People are impatient with the progress of constructing rest stops on the North-South Expressway.

Rest stop on Dau Giay - Phan Thiet highway

Stuck on schedule

Impatience is evident in Official Letter No. 2680/CĐBVN-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 under the Cam Lam - Vinh Hao component project on the Eastern North-South Expressway, earlier this week.

According to Mr. Nguyen Manh Thang, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Road Administration, the Km90+900 rest stop project, part of the Cam Lam - Vinh Hao component project, was contracted by the Vietnam Expressway Administration (now the Vietnam Road Administration) and the Futabuslines - Thanh Hiep Phat Joint Venture under contract number 05/HĐ.DAĐT.TDN-CĐCTVN dated 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 personnel to carry out survey drilling and construction work.

"The Vietnam Road Administration warns investors about the very slow progress in implementing the Km90+900 rest stop project, part of the Cam Lam - Vinh Hao component project, and the risk of not completing it according to the schedule required by the Government and the Prime Minister ," stated Official Letter No. 2680 from the Vietnam Road Administration.

In Official Letter No. 2680, the Vietnam Road Administration requested the aforementioned investor to strictly comply with the signed contract, promptly complete the topographic and geological surveys as a basis for completing the feasibility study report and environmental procedures; and appraise and approve the project according to regulations.

"Investors must complete the public service facilities of the rest stops to ensure the toll collection schedule for the expressway project from January 1, 2026, and will be held responsible for any delays in completing the construction of the rest stops, which could affect the plan for collecting tolls for the state budget," the leader of the Vietnam Road Administration emphasized.

Besides the construction project of the rest stop at Km90+900, part of the Cam Lam - Vinh Hao component project, the Futabuslines consortium is also showing signs of "getting bogged down" in the investment and business project of the rest stops at Km366+850 (right side) and Km366+920 (left side) of the National Highway 45 - Nghi Son component project on the Eastern North-South Expressway.

This is a rest stop investment project contracted by the Futabuslines Joint Venture with the Vietnam Road Administration in March 2025, which stipulates: a maximum construction investment period of 12 months; a maximum completion time of 9 months from the effective date of the contract; and "Party B is responsible for commencing 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 to organize and implement 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 consortium has not yet completed the contractor selection process, significantly affecting the progress of the rest stop project and leading to a high risk of not completing public service facilities and fuel stations before December 31, 2025," the leader of Project Management Board 2 expressed concern.

Land acquisition bottleneck

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

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

Among these, three rest stops belonging to the component projects: Mai Son - National Highway 45, Nghi Son - Dien Chau, and Dien Chau - Bai Vot, have basically completed land clearance, but implementation is very slow, failing to meet the proposed schedule and risking 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.

According to Mr. Nguyen Quang Giang, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Road Administration, land clearance for rest stop projects is often delayed. Most rest stops only have a portion of their land handed over, typically a few hectares, based on the smaller scale previously undertaken with the Eastern North-South Expressway during its 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 Eastern North-South Expressway, the rest stops were all increased in scale to 3-5 hectares on each side to ensure long-term development space.

Therefore, both project management boards and local authorities have to carry out the land clearance procedures for the additional portion from scratch according to the scale of the new station, which takes a lot of time, especially during a period of many changes in land regulations (Land Law 2024, requiring adjustments to district-level land use planning and plans to be eligible for compensation and land clearance procedures).

As of mid-June 2025, of the 8 stations that signed contracts from August 2024, 4 stations had handed over the entire site, 3 stations had only handed over part of the site, and 1 station had 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.

At the Km90+900 rest stop construction project, part of the Cam Lam - Vinh Hao component project, it wasn't until June 17, 2025, that the Ninh Son District Investment and Construction Project Management Board (Khanh Hoa province) officially handed over 9.76 out of 11.19 hectares to the Futabuslines consortium, thus officially marking the start of construction.

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

According to Article 3 of Government Decree No. 130/2024/ND-CP dated October 10, 2024, on the collection of tolls for vehicles traveling on expressways owned by the State and directly managed and operated by the State in accordance with the law, the completion of the construction of public service facilities at rest stops is one of the conditions for implementing toll collection on expressways invested in by the State.

"Based on this regulation, the goal of collecting tolls on 5 sections of state-invested expressways from January 1, 2026, including Mai Son - National Highway 45, National Highway 45 - Nghi Son, Nghi Son - Dien Chau, Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet, and Phan Thiet - Dau Giay, is at risk of not being achieved," a 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