The Thanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee in central Vietnam submitted a document to the Ministry of Construction, requesting a report to the Prime Minister regarding the completion of the North-South Expressway segment passing through the province to its full design scale, according to a report by Radio the Voice of Vietnam.
The province proposed an investment to expand nearly 100km of the Eastern North-South Expressway to six lanes. The segment consists of three component projects: Mai Son – National Highway 45, National Highway 45 – Nghi Son, and Nghi Son – Dien Chau.
The proposal includes adding continuous emergency lanes and a lighting system to alleviate congestion, enhance traffic safety, and meet growing transportation demands.
These sections have currently completed Phase 1 with a four-lane scale, featuring a 17-meter-wide roadbed and a 16-meter-wide pavement. While these sections have significantly reduced travel time between Hanoi, Thanh Hoa, and other provinces, they are already facing limitations.
To maximize investment efficiency and support local socio-economic development, Thanh Hoa province has allocated nearly VND9 trillion (over $347 million) from its local budget to construct five roads connecting to seven interchanges on the expressway. To date, three of these five connecting roads have been put into operation, leading to a surge in traffic volume on the expressway segment, with figures expected to rise further once the remaining two roads are completed.
Furthermore, the province pointed out that the current limited four-lane scale and discontinuous emergency lanes (which are short and narrow, making them unsafe for large trucks to pull over) have created significant inadequacies. These limitations hinder rescue and recovery efforts and pose high risks for vehicles traveling at high speeds.
A tragic and particularly serious traffic accident on January 14, 2026, at Km 334+300 in Dong Tien Commune, served as a grim example of these dangers, resulting in heavy losses of life and property.
One of the primary causes of such accidents is that actual traffic volume has already exceeded the road’s capacity, while the current infrastructure fails to meet safety requirements.
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