Responding to questions from National Assembly deputies about raising speed limits on some expressways, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang said that he had reviewed the standards and found that 80km/h routes could be raised to 90km/h, effective from early 2024.
Many opinions say that this will optimize transportation activities and travel time, contributing to improving the efficiency of highway investment.
Drivers and businesses hope for early implementation
Receiving the above information, many drivers and transport businesses were excited and expressed their hope that this would be implemented soon. Mr. Nguyen Van Nam (40 years old, in Quang Thinh, Thanh Hoa City), a long-distance driver, said: "I often travel on highways, the roads are both beautiful and clear, but some sections only allow 80km/h, which is not suitable."
Similarly, Mr. Vu Xuan Toan, Director of Duc Toan - Hai Ha One Member Co., Ltd. (Nghi Son town, Thanh Hoa) shared that he often transports goods to Hanoi , having to travel on many expressways, some of which have a speed limit of 90 - 120km/h. However, the expressway through Thanh Hoa is currently still limited to 80km/h. If it is increased to 90km/h, the route for transporting goods from Nghi Son to Hanoi will be much more convenient.
Mr. Nguyen Van Minh, a truck driver who transports goods from Nghe An to the northern provinces, said: "Driving on the highway with a speed limit of 80km/h, if you step on the gas for a little too long, you will exceed the speed limit, so many times when driving alone on the road, you still have to keep an eye on the speedometer."
Working in Vinh City (Nghe An), often visiting his hometown Ha Nam by the new highway, Mr. Hoang Van Hung (43 years old) said: "The new highway allows for speeds of 80km/h, which is worse than National Highway 1 which allows for speeds of 90km/h. The travel time is shorter than National Highway 1, but that is because there are no motorbikes or rudimentary vehicles. Traveling at night takes about the same amount of time."
The Nha Trang – Cam Lam expressway running through Khanh Hoa province, nearly 50km long, is currently operating at a maximum speed of 80km/h and a minimum speed of 60km/h. Recently, operating at 80km/h has caused many businesses and drivers to complain that it has not been optimized for time.
Drivers and transport businesses hope that the increase in maximum speed limit will be implemented soon to optimize travel time.
According to Mr. Nguyen Khanh Nguyen, Director of Hong Nhat Trading and Service Company Limited (Cat Thien Hai), a company with dozens of passenger buses running the Nha Trang - Ho Chi Minh City route, allowing only 80km/h to travel has a significant impact on passengers' time.
"Increasing the maximum speed to 90km/h for completed expressways is very necessary. If the road is of good quality but the speed is limited, the goal of shortening the time is not very meaningful," Mr. Nguyen expressed.
Similarly, driver Huynh Van Tuan (residing in Cai Be district, Tien Giang) said that the Western region has the Trung Luong - My Thuan expressway, but the maximum speed limit of 80km/h is too slow: "Drivers are very frustrated, having to keep their speed between 60 - 70km/h, otherwise it is very easy to exceed the speed limit."
Major Nguyen Kim Thi, Captain of Patrol Team No. 4, Road and Railway Traffic Patrol and Control Department, Traffic Police Department, said that raising the maximum speed on the new expressway to 90km/h is necessary. However, over time, the authorities realized that if the speed limit is increased, lanes and types of vehicles allowed to run up to 90km/h must be defined. Because the highway currently has only two lanes, no emergency lanes but only intermittent emergency stops, it is very dangerous to let trucks and passenger cars run at 90km/h like cars. "Therefore, it is necessary to classify vehicle types such as cars are allowed to run at 90km/h and have their own lane. Trucks, passenger cars, and containers run at 80km/h in their own lanes. In addition, it is necessary to invest in additional emergency lanes to ensure safety," said Major Thi. |
Necessary and appropriate
According to Mr. Tran Van Bon, Director of Tien Giang Department of Transport, the locality supports the policy of adjusting the speed limit on some expressways from 80km/h to 90km/h.
"The Trung Luong - My Thuan Expressway currently has a maximum speed of 80km/h. The Department of Transport is waiting for the Road Administration to coordinate a survey and propose a suitable solution. However, in the long term, this route needs investment to upgrade and expand to 6 lanes and 2 emergency lanes to ensure safety," Mr. Bon proposed.
Mr. Duong Duc Y, Chairman of the Binh Thuan Province Automobile Transport Association, said that the proposal to increase the speed of expressways from 80 km/h to 90 km/h is reasonable, and certainly all transport businesses support it: "Binh Thuan Province has two expressways with a total length of more than 200 km. While the Phan Thiet - Dau Giay expressway is allowed to run at a maximum speed of 120 km/h, the Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet route is only allowed to run at 80 km/h. Increasing the speed will increase the capacity of vehicles to escape".
