The Ministry of Transport held a ground-breaking ceremony on September 16 to mark the beginning of construction of the Cam Lo-La Son section of the Eastern North-South Expressway, in collaboration with the governments of the Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue provinces.
The two-lane road, with an expected total investment of over VND7.6 trillion (US$329.28 million) sourced from the Government bond, is 98 kilometers long and 12 meters wide, allowing vehicles to travel on it at a maximum speed of 80 kilometers per hour. In the next phase from 2030-2040, the section will be expanded to four-six lanes.
The Cam Lo – La Son section is the first subproject of the 11 subprojects of the North-South Expressway in the East to be constructed this year.
Addressing the ground-breaking ceremony in Cam Hieu commune, Cam Lo district, Quang Tri province, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said the Eastern North-South Expressway will play an important role in connecting provinces and economic regions across the country and significantly contribute to Vietnam’s economic growth. PM Phuc further requested that the first subproject of the North-South Expressway in the East should be a model project with ensured quality and progress.
The Cam Lo – La Son section is scheduled for completion in 2021 which will connect the La Son - Tuy Loan expressway to form the Cam Lo - La Son - Tuy Loan expressway, meeting the transport demand and easing pressure on National Highway 1A when traffic has slowed on Hai Van Pass and other mountain passes, contributing to maintaining national security and fueling the development of the whole central region.
At the ceremony, the prime minister proposed that road contractors speed up work on the expressway, ensure the quality of the work and put the road into operation as scheduled.
The Cam Lo-La Son Expressway was the first project to be funded by State capital, the local media reported, citing PM Phuc.
According to the national expressway network planning by 2020 with a vision to 2030 approved by the PM, the cross-country expressway will be 2,109 kilometers long, linking the northern province of Lang Son and the southernmost province of Ca Mau. Of which, the North-South Expressway in the East has a total length of about 645km including 11 subprojects.
Vietnam has built some 1,000 kilometers of expressways to date. An additional 900 kilometers of expressways will be opened to traffic in late 2021.
The North-South expressway project and all subprojects will be developed with a total investment of over VND118.7 trillion. Of the total, VND55 trillion will come from the State budget and over VND63.7 trillion from the private sector.
The 11 subprojects comprise three sections using State capital---the Cao Bo-Mai Son and Cam Lo-La Son sections and My Thuan 2 Bridge---and eight public-private partnership components---Mai Son-National Highway 45, National Highway 45-Nghi Son, Nghi Son-Dien Chau, Dien Chau-Bai Vot, Nha Trang-Cam Lam, Cam Lam-Vinh Hao, Vinh Hao-Phan Thiet and Phan Thiet-Dau Giay.
