The border road between Nghe An and Ha Tinh is seriously degraded.

Insecure

DH20 Road is a district road, running through Trung Phuc Cuong commune of Nam Dan district. This road is more than 4 km long, connecting the south of Yen Xuan bridge to Tung Chau commune, Duc Tho district (Ha Tinh). Of which, the last section, from Trung Phuc Cuong intersection to Chau Cuong bridge - the border with Tung Chau commune, nearly 2 km long, is seriously degraded.

Being present on this road recently, we noticed that although it is a district road, the traffic density is very high. In particular, there are many heavy trucks passing through this route. In many sections, it is not difficult to see potholes scattered all over the road. Due to having to carry heavy loads every day, the road surface structure is cracked and broken, many locations have subsided for tens of meters, there are damaged spots from 20-30cm deep covering almost the entire width of the road surface...

Due to the damaged road, vehicles passing through here had to "crawl" little by little. There were even sections where vehicles from Yen Xuan bridge to Duc Tho district had to encroach on the opposite lane to pass through the damaged area, which was very unsafe.

Mr. Dinh Xuan Hop, residing in Duc Tho district (Ha Tinh), who often has to travel this route, said: This is the shortest route from Duc Tho district to Vinh city, so even though the road is bad, we still accept to go.

According to our observations, this road has a rather narrow surface, only enough for 2 lanes of traffic. However, due to the large number of trucks traveling, collisions are very likely to occur, causing people traveling on this road to always be in a state of fear. According to local people, there have been many collisions and traffic accidents here, causing casualties.

For the people themselves, if they do not want to go through this route, the only way is to follow National Highway 15 around to Nam Dan Bridge, or around to Hong Linh Town and then over Ben Thuy Bridge to reach Vinh City. Both of these routes are very far and inconvenient. Therefore, even though the road is degraded, people still choose it despite the worries.

Need to upgrade soon

According to our research, this is the shortest road connecting Duc Tho, Huong Son, Vu Quang districts of Ha Tinh province with Vinh city (Nghe An). In particular, since Yen Xuan bridge was opened to traffic in 2016, this is the shortest road to Cau Treo border gate (Ha Tinh), and does not have to go through Ben Thuy toll station, so the density of heavy trucks and container trucks passing through this route is very high.

It is known that in early 2024, this road was maintained and repaired with a total investment of 1.2 billion VND, with the People's Committee of Trung Phuc Cuong commune as the investor. However, only 1 year later, this road continued to be damaged as if it had never been repaired.

Many people ask why the road from Yen Xuan bridge to Trung Phuc Cuong intersection; or from Chau Cuong bridge to Tho Tuong bridge (Ha Tinh), is still very beautiful, not damaged. Meanwhile, a short section running in the middle of the field, less than 2 km long, considered the border between the two localities, is always in a state of damage and patchwork.

Previously, at the end of 2023, in a report responding to voters' petitions about the frequent deterioration and damage of this road, affecting people's travel. The People's Committee of Nam Dan district said: The road leading from Yen Xuan bridge (from the gas station intersection to Coi bridge, Trung Phuc Cuong commune) belongs to district road DH20. The process of exploitation and use with dense traffic on this road, especially heavy trucks, leads to damage and deterioration of the road.

Also according to the People's Committee of Nam Dan district: According to the planning of Nghe An province for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050 approved by the Prime Minister in Decision No. 1059/QD-TTg dated September 14, 2023, district road DH20 from the gas station intersection to Coi bridge, Trung Phuc Cuong commune has been integrated into the planning of provincial road 542 with the scale of a level IV plain road.

This means that from a district road, this route will become a provincial road and will be assigned to the Department of Construction for management, operation, maintenance, and repair...

However, according to Mr. Nguyen An Toan - Chairman of Trung Phuc Cuong Commune People's Committee, the plan to hand over DH20 road and integrate it into the planning of provincial road 542 has not yet been implemented.

Mr. Toan said: The DH20 route has only been under construction for about 10 years, using foreign loans. Because this route is often damaged and degraded, in early 2024, the Nam Dan District People's Committee allocated 1.2 billion VND for maintenance and repair. However, due to heavy trucks circulating and causing damage, at the end of 2024, the commune had to allocate about 40 million VND to repair the damaged areas, but it was not enough.

"We know that the province has provided about 3.4 billion VND to upgrade and repair this road. However, the implementation may have to wait until after the completion of the commune merger (it is expected that Trung Phuc Cuong commune will merge with Khanh Son commune and Nam Kim commune to form Thien Nhan commune). However, in order for this road to ensure long-term durability, the road frame and roadbed must definitely be upgraded. And to do that requires a large investment project from the province," Mr. Toan added.

Tien Dong