North–South Expressway East


The North–South Expressway East is an expressway in Vietnam located very close to National Route 1, acting as an artery traversing the entirety of Vietnam from North to South. Similar to National Route 1, the expressway starts from Lạng Sơn and ends at Cà Mau. At the northern border, the expressway will connect to Nanning-Youyiguan Expressway in China.
The project has a total length of, starting at Huu Nghi border gate and terminating at the ring road of Cà Mau city. The control points of the expressway are located in the Eastern Transport Corridor, running almost parallel to the upgraded and expanded National Highway 1. The North-South Expressway is being built with 18 sections acting as nodes: Lạng Sơn, Hà Nội, Ninh Bình, Thanh Hóa, Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Trị, Đà Nẵng, Quảng Ngãi, Bình Định, Nha Trang, Phan Thiết, Dầu Giây, Long Thành, Bến Lức, HCMC - Trung Luong, My Thuan, Cần Thơ and Cà Mau, with a total cost estimate of VND 350 trillion.

History

Background and current situation

The transport corridor on the north–south axis from Lạng Sơn to Cà Mau plays a very important role: connecting the political capital of Hanoi with the economic center of Ho Chi Minh City, passing through 32 provinces and cities accounting for 62.1% of the population, contributing 65.7% of the gross domestic product, affecting 74% of seaports, 75% of economic regions of the country and especially connecting 4 key economic regions, connecting 16 out of 23 airports. This is the most important transport corridor in the transport infrastructure system of Vietnam.
In 2019, the Ministry of Transport decided to exclude foreign investors from bidding on the North-South Expressway, mainly to prevent Chinese companies from participating. Public backlash was feared if Chinese companies would collect toll fees, due to strong anti-Chinese sentiment in the country, and national security concerns played a part as well. However, lack of bidders has led to low competition between the bids, and two out of five sections had not attracted any bids.
According to 2017 estimates, yearly total transport volume over Vietnam's north-south corridor would be 45.37 million passengers and 62.27 million tons of goods by 2020, which would exceed the capacity of current infrastructure by 10% to 25%. Four goals of the project have been formulated by the Ministry of Transport:
  • Allow the economy to be more competitive within ASEAN and the WTO.
  • Improve transportation capacity and speed along the North-South transport corridor.
  • Promoto socio-economic development and ensure national security.
  • Connect the capital and political centre Hanoi and the economic centre Ho Chi Minh City with the 4 key economic zones, urban areas, key industrial zones, border gates and international seaports.
North, Central and Southern Vietnam, and Mekong Delta
From 2004 to 2021, Vietnam only has about of expressways put into operation, equal to 18% of the plan, the average construction speed is 74 km/year, only 1.5% of the development speed of expressways in China during the same period; has not yet fulfilled the goal of "completing and putting into use about 2,000 km of expressways by 2020" according to Resolution 13-NQ/TW.. of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam. The implementation of investment in expressways has not been rational, and has not been distributed harmoniously among key economic regions, dynamic regions and disadvantaged areas.

History

The idea of building the North-South Expressway appeared before 2010, when the demand for road travel between provinces along the north-south axis increased rapidly, while the existing National Route 1 was overloaded. although it has been widened at least four lanes, and at the same time build a new route avoiding urban areas. However, the expansion capacity of National Route 1 becomes limited because people live on both sides of the road, so the cost of clearing is very large. In addition, National Route 1 almost all sections run along the same corridor with North–South Railway, the possibility of expansion is not feasible. The construction of the North-South Expressway as well as other expressway systems in Vietnam aims to separate passenger cars, non-stop passenger cars and long-distance trucks from the traffic of rudimentary vehicles and two- to three-wheelers, passenger cars, passenger cars often pick up and drop off passengers along the road and trucks, creating conditions for long-distance vehicles to run faster and safer.
The predecessors of the North-South Expressways are the Phap Van–Cau Gie bypass completed in 1998, along with the NH1 bypass, the Phap Van–Bac Giang section. At that time, these roads were only bypasses of National Highway 1 and did not meet expressway standards. In 2012, the East North-South Expressway running through the two areas above was built on the basis of upgrading the existing bypass, building overpasses at sections through Phap Van urban area and parallel roads for two-wheelers.
The first expressway completed in the North-South Expressway system is Phap Van–Cau Gie Expressway, which opened to traffic in 2002.
According to the original plan, the North-South Expressway is long to the east, starting point from Phap Van, ending point is Can Tho city. However, the system planning for the 2021-2030 period has been adjusted. According to which, the North-South Expressway is long, the starting point is from Huu Nghi border gate and the end point is Ca Mau City. Accordingly, two expressways Hanoi–Lang Son and Can Tho–Ca Mau expressway are combined into the North–South Expressway planning.

