Lack of emergency lanes - Accidents still lurk on the highway

Proposal to expand 15 sections of the North-South Expressway

Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet Expressway is more than 100km long through Lam Dong province (formerly Binh Thuan ), located on the North - South Eastern Expressway axis, connecting Dau Giay - Phan Thiet and Cam Lam - Vinh Hao Expressways. After being put into operation in May 2023, this has become a vital axis on the transport corridor between Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai and the Central provinces. Traffic volume on the route has increased rapidly, but due to being in the investment phase, there is no emergency lane, and in the past, this expressway has had many serious accidents.

On the night of July 8, a passenger bus carrying 41 people on the Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet highway from Khanh Hoa to Ho Chi Minh City had a flat tire when passing through Ham Liem commune, Lam Dong province (formerly Binh Thuan), and had to stop. At that time, a sleeper bus behind crashed into a stopped car, killing the driver and assistant of this vehicle when they got out to check. Many passengers on the stopped car were also injured. Previously, there had been many other accidents on this route.

Not only the above area, many other highways are operating with 4 limited lanes (no emergency lane) such as Trung Luong - My Thuan, Vinh Hao - Cam Lam, Cam Lam - Nha Trang... also putting pressure on drivers every time they pass. Besides, some routes only have 2 lanes, no median strip like Cam Lo - La Son, La Son - Tuy Loan, further increasing the risk of accidents.

Lack of emergency lanes - Accidents still lurk on the highway -0

Highway accidents are still a serious problem.

To date, the country has more than 2,000km of expressways, of which 654km belong to 11 component projects on the North-South axis in the East phase 1 (from 2017-2020) which have been put into operation simultaneously in recent years. Phase 2 (from 2021-2025), a series of new expressways continue to be deployed with a total length of about 721km, of which 4 component projects are expected to be completed by the end of this year. According to the Ministry of Construction , due to difficulties in capital sources, in phase 1, many expressway sections were invested in phases with a scale of 2 lanes, or 4 lanes but did not have continuous emergency lanes.

Dr. Khuong Kim Tao, former Deputy Chief of Office of the National Traffic Safety Committee, assessed that traffic accidents on expressways, especially those built in phases (with only 2 lanes, no emergency lanes), are a pressing issue. Many serious accidents have occurred on these routes such as Cam Lo - La Son and La Son - Tuy Loan. Faced with this situation, the Government has directed relevant ministries and branches to study expansion plans, including implementation under the public-private partnership (PPP) model after many private enterprises proposed to participate. Implementing the Government's direction, the Ministry of Construction has proposed to expand 15 sections of the North-South Expressway, in the form of public investment, in 2 phases: Phase 1 (from 2017-2020) and Phase 2 (from 2021-2025), in addition to the two sections Cao Bo - Mai Son and Cam Lo - La Son that are being upgraded.

Completed site clearance for 21 rest stops

In addition to the expansion of expressway lanes, the issue of rest stops is equally painful. Faced with this situation, the Ministry of Construction has just issued a Directive requiring the acceleration of investment in intelligent traffic management systems, automatic toll collection, vehicle weight control and the construction of rest stops at the North-South expressway projects in the East.

The Ministry of Construction requested project management boards and relevant agencies and units to urgently deploy solutions to speed up the implementation progress. Specifically, regarding the rest stop project, the Ministry of Construction requested directors of project management boards to closely coordinate with localities to complete site clearance for 21 rest stops, no later than July 2025. Direct investors and enterprises to urgently complete investment procedures, speed up the implementation progress of 19 rest stops that have signed contracts. For the remaining 2 rest stops, it is necessary to urgently complete the selection of investors, ensure early implementation of construction, and basically complete essential service items such as restrooms and parking lots when the component projects are put into operation.

For the Quang Ngai – Hoai Nhon Expressway, the Ministry of Construction requested the Vietnam Road Administration to work with the Quang Ngai Provincial People's Committee to unify the focal unit and the account to receive compensation, support and resettlement funds. This is the basis for investors to advance funds to the state budget to serve the work of paying compensation for site clearance at rest stops. Along with that, it is necessary to clearly identify focal units to promptly support, guide, resolve procedures related to land and ensure construction conditions throughout the project implementation process of the investor.

In addition, the Ministry of Construction assigned the Vietnam Road Administration to proactively develop a plan to manage and operate the component projects as soon as the State Inspection Council for Construction Acceptance conducts inspection, acceptance and approval to put the project into operation. The Vietnam Road Administration is responsible for proactively selecting the unit to receive and manage the traffic monitoring and control system; the road toll payment service provider; and the unit to operate the expressway toll collection. This should be implemented immediately after the project management boards complete the construction, equipment installation and software installation, to ensure that toll collection is carried out promptly, in accordance with regulations, as soon as conditions for operation are met.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/Giao-thong/thieu-lan-dung-khan-cap-tai-nan-van-rinh-rap-tren-cao-toc-i775153/