Recorded at the end of March 2025, on the entire Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway, packages for repairing damaged road surfaces and traffic safety systems are under construction.
At km17 from Lao Cai to Hanoi and km13 in the opposite direction, part of the Km0+00-Km123+080 repair package, the contractor is scraping the damaged road surface and re-paving it with asphalt concrete.
According to the representative of the construction unit, the most modern road surface repair technologies currently applied to the route help ensure progress and technical requirements. No traffic congestion occurred at the repair points.
However, on the entire Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway, more than 244km long, the road surface quality is still considered very poor with many ruts and high embankments. In particular, after many repairs, the road surface has appeared with patches.
Mr. Tran Van Sinh, a bus driver, said that the Noi Bai - Lao Cai Expressway has poor road surface quality, so almost all vehicles have to travel below the maximum speed allowed.
"Every time you pass a section, you see patches, many of which are only a few meters apart, not to mention the sections of ruts that have grown all over your body. I think we should have a plan to roll out asphalt concrete across the route to ensure safety," said Mr. Sinh.
In the past 5 years, there have been almost all repair activities on the Noi Bai - Lao Cai Expressway. For example, in 2023-2024, Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) will spend more than 400 billion VND to repair black, damaged, and road surface ruts.
In early 2025, VEC spent more than VND241 billion to periodically repair damaged road surfaces and traffic safety systems on the Noi Bai - Lao Cai Expressway. Construction will take place from the end of February 2025.
Recently, VEC has submitted to competent authorities a plan to expand the Yen Bai - Lao Cai section with a total length of 121.33 km (section Km123.+90 to Km244+155), with a scale of 4 complete lanes. The total investment is more than VND 7,600 billion.
The 244 km long Noi Bai - Lao Cai Expressway started construction in 2009 and was completed in 2014. The project has a total investment (phase 1) of 1,464 million USD. This is also one of the largest and longest expressway projects in Vietnam invested by VEC.
The starting point of the expressway is the intersection between National Highway 2 and Bac Thang Long - Noi Bai road (Hanoi) and the end point is Quang Kim commune ( Bat Xat district, Lao Cai). The Noi Bai - Lao Cai Expressway passes through Hanoi city and the provinces of Vinh Phuc, Phu Tho, Yen Bai, Lao Cai.
