Proposal to build 713 km of highway first, which section should be prioritized first?

The Ministry of Transport has just proposed to build 713 km of expressway through 12 provinces with 11 component projects in the North-South expressway project, clearly stating the order of investment priority in the 3 years from 2017 - 2020.

Authorized by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Minister of Transport Truong Quang Nghia presented the "Pre-feasibility study report on the investment project to build the North-South expressway in the East in the 2017-2020 period" to the National Assembly for consideration and decision on the project investment policy.

Accordingly, the preliminary total investment of the project in the 2017 - 2020 period is about 130,216 billion VND (calculated according to the price level of the second quarter of 2017), including 55,000 billion VND from Government Bond capital and investor capital of about 63,716 billion VND and the balanced capital of the La Son - Tuy Loan project invested under the BT contract of about 11,500 billion VND.

Proposal to build 713 km of expressway first, based on forecast of transportation demand, prioritize investment in sections arranged according to transportation demand from high to low.

The Ministry of Transport proposed that in the 2017-2020 period, it will invest in 713 km first, divided into 11 component projects including 8 projects Ninh Binh (Mai Son) - Ha Tinh (Bai Vot) and the Khanh Hoa (Nha Trang) - Dong Nai (Dau Giay) section invested in the form of PPP, BOT contract type.

The remaining 3 projects are proposed to be invested in the form of public investment. After the investment is completed, tolls will be collected and the capital collected will be used to continue investing in the next sections.

The site clearance work for the 2017-2020 period is divided into 20 component projects and assigned to localities to implement with a length of about 713 km.

Based on the forecast of transport demand, the priority order of investment in the sections arranged from high to low transport demand in the Government's Proposal is as follows: Nam Dinh (Cao Bo) - Ha Tinh (Bai Vot); Dong Nai (Dau Giay) - Khanh Hoa (Nha Trang); Quang Tri (Cam Lo) - Thua Thien - Hue (La Son); Ha Tinh (Ham Nghi) - Ha Tinh (Vung Ang); Thua Thien - Hue (La Son) - Da Nang (Tuy Loan); Phu Yen (Tuy Hoa) - Khanh Hoa (Nha Trang); Ha Tinh (Bai Vot) - Ha Tinh (Ham Nghi), Binh Dinh (Quy Nhon) - Phu Yen (Tuy Hoa), Ha Tinh (Vung Ang) - Quang Tri (Cam Lo), Quang Ngai - Binh Dinh (Quy Nhon) and Can Tho - Ca Mau City.

The Ministry of Transport believes that the investment in the construction of the North-South Eastern Expressway is necessary and cannot be delayed in order to improve the competitiveness of the economy; meet the transportation needs on the North-South economic corridor, serve socio-economic development, and resolve the limitations of national highways, especially National Highway 1, which cannot be overcome. This is a feasible option in the context of high-speed railway investment not being able to be made soon.

According to Lao Dong Newspaper