Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has called for upgrades to expressways already put into use and receiving investment in phases amid certain shortcomings, including the risk of accidents.

Priority will be given to two-lane expressways, the Prime Minister said in an official dispatch sent to leaders of relevant ministries, agencies, and localities on February 21.

He asked the Minister of Transport to direct relevant agencies to immediately introduce measures to ensure rational, scientific, and efficient traffic flows and control traffic in the best possible manner to guarantee safety on expressways.

The Ministry of Transport (MoT) is required to coordinate with relevant localities to study plans to invest in upgrading these expressways in line with design standards and transport demand, and to review infrastructure works such as smart transport systems and rest areas along expressways and report to the Prime Minister in March.

The government leader also asked the MoT to quickly work with the Ministry of Science and Technology to issue national technical standards for expressways in the first quarter of 2024, to serve as the basis for planning, designing, managing, building, and safely and efficiently operating these links.

Nearly 1,900 km of expressways have been put into use so far in Vietnam, and efforts are now underway to raise the total length to more than 3,000 km by 2025.