As Tet is approaching, people in the North of Vietnam excitedly welcomed the newly opened expressway of Tuyen Quang – Phu Tho at the end of 2023. The route is more than 40km long, allowing a maximum speed of 90km per hour. With a total investment of VND3.7 trillion (US$151 million), this expressway is the first in Tuyen Quang Province to link to the Noi Bai – Lao Cai Expressway and offers valuable opportunities for the overall growth of the Northern mountainous area.
Vehicles after vehicles now carry wild peach blossoms from the provinces of Tuyen Quang and Phu Tho to Hanoi for people to decorate their house at Tet. Meanwhile, commodities are shipped to the mountainous areas to serve the local needs there. The travelling time for produce like oranges from local farms to Hanoi supermarkets in general decreases to no more than 2 hours.
Passenger transport has also been more convenient as it now takes only 1 hour to move from Hanoi to Tuyen Quang Province, a significant time reduction by 3 times, not to mention frequent congestion.
In the North Central region, at the end of 2023, the two construction projects of National Highway 45 – Nghi Son and Nghi Son – Dien Chau with a total length of 251km and investment of VND13 trillion ($530.4 million) were timely finished to connect Hanoi to Thanh Hoa Province and Nghe An Province, the two most crowded areas in Vietnam only after Hanoi and HCMC.
Since there are various intersections on these two routes, they form a perfect traffic network to smaller neighboring areas, and thus providing precious chances for socio-economic and tourism growth in the two provinces.
Obviously, National Highway No.1A used to be the only choice to travel from North to South, resulting in severe congestion every national holiday, especially at Tet. Thanks to the operation of the new expressways above, traffic users feel more at ease moving around as the spending time greatly reduces.
Sam Van Chung from Quy Chau District of Nghe An Province shared that these days, he is joyfully busy taking passengers from Quy Chau District to Hanoi, Hai Phong City, or Bac Ninh Province and vice versa. Driving on National Highway No.1A took him at least 6 hours. But then going through the new expressways, he saves about 2 hours each trip, which means a large fuel cost saving!
Similarly, driver Tran Toan from Tien Phuong Passenger Transportation Co. highly appreciates the new expressways. Formerly, his everyday journey from Nhu Xuan (Thanh Hoa Province) to Hanoi through National Highway No.1A lasts 4.3 hours; but the one through the expressway is in only 3 hours. What is more, the new route releases him from congestion and the pressure when driving through residential areas or going along with 2-wheel vehicles. He happily said that when the coach is full, he can drive directly from Hanoi back to Nhu Thanh, Nong Cong on the shortest route.
Owner of Quynh Nhung Transportation Co. (in Xuan Du Commune of Thanh Hoa Province) Pham Van Quynh informed that the major route of the company to ship merchandise is Thanh Hoa – Hanoi – Bac Ninh – Thai Nguyen. Thanks to the expressway, each of his trips saves 45-60 minutes and running cost as well, helping him arrange more turns per day and gain more profit. Special commodities like seafood can now be transported faster to serve consumers. Quynh hoped that functional agencies can increase the speed on these expressways for even quicker trips and create an emergency lane for troublesome vehicles.
In related news, on January 23, 2024, a serious traffic accident happened on the Cam Lo – Tuy Loan Expressway (from Da Nang City – Hue – Quang Tri Province), killing two and injuring 20 passengers. The initial cause was determined to be thick fog and rainy weather to cause limited visibility. However, experienced drivers on this route commented that it is highly unsafe and traffic accidents frequently happen.
This has been confirmed by Vice Chairman Hoang Hai Minh of the People’s Committee of Thua Thien – Hue Province, saying that there were tens of accidents on the expressway last year. The primary reason is speeding (the speed limit is 60-80km/hour) and running in the opposite direction to overtake other vehicles.
It is worth noticing that the Cam Lo – Tuy Loan Expressway has only two lanes and no fixed median strip. Even though the maximum speed limit is 80km per hour, there are several sections with lower ones displayed on obstructed street signs, making drivers easily lose their concentration.
Adding to that are certain parts of rugged mountainous terrain, small curves like the 11km section through Bach Ma National Park. Many of these curves are without essential traffic convex mirrors to aid drivers. What is more, there is no stop on the whole route for broken vehicles to repair. Neither are there any traffic lights or gas stations.
In the recent visit to Quang Tri Province, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh assigned the Transport Ministry to research possible methods to expand this expressway to 4 lanes after listening to the proposal of the Quang Tri Province People’s Committee.
