Technical opening of 26km Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway

Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) officially held the Technical Traffic Opening Ceremony for the A1 construction package (under the Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway construction project) and put into temporary operation the section from National Highway 18 in Thanh Xuan commune, Soc Son district (Hanoi) to the National Highway 2B intersection (km 24+946) in Kim Long commune, Tam Duong district, Vinh Phuc province this morning (December 27).

Mr. Bui Dinh Tuan, Director of the Expressway Operation and Maintenance Company (VEC O&M - the project operator) said that the A1 construction package has a total length of 26.78km, with 4 lanes and 2 emergency lanes. Vehicles can travel at speeds of 60-80km/h. The toll on the Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway is equivalent to the Cau Gie-Ninh Binh route, which is 1,500 VND/km/standard vehicle.

The 26km section of the Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway has officially been put into operation. (Photo: Viet Hung/Vietnam+)

During the temporary exploitation process, the investor will continue to direct the construction units to urgently complete the remaining items of the project to put the entire package into exploitation in 2014.

At the ceremony, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Hong Truong highly appreciated the efforts of local authorities in site clearance and resettlement and praised VEC for completing the progress early, and the contractors for their best efforts to bring the A1 package to the finish line today.

"To exploit effectively, VEC needs to coordinate with local authorities to remove obstacles, focus resources to speed up the completion of packages A2, A3, A8 in the first quarter of 2014 and complete the entire route in 2014," Deputy Minister Nguyen Hong Truong affirmed.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai emphasized that putting the 26km section of the Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway project into operation will contribute to increasing traffic capacity between Hanoi and Vinh Phuc and Phu Tho provinces, serving the transportation of goods and passengers from Hanoi to industrial parks and tourist areas in the region, with distance and time reduced by more than half compared to traffic on the existing route.

“In 2014, if the entire project route is completed and put into operation, instead of taking 8 hours, the Noi Bai-Lao Cai route will only take more than 3 hours. Thus, vehicles participating in traffic on the Noi Bai-Lao Cai expressway will save maximum fuel and ensure safety because the route is designed with 2 separate, clear directions, without intersections with other roads,” said Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai./.

According to VNA