Scenario for upgrading the diverging expressways

Due to limited resources, in the immediate future, only 4 expressways with 2 lanes and 1 expressway with 4 lanes will be proposed to be prioritized for investment to upgrade to 4-6 lanes.

Cam Lo - La Son Expressway

Order of priority

The Ministry of Transport (MOT) has just sent Document No. 3790/BGTVT-CĐCTVN to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha on the investment plan to upgrade the expressway routes to a complete scale.

Previously, in Official Dispatch No. 16/CD-TTg dated February 21, 2024, the Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Transport to preside over and coordinate with relevant localities to urgently study investment plans and upgrade expressways that have been invested in phases to reach the scale of complete expressways, in accordance with design standards and transportation needs. In particular, the head of the Government requested to focus on investing as soon as possible in expressways with a scale of 2 lanes; at the same time, review and supplement fully and synchronously the infrastructure works on the route (such as intelligent traffic systems, rest stops, etc.); report to the Prime Minister in March 2024.

Although it was not completed according to the Prime Minister 's schedule, the Ministry of Transport has shown great effort, because this is a rather complicated job, involving many localities and investors of expressways that have been and are being deployed across the country.

Mr. Nguyen Duy Lam, Deputy Minister of Transport, said that as of April 2024, the whole country has 748 km of expressways in operation with investment phases of 2-4 lanes; 1,666 km of expressways under construction with investment phases of 2-4 lanes; 404 km of expressways are being prepared for investment with investment phases of 2-4 lanes. Of which, many expressway sections have 4 lanes, but the emergency lanes are not arranged continuously, limiting traffic capacity and safety.

According to the leader of the Ministry of Transport, if there is enough capital to invest and immediately upgrade the diverging expressways to the scale of complete expressways, it will improve investment efficiency, operational efficiency and traffic capacity. Of which, 76,520 billion VND of the state budget is needed to upgrade the diverging expressway to 2 lanes; 410,572 billion VND of the state budget to upgrade the diverging expressway to 4 lanes with limited traffic and about 7,500 billion VND of the state budget to upgrade the Phan Thiet - Dau Giay expressway (currently operating with 4 complete lanes) to 6 lanes.

“In the context of the state capital resources remaining difficult, it is difficult to immediately balance the state budget of VND494,592 billion to invest in and upgrade the expressways in the current period, affecting the goal of completing 5,000 km as set out in the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress,” Mr. Nguyen Duy Lam assessed.

Therefore, in order to be consistent with the ability to balance capital sources, in Document No. 3790/BGTVT-CĐCTVN, the Ministry of Transport proposed a number of principles and criteria to determine the order of priority for investment and upgrading of diverging expressways. Specifically, for 2-lane diverging expressways, the general principle is that when upgrading, the minimum scale must be 4 complete lanes according to standards and regulations; for 4-lane diverging expressways, when upgrading, the scale must be according to the approved planning scale.

Regarding the selected investment subjects, the priority order proposed by the Ministry of Transport includes: sections on the North-South expressway axis in the East, especially some sections with rapidly increasing transport demand; expressways in operation and being invested in a 2-lane divergence scale with rapidly increasing transport demand; some sections needing investment and upgrading to operate synchronously with adjacent expanded sections; expressways in operation and being invested in a divergence scale (2 lanes or limited 4 lanes) with not too large transport demand.

Regarding investment procedures, the priority order is projects that have determined the ability to balance capital (partially or completely), including PPP projects; expressways that have completed site clearance on a complete scale; projects with favorable investment procedures, do not greatly affect the disbursement plan, and complete the project according to the required schedule.

Based on the above criteria, the Ministry of Transport divides the investment-phased expressways into 4 groups, in which priority group 1 includes 4 expressway sections with 2 lanes and 1 section with 4 lanes.

Early collection of tolls on state-invested highways

In Document No. 3790/BGTVT-CĐCTVN, the Ministry of Transport proposed that the Government leaders allocate about 7,000 billion VND from the central budget to invest in upgrading the Cam Lo - La Son section to a scale of 4 complete lanes to meet basic requirements for completion by the end of 2025.

The Ministry of Transport also proposed to soon approve and submit to the National Assembly for consideration and decision on solutions to handle difficulties and obstacles of the BOT traffic project according to the proposal of the Ministry of Transport in Document No. 2451/TTr-BGTVT dated March 8, 2024, as a basis for investment research and upgrading the Thai Nguyen - Cho Moi section to a complete 4-lane scale.

