On May 13, the People's Committee of Kon Tum province assigned the Department of Construction to prepare documents for the project, and at the same time directed the districts to complete the planning of construction material mines to grant mineral exploitation rights and prepare site clearance plans.
Currently, the distance from Kon Tum city to Quang Ngai city is about 200 km. In addition to National Highway 24, Provincial Road 676 connecting the mountainous districts of the two provinces is also being upgraded. However, due to steep terrain and narrow roads, travel time by car between the two localities usually takes more than 4 hours.
The construction of the new expressway is expected to shorten travel time, facilitate traffic, transport goods and passengers between Kon Tum and Quang Ngai.
According to the proposed plan, the expressway will be 144km long, an increase of about 8 km compared to the original plan due to complex terrain in the Viol Dak Pass and Mang Den Pass areas.
The route starts at Km0+00, connecting with the North-South expressway in the East (in Duc Pho district, Quang Ngai) and ends at the North-South expressway in the West (in Kon Tum city).
The expressway is designed according to expressway standards, with 4 lanes, designed speed from 80 - 100 km/h. Regarding capital, the central budget will cover construction and installation costs and other expenses, while localities are responsible for allocating capital for site clearance.
According to the plan of the Ministry of Construction, the project is expected to start construction in December 2026 and be completed in December 2029.
If implemented under a special mechanism (similar to the North - South expressway project in the East), the project will be approved for investment in October 2025, approved for investment in April 2026, started in October 2026 and completed in September 2029.
