Transport Industry: Efforts to connect and create development momentum

(Baonghean) - In 2014, Nghe An's Transport sector attracted 3,700 billion VND in investment in key transport infrastructure projects, contributing to promoting socio-economic development. The transport system has basically connected economic zones, shortened travel time, and created an important driving force for Nghe An to become a connecting center for the provinces in the North Central region.

In its strategic location, Nghe An in general and Vinh City in particular are facing important opportunities to connect the two economic zones of Nghi Son and Vung Ang as well as connect provinces in the North Central region. With advantages in transport infrastructure, mechanisms, policies, supporting industry development... Nghe An is actively connecting transport, forming an intra-regional and intra-provincial economic triangle with provinces in the region.

Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang inspects the progress of the National Highway 46 railway overpass intersection project in Cua Nam ward (Vinh city). Photo: Thanh Duy

Transport connecting regions

Within a radius of 100 km, Vinh City becomes the center between Nghi Son and Vung Ang, two areas with strong development in large industrial clusters. Included in this chain are the centers: Southeast Economic Zone, Hoang Mai Town, Cua Lo Town... To serve the development goal and strengthen regional linkages, the Nghe An Department of Transport actively advises the Provincial People's Committee, mobilizes resources from the Central Government and the coordination of all levels and sectors to attract many projects and invest in the construction of many strategic transport works.

In 2014, a series of traffic projects were started and completed, bringing surprising changes to the people in the province as well as tourists to Nghe An. That is: The project to upgrade and expand National Highway 1A has been basically completed with 6 lanes and railway overpasses to shorten travel time, contributing to "awakening" the potential and advantages of the province. The Vinh bypass road continues to upgrade the road surface quality and complete Ben Thuy 2 bridge connecting the two banks of Lam Giang. From Ben Thuy bridge, Ha Tinh province is completing the infrastructure to connect the North - South axis. From there, the transport sector is implementing steps to prepare for investment in the expressway project from Nghi Son (Thanh Hoa) to Ha Tinh, 93.6 km long, of which 88.6 km is in Nghe An with the scale of a class A expressway, 4 - 6 lanes. Parallel to the two axes of National Highway 1 and the expressway, there will be the Nghi Son coastal road project to Cua Lo phase 1.

This is a coastal road to effectively exploit marine and coastal resources, serve the socio-economic development of coastal localities, strengthen national defense and security to firmly protect the country's sovereignty. In addition, the coastal road can be combined with the sea dyke system and the coastal defense road system, creating favorable conditions for handling situations in response to natural disasters. The investment in the construction of the coastal road is divided into 2 phases; Phase I (from now to 2020) will focus on building sections in key economic regions and 15 coastal economic zones identified in the Project "Planning the development of coastal economic zones of Vietnam to 2020" including Nghi Son (Thanh Hoa), Dong Nam (Nghe An), Vung Ang (Ha Tinh).

The investment in the construction of the three important roads mentioned above will contribute to shortening the travel time between the Nghi Son - Vinh - Vung Ang economic triangle, facilitating the development of satellite economic centers along the corridor, making Vinh City officially become the North Central Center. Along with that, Vinh Airport is invested in expanding the airport access road, expanding the car park, aircraft parking lot, installing night flight signal equipment, installing ILS equipment, upgrading to an international airport...

In the strategy of connecting the province and increasing the attractiveness of key economic development areas, it is impossible not to mention the projects connecting Vinh central urban area with Cua Lo urban area, with the Southeast Economic Zone, Hoang Mai - Dong Hoi Industrial Park, with the Western Nghe An as well as the projects to develop transport infrastructure of each area. To connect Vinh - Cua Lo, Cua Hoi, the province is building 2 routes including a 72m road from Quan Bau intersection to Vinh bypass road, 7 km long, and a 35m road from National Highway 46 to Lam River road under the Vinh Urban Development Sub-project funded by the World Bank (WB) with a total approved investment of over 152.922 million USD. Along with the existing National Highway 46, Provincial Road 535 Vinh - Cua Hoi is being upgraded, preparing to invest in Cua Hoi bridge across Lam River. Thus, the Vinh urban chain connecting Cua Lo is opening, bringing Vinh City closer to the sea and Lam River within a radius of about 15 - 20 km. That will be the ideal connecting axis for a type I city of regional and national stature.

Construction of a railway overpass on National Highway 46B through Quan Banh (Vinh City). Photo: SM

In addition to developing transport to connect key economic areas along the North-South axis, Nghe An's transport sector also pays attention to connecting the coastal economic corridor, focusing on Vinh City, with the Western region of Nghe An. The province is upgrading and expanding National Highway 7, Dien Chau - Do Luong section, some sections of National Highway 48, National Highway 15, National Highway 46 and will invest in a series of important provincial roads to the West. The effectiveness of connecting intra-provincial regions will create attraction for economic points in the province. In order to increase the attraction of the Southeast - Hoang Mai - Cua Lo Economic Zone, Nghe An Provincial People's Committee approved 13 investment projects to build traffic infrastructure works in the economic zone.

