Many sections of National Highway 24C are worse than village roads
For many years, National Highway 24C through Van Tuong Commune (Quang Ngai Province) has been a vital route for transporting goods in and out of Dung Quat Economic Zone. However, due to having to "struggle" to carry a large number of heavy-duty vehicles carrying wood, soil, rocks, etc. every day, many sections of this route have seriously degraded.
According to the reporter's records, in the section passing through Tuyet Diem 1 village (Van Tuong commune), there are many trucks carrying crushed wood lining up to Gemadept Dung Quat International Port. In particular, a road section of about 500m long right in front of the port was dug up; the asphalt road surface was eroded, turning into a muddy dirt road with many potholes. This situation has caused many accidents, seriously threatening the safety of traffic participants.
Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan, residing in Tuyet Diem 1 village, indignantly said: "My house is located next to National Highway 24C, so I have witnessed many traffic accidents on this route. The main reason is that vehicles carrying wood chips, stone trucks... are traveling at high density, causing the road surface to seriously deteriorate, with more and more potholes. The most dangerous thing is on rainy days, when the water covers the elephant abdomen, making it impossible for road users to detect and easy to fall. I myself have fallen many times."
Hammered by the "crazy animals" carrying crushed wood, rocks, soil, etc. running around National Highway 24C, people living on both sides of the road can only use rudimentary items such as water bottles, trash bins, etc. placed near the gate of their house to prevent heavy trucks from running close together, causing dust, shaking, and potentially causing traffic accidents.
According to a traffic officer in charge of Van Tuong Commune People's Committee, from July 1, 2025 to now, there have been many traffic accidents on National Highway 24C through Van Tuong Commune, killing 4 people and injuring one person. Faced with this situation, the leaders of Van Tuong commune have reported and recommended the Department of Construction, Quang Ngai Provincial Police, and Dung Quat Economic Zone Management Board to synchronously deploy solutions to reduce traffic accidents.
The density of transport vehicles will increase dramatically in the coming time
Currently, many large-scale projects have been investing in infrastructure construction in Dung Quat Economic Zone such as Dung Quat Mixed-use Gas Turbine Power Plant, Hoa Phat Dung Quat 1 and 2 Steel gang production complex, Hoa Phat Dung Quat Container General Port and satellite projects...
Therefore, the traffic volume to serve the needs of transporting goods, materials, etc. of businesses will increase dramatically with high density, leading to overload for the transportation system, as well as people's lives.
Speaking to Lao Dong Newspaper reporter, Mr. Luong Trong Nguyen - Deputy Head of the Management Board of Dung Quat Economic Zone and Quang Ngai Industrial Parks said that Dung Quat Economic Zone has been established for more than 20 years with a traffic system of about 50 km.
Since its establishment, almost no new routes have been invested in, so they are seriously degraded. Currently, the exploitation capacity through Dung Quat port is about 45 million tons/year, so the roads cannot meet the demand.
Every year, the State allocates funds for regular maintenance and repair, but only at a temporary level. In particular, National Highway 24C from Dung Quat Port connecting to the Central Highlands provinces has many narrow sections, while the traffic volume is very large, so the road is degraded and accidents often occur.
According to Mr. Luong Trong Nguyen, the assessment of the ability to meet the demand for goods and materials of means of transport in Dung Quat Economic Zone is only 60-70%. When the Hoa Phat 2 and Dung Quat Oil Refinery Expansion, Light Industrial Parks... projects are under construction, it may decrease to about 50-60%.
"The Management Board of Dung Quat Economic Zone also proposed that the Department of Construction request capital to invest in upgrading and expanding National Highway 24C to meet transportation needs. According to the province's public investment plan, in the 2026-2030 period, it is expected to expand the section of National Highway 24C (through the old Binh Thuan commune) to Dung Quat port" - Mr. Luong Trong Nguyen added.