Specifically, the Ministry of Transport proposed that the Government consider and pay for the construction investment cost of about VND 2,287 billion and about VND 563 billion for operation, maintenance, interest, and profits during the operation phase from the State budget to terminate the BOT project to build the Thai Nguyen - Cho Moi route and renovate and upgrade National Highway 3, section Km 75 - Km 100, which currently has a scale of 2 lanes.

In addition, the Ministry of Transport allocated about 18,683 billion VND to invest in upgrading the Yen Bai - Lao Cai, Thai Nguyen - Cho Moi, Thai Binh - Hai Phong sections in priority group 1 to reach a complete 4-lane scale.

Also in Document No. 3790/BGTVT-CĐCTVN, the Ministry of Transport proposed that the Government leaders assign this ministry to coordinate with the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises and the People's Committee of Hai Phong City in the process of researching, preparing for investment, and upgrading the Yen Bai - Lao Cai and Ninh Binh - Hai Phong expressways through Hai Phong City.

For the remaining 2-lane expressways, the Ministry of Transport will coordinate with localities to review and study additional investment in synchronous works serving exploitation; select appropriate traffic organization plans to improve exploitation efficiency and ensure traffic safety.

“For public investment projects, the Ministry of Transport will study the plan to collect service fees according to regulations; in cases where fees have not been collected, it is necessary to study appropriate traffic diversion and regulation plans to ensure effective and safe exploitation. Investment and upgrading to full scale will be studied in the period 2026 - 2030 when capital sources are balanced,” said the leader of the Ministry of Transport.

Regarding the remaining limited 4-lane diverging expressways, the Ministry of Transport said it will urgently review and evaluate the overall traffic organization measures for the routes in operation to meet the requirements of safe and effective operation, reduce traffic congestion and accidents; strengthen traffic inspection and control, and strictly handle traffic violations on expressways.

In the immediate future, the Ministry of Transport will direct investors to accelerate synchronous investment in Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and rest stops on highways to strictly control traffic on highways, serve the needs of traffic participants, improve capacity and efficiency of highway exploitation; install a vehicle load inspection system, and refuse service if a vehicle is found to exceed the prescribed load.

“The Ministry of Transport will urgently complete the necessary procedures and develop a plan to implement the collection of service fees for using state-invested highways immediately after the Road Law is passed to create resources for investment in traffic infrastructure, reasonably regulate traffic flow between highways and parallel national highways, and reduce congestion and traffic accidents on highways,” the leader of the Ministry of Transport informed.

According to Mr. Tran Chung, Chairman of the Road Construction Investors Association, setting out priority criteria as proposed by the Ministry of Transport is consistent with the capital allocation capacity as well as the actual exploitation needs. For upgrading the diverging expressways, capital plays a very important role, but it is not everything.

“Management agencies need to pay attention to organizing traffic reasonably and scientifically. For routes that do not have the conditions to be divided into phases, it is necessary to continuously evaluate and review operating conditions and apply smart traffic control technology to operate the project smoothly and ensure safety for traffic participants,” Mr. Chung suggested.

Proposed order of priority for investment in diverging expressways

Group 1: Investing in upgrading 5 expressways in urgent need: including: La Son - Hoa Lien, Cam Lo - La Son, Cao Bo - Mai Son, Trung Luong - My Thuan (all part of the North - South expressway in the East) and Hoa Lac - Hoa Binh. Preliminary total investment is about 55,318 billion VND, of which state capital is about 15,034 billion VND (local budget has balanced 3,028 billion VND; central budget has balanced 5,006 billion VND, still lacking 7,000 billion VND); capital mobilized by investors is about 40,284 billion VND.

Group 2: Investing in upgrading 3 expressways to meet transportation needs and exploit synchronously with adjacent expressway sections that have been exploited and are being invested in with a scale of 4 lanes including: Yen Bai - Lao Cai; Thai Nguyen - Cho Moi; Hai Phong - Thai Binh expressway. Total state capital demand is about 18,683 billion VND.

Group 3: Upgrade the remaining 2-lane expressways to a complete 4-lane scale, including: Tuyen Quang - Ha Giang; Hoa Binh - Moc Chau phase I; Dong Dang - Tra Linh phase I; the route connecting Huu Nghi - Chi Lang expressway with Tan Thanh border gate and Coc Nam border gate; Ho Chi Minh road, Chon Thanh - Duc Hoa section. Preliminary capital demand is about 50,837 billion VND from the central budget.

Group 4: Upgrading the remaining limited 4-lane diverging expressways. According to preliminary calculations, the upgrade plan according to the planning scale, the state capital needs to be supplemented by about 410,572 billion VND.

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