Anxious about the progress of building rest stops on the North-South Expressway

Rest stop on Dau Giay - Phan Thiet highway

Stuck in progress

The impatience can be seen in Official Dispatch No. 2680/CDBVN-QLCL recently sent by the Vietnam Road Administration ( Ministry of Construction ) to the Futabuslines - Thanh Hiep Phat Joint Venture, the investor of the Km90+900 Rest Stop Construction Project of the Cam Lam - Vinh Hao Component Project on the North - South Eastern Expressway earlier this week.

According to Mr. Nguyen Manh Thang, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Road Administration, the Km90+900 Rest Stop Project under the Cam Lam - Vinh Hao Component Project was signed by the Vietnam Expressway Administration (now the Vietnam Road Administration) and the Futabuslines - Thanh Hiep Phat Joint Venture under contract No. 05/HD.DAĐT.TDN-CĐCTVN on August 3, 2024 (effective from August 21, 2024).

Specifically, for the Km90+900 Rest Stop Project of the Cam Lam - Vinh Hao Component Project, the investor will have to complete the entire project within 15 months (until July 2026) and 12 months for public service works (December 31, 2025).

However, as of June 19, 2025, Project Management Board 85 - the unit assigned by the Ministry of Construction to manage the Km90+900 Rest Stop Project under the Cam Lam - Vinh Hao Component Project - has not yet received the basic design documents, nor has it recorded the mobilization of machinery, equipment and human resources to carry out survey drilling and construction work.

“The Vietnam Road Administration warns investors that the progress of the Km90+900 Rest Stop Project under the Cam Lam - Vinh Hao Component Project is very slow, with a risk of not being completed according to the schedule required by the Government and the Prime Minister ,” Official Dispatch No. 2680 of the Vietnam Road Administration clearly stated.

In Official Dispatch No. 2680, the Vietnam Road Administration requested the above-mentioned investor to strictly implement the signed contract, promptly complete the topographic and geological survey, as a basis for completing the Feasibility Study Report and environmental procedures; appraise and approve the project according to regulations.

“The investor must complete the public service works of the rest stop to ensure the progress of toll collection of the expressway project from January 1, 2026 and must be responsible for the delay in completing the investment and construction of the rest stop, affecting the plan to collect tolls to the state budget,” the leader of the Vietnam Road Administration emphasized.

In addition to the Km90+900 rest stop construction project under the Cam Lam - Vinh Hao component project, the Futabuslines joint venture is also showing signs of "bogging down" in the Km366+850 (right route) and Km366+920 (left route) rest stop investment and business projects under the National Highway 45 - Nghi Son component project on the North - South Eastern expressway.

This is a rest stop investment project that the Futabuslines Joint Venture signed a contract with the Vietnam Road Administration in March 2025, which stipulates: the maximum construction investment period is 12 months; the maximum time to complete public service works is 9 months from the effective date of the contract and "Party B is responsible for starting construction within no more than 3 months from the effective date of the contract...".

Although Project Management Board 2 - the unit authorized by the Ministry of Construction and assigned to organize the implementation of the Rest Stop Business Investment Project under the National Highway 45 - Nghi Son Component Project - has continuously sent documents urging, the progress has been very slow.

As of June 16, 2025, the Investor Consortium has only completed the mine clearance work, has not yet implemented other work outside the site, and has not yet re-established the detailed progress to send to Project Management Board 2 and the Vietnam Road Administration as a basis for monitoring.

“In particular, the Futabuslines Joint Venture has not yet completed the selection of a construction contractor, which greatly affects the progress of the rest stop implementation, and at the same time leads to a high risk of not completing public service works and fuel stations before December 31, 2025,” the leader of Project Management Board 2 worried.

Ground knot

It is known that the slow progress is not only happening at the Futabuslines Joint Venture, but is also quite common in investment projects for rest stops on the Eastern North-South Expressway.

In mid-June 2025, the Vietnam Road Administration had to issue a "red alert" to the consortium of investors led by Petrolimex regarding the progress of investment in construction and operation of 5 rest stops on the North-South expressway in the East, including: Mai Son - National Highway 45, Nghi Son - Dien Chau, Dien Chau - Bai Vot, Bung - Van Ninh, Van Ninh - Cam Lo.

Of these, there are 3 rest stops belonging to component projects: Mai Son - National Highway 45, Nghi Son - Dien Chau, Dien Chau - Bai Vot have basically completed site clearance work, but the implementation is very slow, not ensuring the proposed progress, with the risk of not completing the projects according to the signed contracts.

According to the Vietnam Road Administration, in addition to internal problems of investors, the progress of implementing 20 investment projects for rest stops on the Eastern North-South Expressway is also greatly affected by site clearance work.

Mr. Nguyen Quang Giang, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Road Administration, said that the site clearance for rest stop projects is often slow to be handed over. Most rest stop projects only hand over a portion of the site with an area of a few hectares on a small scale previously, along with the North-South Eastern Expressway when implementing investment and construction.

However, in Decision No. 938/QD-BGTVT dated July 31, 2023 of the Ministry of Transport (now the Ministry of Construction) on approving the rest stop network on the North-South expressway in the East, the rest stops were all increased in scale to 3-5 hectares on each side to ensure long-term development space.

Therefore, project management boards and localities must carry out additional site clearance procedures from the beginning according to the scale of the new station, which takes a lot of time, especially at a time when there are many changes in land regulations (Land Law 2024, district-level land use planning and plans must be adjusted to be eligible to carry out compensation and site clearance procedures).

As of mid-June 2025, of the 8 stations that signed contracts since August 2024, 4 stations have handed over the entire site, 3 stations have only handed over part of the site, and 1 station has not yet handed over the site.

For the 10 stations that were contracted in the period of March - April 2025, 6 stations have completed site clearance, 3 stations have only partially handed over the site, and 1 station has not yet handed over the site. There are even stations that investors cannot access to survey and establish projects.

Right at the Km90+900 Rest Stop Construction Project of the Cam Lam - Vinh Hao Component Project, it was not until June 17, 2025 that the Ninh Son District Land Fund Development and Investment Project Management Board (Khanh Hoa Province) organized the handover of 9.76/11.19 hectares to the Futabuslines Joint Venture, thereby officially "starting the clock" to implement the project.

The slow progress of rest stop projects not only causes difficulties for road users, but also directly affects the plan to implement toll collection for the eastern North-South expressway sections invested by the State.

In Article 3 of Decree No. 130/2024/ND-CP dated October 10, 2024 of the Government on collecting highway usage fees for vehicles traveling on highways owned by the entire people and directly managed and operated by the State in accordance with the provisions of law, the completion of construction of public service works of rest stops is one of the conditions for implementing toll collection on highways invested by the State.

“Comparing this regulation, the target of collecting tolls on 5 expressway sections invested by the State from January 1, 2026, including: Mai Son - National Highway 45, National Highway 45 - Nghi Son, Nghi Son - Dien Chau, Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet, Phan Thiet - Dau Giay, is at risk of not becoming a reality,” the leader of the Vietnam Road Administration worried.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/sot-ruot-tien-do-xay-tram-dung-nghi-tren-cao-toc-bac---nam-d312867.html