bo - Mai Son route (15 km) to 6 lanes according to the plan using increased central government budget revenue in 2022, and the Trung Luong - My Thuan route (51 km) under the PPP model.

The People's Committee of Hoa Binh province has been assigned by the Prime Minister as the competent authority to study the expansion of the Hoa Lac - Hoa Binh route (26 km) from 2 lanes to 4 lanes under the PPP model. The Ministry of Transport has handed over the route section to the locality, and the People's Committee of Hoa Binh province has approved the investor to proceed with the steps to adjust the investment policy of the project.

The Vietnam Expressway Investment and Development Corporation (VEC) is studying options for mobilizing capital and investment methods to expand the Yen Bai - Lao Cai section (141 km) of the Hanoi - Lao Cai expressway from 2 lanes to 4 lanes, as directed by the Prime Minister.

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