The project to connect the northern mountainous provinces with funding from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Australian Government was approved by the Prime Minister, and started construction in December 2021.
The project consists of 2 routes with a total length of about 200km. Of which, the route connecting Lai Chau with Noi Bai - Lao Cai Expressway is about 147km long; the route connecting Nghia Lo with Noi Bai - Lao Cai Expressway is about 53km long.
By the end of November 2025, many locations had been handed over the site, but there were still "bottlenecks" that had not been resolved.
For the Nghia Lo - Noi Bai - Lao Cai route alone, there are still about 63 documents that have not approved the compensation plan. The most complicated cases are cases related to power grid safety corridors, land lacking legal procedures or being affected outside the reclaimed area.
Mr. Do Cao Quyen - Chairman of the People's Committee of Mo Vang Commune, Lao Cai Province - said: "Mo Vang Commune still has 33 pending cases, including one case that must be enforced. We have had many dialogues and mobilized people but the content is beyond our authority, and we really need the support of superiors".
Similarly, in Son Luong commune, Lao Cai province, there are still many households that have not handed over the site because the design of the residential branch road is not close to reality.
"We have organized many dialogues to help people understand the content of the adjustment. However, there are still some cases where investors and design consultants need to work directly to agree on a plan" - Mr. Pham Nguyen Binh, Chairman of Son Luong Commune People's Committee, informed.
An issue that people are particularly concerned about is the slow implementation of returned roads, ditches - irrigation culverts and intra-field roads.
In Mo Vang, the drainage system and Khe Sung - Khe Hop ditches have not been rebuilt, causing dozens of hectares of rice to be at risk of water shortage or flooding. People hope that the returned works must go hand in hand with the project progress so as not to affect production.
At the meetings, the authorities continuously requested Project Management Board 2 - Ministry of Construction to provide legal documents related to design adjustments; provide an additional VND34 billion to complete payments in 2025; and at the same time request departments and branches to speed up land appraisal and resettlement support plans, avoiding extending to 2026.
Recently, the Ministry of Construction issued a document requesting Project Management Board 2 to speed up construction, disbursement and handling of backlogs of site clearance. The Ministry of Construction aims to complete construction packages before the Lunar New Year 2026.
For packages with a risk of being slow (XL01, XL03, XL04, XL07, XL10, XL11, Project Management Board 2 must monitor the progress weekly and monthly; if the contractor is slow, it must request immediate repair or consider transferring the volume, even replacing the contractor.
For landslides on slopes, it is necessary to adjust and supplement design solutions to solidify; propose specific solutions and solutions to ensure investment efficiency, stabilize the project in the long term but not prolong the progress.
Regarding safety in construction, the Ministry of Construction also assigned the investor to direct the consultant and contractor to arrange full fences and systems to ensure traffic safety during construction, and organize the construction of the traffic safety system (encephalt guardrail, wave-etching corrugated iron) immediately after the asphalt concrete has been paved.