Expressway planning

2010

The detailed planning of the entire North-South expressway east of CT.01 was announced by the Prime Minister in January 2010. There are 16 main sections of the route from north to south. The total length of the route from Hanoi to Can Tho is 1811 km.
NumberExpressway section nameStartEndLengthNumberExpressway section nameStartEndLength
1Phap Van - Cau GiePhap VanCau Gie30 km9Quang Ngai - Binh DinhQuang NgaiAn Nhon169.5 km
2Cau Gie - Ninh BinhCau GieNinh Binh50 km10Binh Dinh - Nha TrangAn NhonDien Khanh215 km
3Ninh Binh – Thanh HoaNinh BinhNghi Son121 km11Nha Trang – Phan ThietDien KhanhPhan Thiet226 km
4Thanh Hoa - Ha TinhNghi SonHong Linh97 km12Phan Thiet - Dau GiayPhan ThietLong Khanh98 km
5Ha Tinh - Quang BinhHong LinhBung145 km13HCMC - Long Thanh - Dau GiayLong KhanhLong Thanh43 km
6Quang Binh - Quang TriBungCam Lo117 km14Long Thanh - Ben LucLong ThanhBen Luc58 km
7Quang Tri - Da NangCam LoTuy Loan182.48 km15HCMC - Trung LuongBến LứcChâu Thành37 km
8Da Nang - Quang NgaiTuy LoanQuang Ngai130 km16Trung Luong - My Thuan - Can ThoChau ThanhCan Tho92 km

2021

In September 2021, the Government announced the Road Network Plan for the 2021–2030 period, with a vision to 2050, re-planned the North-South Expressway from Huu Nghi border gate to Ca Mau city with a length of about 2,063 km, scale from 4 to 10 lanes. The whole route is divided into 3 major segments, the Hanoi to Can Tho segment is CT.01 in the 2010 master plan. The total number of subdivided sections is 38. All will be built before 2030.
  • Segment of Huu Nghi Border Gate - Phap Van
NameExpressway section nameProvince/MunicipalityLength
1Huu Nghi border gate - Chi LangLạng Sơn43 km
2Chi Lang – Bac GiangLạng Sơn – Bắc Giang64 km
3Bac Giang – Phu Đong BridgeBac Giang – Hanoi46 km
4Ring Road 3 from Phu Dong Bridge to Phap Van
Hanoi14 km

