Two new sections on North-South expressway put into use

They are the two components of the North-South Expressway project.

The 78.5 km Cam Lam - Vinh Hao Expressway, running through the three coastal provinces of Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, and Binh Thuan, was invested with over VND8.92 trillion (US$352 million) in the form of public-private partnership (PPP) and has a designed maximum speed of 90 kph. It shortens the travel time from Ho Chi Minh City, the country’s largest economic hub, to Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa) to about 5 hours by car, instead of 8 hours as before.

The 50.5-km Dien Chau-Bai Vot section runs through the two central provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh. The VND11 trillion expressway can shorten the travel time from Hanoi to Vinh city of Nghe An to just over 3 hours by car.

The two new roads help increase the total length of the currently operational expressway to 1,226 km out of the planned 2,064 km length of the North-South Expressway from Huu Nghi border gate in the northern province of Lang Son to Nam Can town in the southernmost province of Ca Mau.

Addressing the event, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that developing a synchronous and modern infrastructure system is one of three strategic breakthroughs, receiving special attention and direction from the Party and State.

A mountain bridge on Dien Chau - Bai Vot Expresway. Photo by VnExpress/Hung Le

In particular, the expressway system plays a very important role, especially in connecting and improving transportation capacity to serve production, business and daily life, thus helping attract investment, and boost socio-economic development, and ensure national defense and security for localities, regions and the whole country.

Chinh requested the Ministry of Transport to preside over and coordinate with ministries, sectors and localities to guide the operation and exploitation of expressways to ensure safety and efficiency.