Voters in Bac Ninh province sent a petition to the Ministry of Transport, reflecting that the toll station on the Hanoi - Bac Giang Expressway is located in two wards, Dinh Bang and Phu Chan, Tu Son city. People in the two wards are within a 5 km radius but still have to pay the toll, which is inappropriate. It is requested to review and amend the above regulation.
Responding to this issue, the Ministry of Transport said that for the Hanoi - Bac Giang expressway, the Ministry of Transport will coordinate with the People's Committees of Bac Ninh, Bac Giang provinces, Hanoi city and relevant agencies to soon study the investment plan to upgrade to a complete expressway scale in the period of 2026 - 2030, including investing in the completion of the system of service roads and parallel roads on both sides of the expressway (no toll collection) to serve the production, living and travel needs of people in the area.
The Ministry of Transport added: According to the Road Network Planning for the 2021 - 2030 period approved by the Prime Minister in Decision No. 1454/QD-TTg dated September 1, 2021, the Hanoi - Bac Giang expressway section belongs to the North - South expressway in the East, with a length of 46 km (the route coincides with National Highway 1), a scale of 8 expressway lanes, and an investment schedule before 2030.
To meet the transportation demand and create momentum for socio-economic development, in the context of the state budget's difficulties, in 2013, the Prime Minister approved the investment policy to upgrade National Highway 1, Hanoi - Bac Giang section under the BOT contract form, using the toll station at Km152+00 (in the area of 02 wards Dinh Bang and Phu Chan, Tu Son city) to collect capital recovery fees. The project was completed, put into operation and started collecting fees from 2016, the estimated capital recovery fee collection period is 18 years and 7 months.
Currently, the traffic network connecting Bac Ninh city with Hanoi city, in addition to National Highway 1 (Hanoi - Bac Giang Expressway), also includes routes such as Provincial Road 277 (Phu Dong dike road), old National Highway 1 (Road 295B) and other internal routes. Therefore, people in Phu Chan and Dinh Bang wards can choose the above routes in combination with Dai Dinh overpass, residential tunnels to travel to Hanoi city and vice versa without paying fees. In addition, the traffic volume on the Hanoi - Bac Giang Expressway is increasing rapidly, posing a very high risk of traffic jams and accidents.
Implementing Resolution No. 140/2024/QH15 of the National Assembly and the direction of the Prime Minister in Official Dispatch No. 16/CD-TTg dated February 21, 2024, the Ministry of Transport is urgently developing a plan to upgrade expressways to full scale.