  • Segment of Hanoi - Can Tho
NameExpressway section nameProvince/MunicipalityLengthNameExpressway section nameProvince/MunicipalityLength
1Phap Van - Cau GieHanoi30 km17Quang Ngai - Hoai NhonQuảng Ngãi – Bình Định88 km
2Cau Gie - Cao BoHanoi – Hà Nam – Nam Định50 km18Hoai Nhon - Quy NhonBình Định69 km
3Cao Bo - Mai SonNam Định – Ninh Bình15 km19Quy Nhon - Chi ThanhBình Định – Phú Yên68 km
4Mai Son - National Route 45Ninh Bình – Thanh Hóa63 km20Chi Thanh - Van PhongPhú Yên – Khánh Hòa51 km
5National Route 45 - Nghi SonThanh Hóa43 km21Deo Ca TunnelPhú Yên – Khánh Hòa14 km
6Nghi Son - Dien ChauThanh Hóa – Nghệ An50 km22Van Phong - Nha TrangKhánh Hòa83 km
7Dien Chau - Bai VotNghệ An – Hà Tĩnh49 km23Nha Trang - Cam LamKhánh Hòa49 km
8Bai Vot - Ham NghiHà Tĩnh36 km24Cam Lam - Vinh HaoKhánh Hòa – Ninh Thuận – Bình Thuận79 km
9Ham Nghi - Vung AngHà Tĩnh54 km25Vinh Hao - Phan ThietBình Thuận101 km
10Vung Ang - BungHà Tĩnh – Quảng Bình58 km26Phan Thiet - Dau GiayBình Thuận – Đồng Nai99 km
11Bung - Van NinhQuảng Bình51 km27HCMC - Long Thanh - Dau GiayĐồng Nai21 km
12Van Ninh - Cam LoQuảng Bình – Quảng Trị68 km28Long Thanh - Ben LucĐồng Nai – HCMC – Long An58 km
13Cam Lo - La SonQuảng Trị – Huế98 km29HCMC - Trung LuongHCMC - Long An - Tiền Giang40 km
14La Son - Hoa LienHuế – Đà Nẵng66 km30Trung Luong - My ThuanTiền Giang51 km
15Hoa Lien - Tuy LoanĐà Nẵng12 km31My Thuan 2 BridgeTiền Giang - Vĩnh Long7 km
16Da Nang - Quang NgaiĐà Nẵng – Quảng Ngãi127 km32My Thuan - Can ThoTiền Giang – Cần Thơ23 km

  • Segment of Can Tho - Ca Mau
NumberExpressway section nameProvince/MunicipalityLength
1Can Tho 2 BridgeCần Thơ15 km
2Can Tho - Ca MauCần Thơ – Cà Mau109 km

Investment stages

The entire expressway construction process is divided into several stages, each phase building a number of smaller routes in the larger sections. The plan for budget construction and use of each period is approved by the National Assembly of Vietnam. As follows:
  • In the period of 2017–2020, the investment is for 654 km, the total investment is VND 118,716 billion
NumberExpressway section nameLengthLanesPreliminary investment level
1Cao Bo - Mai Son15 km41,612
2Mai Son - National Route 4563 km414,703
3National Route 45 - Nghi Son43 km47,769
4Nghi Son - Dien Chau50 km48,648
5Dien Chau - Bai Vot50 km413,596
6Cam Lo - La Son102 km27,900
7Nha Trang - Cam Lam29 km45,131
8Cam Lam - Vinh Hao91 km415,013
9Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet106 km419,648
10Phan Thiet - Dau Giay98 km419,571
11My Thuan 2 Bridge
and the path to the two ends of the bridge		7 km65,125

  • In the 2021–2025 period, an additional 729 km will be invested, with a total investment of VND 148,492 billion.
NumberExpressway section nameLengthLanesPreliminary investment level.
1Bai Vot - Ham Nghi36 km47,588
2Ham Nghi – Vung Ang54 km410.707
3Vung Ang – Bung58 km411,785
4Bung – Van Ninh51 km410,526
5Van Ninh - Cam Lo68 km410,591
6Quang Ngai - Hoai Nhon88 km420,898
7Hoai Nhon - Quy Nhon69 km412,544
8Quy Nhon - Chi Thanh62 km412,298
9Chi Thanh - Van Phong51 km410,978
10Van Phong - Nha Trang83 km413,324
11Can Tho - Hau Giang37 km49,768
12Hau Giang - Ca Mau72 km417,485

Status

; Note
Construction not startedUnder ConstructionCompletedSlow progress