Accordingly, voters said that currently there are highways hundreds of kilometers long but lack rest stops, which is unreasonable and poses a potential risk of traffic accidents.
In addition, some highways lack emergency lanes, some roads have signs but their visibility is obstructed...
Therefore, it is recommended that the Ministry inspect and find solutions to overcome the above situation.
Responding to this issue, the Ministry of Transport said that regarding the content related to signs that obstruct visibility, the Ministry of Transport has requested road management agencies to enhance their responsibilities, strengthen inspection of traffic organization on expressways that have been put into operation, and inspect the traffic safety system.
"In particular, focusing on reviewing and adjusting the inappropriate traffic sign system to ensure safety for people and vehicles participating in traffic," the Ministry of Transport emphasized.
In order to overcome the continuous shortage of emergency lanes, the Ministry of Transport has developed an investment plan to upgrade the expressways in operation and under investment according to a phased scale to reach the planning scale, submitted to the Prime Minister in Document No. 3790/BGTVTCDCTTVN dated April 9, 2024.
Currently, the Ministry of Transport is continuing to coordinate with ministries and branches to review appropriate capital sources to report to competent authorities for consideration and decision.
Once approved by competent authorities, the Ministry of Transport will organize the implementation of investment in the construction and upgrading of expressways according to the planning and technical requirements of national standards. The operation of the routes will basically ensure safety and stability, gradually meeting voters' recommendations.
To ensure the effectiveness of investment, exploitation and maintenance of expressway traffic infrastructure and improve management capacity, as well as to supplement and perfect legal documents as a basis for implementation, the Ministry of Transport has approved the Project "Orientation in investment, operation and exploitation of intelligent traffic systems and vehicle load inspection on expressways", which has determined the roadmap for research and proposal of an overall model for management, operation and maintenance of intelligent traffic systems, centralized vehicle load inspection for expressways; propose an implementation roadmap suitable to Vietnam's conditions, ensuring effective management, operation and exploitation of expressways according to the provisions of Decree No. 25/2023/ND-CP of the Government.
Currently, the Ministry of Transport is also directing units to urgently review and invest in completing the ITS system and the Traffic Management Center for the North-South Expressway projects in the East to ensure a synchronous and effective traffic monitoring and management system, contributing to reducing traffic accidents.
Regarding the lack of rest stops on expressways, the Ministry of Transport has approved a rest stop network on the North-South expressway in the East, including 36 (pairs) of rest stops, of which: 9 stations have been put into operation and 27 stations are being invested in construction (including 24 stations invested by the Ministry of Transport, 1 station invested by the locality; 2 stations invested by the Vietnam Expressway Development Investment Corporation).
Regarding the investment in the construction of 24 rest stops on the North-South Expressway in the East under the management of the Ministry of Transport: 8 stations 2 have signed contracts with investors; 13 stations 3 are organizing the selection of investors and 3 stations 4 are urgently completing legal procedures according to regulations. After selecting investors, the rest stops will be urgently built and completed in 2025 in sync with the expressway projects to serve people and vehicles participating in traffic.
In the immediate future, to address the needs of traffic participants on the North-South Expressway in the East, while waiting for the completion of the investment in building rest stops as prescribed, the Ministry of Transport has directed the investor of the expressway project to organize a number of temporary rest stops on the route (average distance of 70 - 80km/location), and at the same time widely announce on the media so that drivers can proactively travel on the expressways.
