The Government Office issued Document No. 1997/VPCP-CN (12.3) conveying the opinion of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha on investing in the project to expand the Yen Bai - Lao Cai section of the Noi Bai - Lao Cai Expressway.
Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha requested the Ministry of Construction to preside over and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to clarify the capital source for the Project (including VEC capital that can be mobilized), on that basis, urgently study the investment plan to expand the Yen Bai - Lao Cai expressway section in accordance with design standards and transportation needs according to the direction of the Prime Minister in Official Dispatch No. 16/CD-TTg dated February 21, 2024. Units must report to the Prime Minister before March 20, 2025.
Noi Bai ‐ Lao Cai Expressway was invested in construction and put into operation in 2014. In which, the Noi Bai ‐ Yen Bai section (Km 0 - Km 123+080) and the end of the expressway (Km 244+155 - Km 262+815) have been invested with a scale of 4 lanes.
The Yen Bai - Lao Cai section (Km 123+080 - Km 244+155) is about 121km long and has completed site clearance according to 4-lane standards. Currently, about 38km has been invested in a 4-lane road surface, the remaining 83km is invested in a 4-lane roadbed, but the new road surface is only 2 lanes and there is no hard median strip in the middle.
After 10 years of exploitation, the road surface has deteriorated. Currently, traffic on the route is increasing, the mining speed is slow and does not meet the design speed (average about 50 km/h), posing a high risk of traffic insecurity.
Therefore, in order to synchronously exploit the entire route, meet transportation needs, ensure traffic safety, and gradually complete the Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway according to the road network planning for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050 approved by the Prime Minister in Decision No. 1454/QD-TTg, the investment in upgrading and expanding the surface of the Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway, Yen Bai - Lao Cai section to 4 lanes on the completed site clearance work is extremely necessary and urgent.
Regarding this issue, Lao Dong Newspaper previously published an article: "Hopefully the 7,600 billion VND expressway expansion project will start construction soon". The article reflects that the repair and expansion of the Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway from Yen Bai to Lao Cai to 4 lanes has been the desire of the people for many years.