Mr. Nguyen Van Dan, Director of the Department of Transport of Khanh Hoa province, expressed his opinion that normal roads, if they are double-track (with a median strip) in the suburban areas, cars are allowed to operate at 90km/h. With expressways being double-track with no motorbikes or rudimentary vehicles entering, and no intersections, the operation speed of 90km/h is appropriate.
Mr. Nguyen Van Huy, Deputy General Director of Son Hai Group LLC, said that for the Nha Trang - Cam Lam expressway, Son Hai Group has invested in construction to ensure technical and quality standards, allowing the operation speed of 90km/h is necessary.
Regarding the Cam Lo - La Son, La Son - Tuy Loan (La Son - Hoa Lien) expressways, Mr. Nguyen Vu Quy, Director of the Ho Chi Minh Road Project Management Board, said that the Board will wait for instructions from the Ministry of Transport to study, propose, and report.
According to Mr. Trinh Huy Trieu, Director of Thanh Hoa Department of Transport, the Ministry of Transport calculated that the speed increase is suitable for the current situation. All technical and design factors have been carefully calculated by the investor.
Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Quynh, Executive Director of the National Highway 45 - Nghi Son project, said that when increasing the speed, only the speed signs need to be changed. Currently, the route basically meets the speed limit of 90km/h.
Sufficient basis for implementation
Speaking with Giao thong Newspaper, Mr. Le Kim Thanh, Director of the Vietnam Expressway Administration, said that in the context of limited resources, in order to be consistent with the ability to balance capital sources and ensure investment efficiency, the National Assembly and the Government have approved the policy of dividing investment into phases to build a number of expressways with a cross-section of 4 lanes and a design speed of 80km/h.
Some expressway sections have completed construction investment according to the phased plan and put into operation with approved traffic organization plans with a maximum allowed speed of 80km/h and a minimum speed of 60km/h such as Cao Bo - Mai Son, Trung Luong - My Thuan, Mai Son - QL45 - Nghi Son, Nha Trang - Cam Lam and Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet sections.
It is expected that in early 2024, the Ministry of Transport will change the maximum speed limit on expressways from 80km/h to 90km/h (In photo: The North-South Expressway section Mai Son - National Highway 45 currently allows a maximum speed of 80km/h). Photo: Ta Hai
Regarding the basis for increasing the speed to 90km/h, Mr. Thanh said that according to the system of standards and regulations of Vietnam and the world, there are two types of speed: design speed and operating speed. Normally, the maximum allowable speed is greater than or equal to the selected design speed.
In current legal documents on management, exploitation and maintenance of expressways, the permitted speed will be approved by the competent authority in the expressway traffic organization plan. The Ministry of Transport approves the plan and approves adjustments to the expressway traffic organization plan within its management scope.
During the period of highway divergence, it is acceptable to limit the permitted operating speed lower than the speed of the future highway (when fully constructed). The permitted operating speed depends on the actual condition of the road, weather conditions, and traffic conditions. In any case, the maximum operating speed should not exceed 90km/h.
Meanwhile, there are currently many sections of the national highway system that have been upgraded and renovated with conditions similar to those of the investment-phased expressways. These routes have more complex operating conditions than the limited 4-lane expressways with mixed traffic flows.
Existing national highways with similar conditions to expressways with phased investment and construction of 4 limited lanes also allow a maximum speed of 90km/h for some types of vehicles.
From that, Mr. Thanh believes that the research and consideration of increasing the maximum speed allowed during the exploitation of the expressway routes in the phase of diverging into 4 limited lanes, from 80km/h to a maximum speed of 90 - 100km/h, has a scientific, theoretical and practical basis.
“This adjustment will contribute to increasing the travel speed of vehicles participating in traffic, improving the service level of the route, contributing to improving investment efficiency and exploitation efficiency of the route sections,” said Mr. Thanh.
For the 4-lane limited traffic routes that have been put into operation such as Cao Bo - Mai Son, Trung Luong - My Thuan, we have proposed that the Ministry of Transport consider raising the maximum speed limit to 90km/h for some types of vehicles such as cars, passenger cars with up to 30 seats (except buses).
Trucks with a load capacity of 3.5 tons or less, other vehicles maintain the maximum speed limit of 80km/h approved in the operation plan; submit to competent authorities for approval to adjust the traffic organization plan of the temporary expressway according to regulations.
Mr. Le Kim Thanh
According to Traffic Newspaper
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