Under the road network planning for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, all expressways must have a scale of four to ten lanes after completion to meet future transportation needs and ensure a long-term vision.
However, amid the large investment capital needs for developing transportation infrastructure in general and road expressway development investment in particular, the budget resources are limited making expressways be invested according to various phases to ensure appropriateness for planning, design standards, current transportation needs as well as capital balance and soon carry out expressway construction and investment projects to meet the demands of economic and social development.
The operation of the phased expressways still faces some limitations such as the phased investment in cross sections for two-lane roads without a median barrier that could cause a risk of traffic unsafety; four-lane expressways with intermittent emergency stopping lanes that may cause congestion in case of incidents and the operating below optimal speed.
In order to mitigate the limitations during the operation and exploitation of the phased expressways, the Ministry of Transport recommended local authorities being assigned for expressway construction and investment projects to review and report plans for implementing the expansion of the phased expressways. That will help the ministry easily summarize, make proposals and submit reports to the Prime Minister for approval.
The Ministry of Transport will accelerate the development and issuance of design standards for expressways in the first quarter of 2024. Of which, there are regulations on phased expressways with a minimum investment scale of four lanes, emergency stopping lanes and comprehensive investment in works serving for the exploitation such as traffic monitoring systems, traffic management, rest stops and so on.
Besides, the Ministry of Transport is also under the completion of procedures to expand some routes from two lanes to four lanes and from four lanes to six lanes; submit approval of the Road Law to the National Assembly at the seventh session, including mechanisms of allowing for expansion, renovation, upgrading and modernization of road expressways under the form of the Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) and other forms of investment to mobilize resources outside the budget for infrastructure development in transportation and so on.
