Although the North-South Expressway East sections running through Gia Lai and Quang Ngai provinces have been opened to traffic, two planned rest areas remain unfinished, creating difficulties for commuters and road operation teams.
Mr. Tran Dinh Chuong, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Gia Lai Province, said local authorities were coordinating with relevant parties to resolve land-clearance issues affecting the rest area at Km77+820 on the Quang Ngai–Hoai Nhon Expressway, developed by Vietnam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex), and another at Km35+500 on the Hoai Nhon–Quy Nhon Expressway, invested in by the Futabuslines–Thanh Hiep Phat consortium.
Although both sites were handed over in November 2025, implementation has encountered several obstacles. At Km77+820, more than one hectare overlaps with an area where a company had won rights to exploit mineral resources. Meanwhile, the Km35+500 project has faced delays due to forest-land conversion procedures and requires an additional 0.47 hectares outside the original planning area for access road construction.
According to Mr. Tran Dinh Chuong, most issues at the Km77+820 site have now been resolved. Local authorities will urge the mining company to complete mineral extraction and hand over the land so construction can proceed.
At the Km35+500 rest area in Phu My Nam Commune, contractors have completed about 95 percent of site-filling work. However, the project remains behind schedule. The Project Management Unit No.85, the investor of the Hoai Nhon–Quy Nhon Expressway component project, said progress remained unsatisfactory despite repeated reminders. The board criticized investors and project operators for weak management and a lack of proactive adjustments to construction methods in response to on-site conditions.
While agreeing to extend the schedule, the board has imposed stricter deadlines: access roads must be completed by June 30, 2026; essential public-service facilities by September 30, 2026; and the entire rest area must be operational by December 31, 2026. It also called for sanctions should further delays occur.
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