Major changes in the North-South Expressway expansion project in the East

The North-South Expressway in the East is proposed to be expanded from a limited 4-lane scale to a 6-lane scale. In the photo: Mai Son - National Highway 45 section.

The Minister of Construction has just signed a decision to adjust the task of preparing the Pre-Feasibility Study Report for the Investment Project to expand the Eastern sections of the North-South Expressway.

In this decision, the Ministry of Construction adjusts the tasks and agencies to prepare the Pre-feasibility Study Report in Decision No. 380/QD-BXD dated April 10, 2025 of the Ministry of Construction on organizing the preparation and adjustment of the Pre-feasibility Study Report for the North-South Expressway Construction Project in the East, phase 2021 - 2025.

Specifically, the Ministry of Construction adjusted the investor's tasks from Project Management Board 6 (now the Railway Project Management Board) to the Thang Long Project Management Board; at the same time, adjusted the task of "organizing the preparation and adjustment of the Pre-feasibility Study Report of the North-South Expressway Construction Project in the Eastern Region for the period 2021 - 2025" to "organizing the preparation of the Pre-feasibility Study Report of the Investment Project to expand the North-South Expressway sections in the Eastern Region".

Thang Long Project Management Board is responsible for receiving and using research results, records and documents related to the project implemented in accordance with the law, avoiding duplication and waste.

According to the plan, the North-South Eastern Expressway (CT.01) has its starting point at Huu Nghi border gate, Lang Son province; its end point is in Ca Mau province; its total length is about 2,055 km (accounting for 22% of the total length of the expressway network), with a scale of 6 to 12 lanes.

To date, the Eastern North-South Expressway has put into operation 1,652 km; about 388 km is under construction under the project phase 2021 - 2025 (of which 345 km will be completed by the end of 2025), the scale is mainly 4 limited lanes (17 m wide).

In addition, some sections are undergoing investment expansion or are preparing for investment expansion to the scale of a complete expressway.

Thus, on the Eastern North-South Expressway, by the end of 2025, it is expected that there will be about 1,222 km with a scale of 4 limited lanes, including the Huu Nghi - Chi Lang border gate section (43 km); Mai Son - Cam Lo (465 km), Quang Ngai - Phan Thiet (580 km) and My Thuan - Ca Mau (134 km).

In the report to the Government Standing Committee in September 2025, the Ministry of Construction proposed to consider investment only within the scope of the North-South expressway in the East, belonging to the Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City section (including 18 sections/component projects), with an investment length of about 1,144 km, not including 8 sections that have been put into operation and are being invested in according to the complete expressway scale.

The sections that have not been studied for expansion are the My Thuan - Can Tho - Ca Mau section, 149 km long, which currently has low transportation demand; difficult construction conditions; and the current shortage of materials will affect progress and increase investment costs, so the expansion investment will be implemented as a separate project later.

Because the plan to expand to 6 lanes immediately has more advantages than the plan to expand to 4 complete lanes, in the case of investment, the Ministry of Construction recommends expanding to 6 lanes immediately according to the plan with a preliminary total investment of about 152,102 billion VND.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/thay-doi-lon-tai-du-an-mo-rong-cac-doan-tuyen-cao-toc-bac---nam-phia-dong-d410662.html