Along with the expansion of the road network is the development of the Cua Lo deep-water port system and Dong Hoi port connecting with the Vietnamese seaport system. Cua Lo port has completed the construction of the northern breakwater and sand barrier, and is currently dredging the shipping channel to ensure service for 10,000-ton ships to push loads in and out, and is preparing to implement the port expansion project, building berths 5 and 6. In the future, Cua Lo port will be upgraded and expanded to accommodate ships of 20,000 - 30,000 tons. At the same time, Dong Hoi port is identified as a specialized port for the 2,400MW thermal power plant, cement industry and industrial parks in the Northwest of Nghe An, with investment expected to ensure the reception of ships of 30,000 - 50,000 tons.

In the overall picture of transport development projects, Nghe An Department of Transport is strengthening coordination with the transport sector of other provinces to implement the strategy of connecting the North Central region. Mr. Nguyen Hong Ky - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Director of the Department of Transport said: “According to the medium-term public investment plan, the period of 2016 - 2020, the transport sector determined the capital demand for projects invested by the Department of Transport at about 25 trillion VND, in addition to projects invested by the Southeast Economic Zone Management Board at about 3.2 billion VND; rural transport projects, provincial roads invested by districts, towns and cities at about 20 trillion VND and projects invested by other investors using central capital in the province at about 28.5 trillion VND. With that level of investment, we can soon complete the road transport system connecting with waterways, railways and airways to reduce time, shorten distances, enhance transport capacity, economic and cultural exchange between the intra-provincial regions and the dynamic economic zones of the entire North Central region”.

Exploit and manage transportation activities well

Modern overpasses have removed traffic bottlenecks; bridges over rivers connecting the banks of rivers; large-scale routes connecting economic zones have created a new look for Nghe An province to firmly step on the path of development. Along with promoting investment in infrastructure development, the Department of Transport focuses on infrastructure and transportation management.

In 2014, the sector conducted 128 construction quality inspections, including 80 inspections invested by the Department of Transport and 48 inspections of projects invested by other districts and sectors. At the same time, the sector also established 18 field inspection teams, advised on budget allocation, and monitored the implementation of local road repair projects using the "Road Maintenance Fund". To date, the Road Maintenance Fund has collected about 25 billion VND from road use fees for cars, motorbikes, and scooters (reaching about 67% of the assigned estimate). The sector has also received 22.3 billion VND from road traffic career funding allocated by the provincial budget; 37.586 billion VND from the Central Road Maintenance Fund.

National Highway 1A through Nghi Yen commune - Nghi Loc. Photo: SM

However, in reality, the management of the province's transport infrastructure is also facing many difficulties such as: capital for regular maintenance of bridges and roads has not met the demand; the number and load scale of transport vehicles has increased rapidly, greatly affecting the structure of transport works. However, due to proactive prevention, step-by-step maintenance and repair, there has been no prolonged congestion, ensuring the quality of exploitation. The total cost of implementing the management and maintenance of roads directly managed by the department is 246,263 billion VND.

In 2014, implementing the policy of the Government, the Ministry of Transport, and the Provincial People's Committee on tightening the operation of oversized and overloaded vehicles, the Department actively directed and implemented many synchronous and effective solutions, which were typical of the whole country in the management of transport business and control of vehicle load. The vehicle load inspection station was established and put into operation on April 1, 2014, playing an important role in the inspection and handling of the operation of oversized and overloaded vehicles. In 2014, the Traffic Inspectorate coordinated with functional forces to inspect 7,933 vehicles; handled 2,175 overload cases; forced to unload 13,560 tons of goods; total fines were nearly 9.5 billion VND.

In addition, the Department of Transport has also organized work with businesses and individuals participating in transporting goods by car in the province to count and review the number of vehicles, and have solutions to urge businesses and individuals to arbitrarily change the size of the car's cargo box, especially Howo vehicles, to sign a commitment to voluntarily cut off the car's cargo box connection. The total number of Howo vehicles in the area that arbitrarily changed the size of the car's wall and cargo box is 200, after the commitment, businesses and individuals voluntarily cut off 193 vehicles.

Faced with the continuous decrease in gasoline prices in recent times, the Department of Transport has proactively implemented fare reductions and has been implemented by transport enterprises simultaneously. Immediately after the signing ceremony, the Nghe An Provincial Transport Association urged transport enterprises in the area to join in reducing fares by 6-10%. Along with that, administrative reform has been implemented by the Department of Transport in all areas such as: institutional reform; organizational reform; human resource development; public finance; modernization of public administration and direction. The inspection of road motor vehicles, training and testing, and issuance of driving licenses have also been strengthened in a quick and convenient manner for the people. The sector has also actively participated with the entire political system in ensuring traffic safety and order, so traffic accidents in the province have decreased in all three criteria (number of cases, number of deaths and number of injuries).

Ending a vibrant year, Nghe An Transport sector continues to affirm its role in connecting regions with many impressive movements. That result demonstrates the efforts of the staff and employees of the Transport sector. The goal of Resolution 26 of the Politburo on the direction and tasks of developing Nghe An to become a fairly developed province in the Northern region by 2015, the economic and social center of the North Central region and having a synchronous infrastructure system. The destination of that goal is getting closer as the difficulties and challenges are being shouldered by the Transport sector and all levels of the sector.

Thu Huyen