Proposal to expand Cau Gie - Ninh Binh expressway to 6 lanes, to be completed in 2027

Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) has just sent a document to the Ministry of Construction regarding the planning scale and investment scale of the Cau Gie-Ninh Binh Expressway expansion project.

Accordingly, the road network planning for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050, has determined that the North-South expressway in the east, Cau Gie- Ninh Binh section, is 50km long, with investment progress before 2030. Of which, the Cau Gie-Phu Thu section has a scale of 10 lanes, and the Phu Thu-Ninh Binh section has a scale of 6 lanes.

Based on the forecast of traffic volume through each route section, the ability to balance investment resources and construction site conditions to implement the project, VEC proposed that the Ministry of Construction divide the investment into phases to expand the Cau Gie-Ninh Binh expressway from 4 lanes to 6 lanes, to be completed in 2027; expand the investment according to the planning scale of 6-10 lanes when traffic volume reaches full load and synchronizes with connecting routes.

Assessing the need for project investment, VEC said that after more than 12 years of operation since 2012, by the end of 2024, traffic volume on the Cau Gie-Ninh Binh route (50km long) has continuously increased (an average of over 10%/year) and is currently overloaded with a scale of 4 lanes, showing signs of congestion, especially during holidays and Tet.

Calculating the transport demand on each section, the Dai Xuyen-Vuc Vong section (Km210+000-Km218+400) has a traffic volume exceeding 40% of the capacity of the 4-lane scale. By the end of 2027, the expansion to a 6-lane scale will be completed and can be operated stably until the end of 2033. After that, it is necessary to study the expansion according to the planned scale of 10 lanes.

On the Vuc Vong-Phu Thu section (Km218+400-Km226+200), traffic volume has exceeded 20% of the capacity of the 4-lane scale. By the end of 2027, the expansion to 6 lanes will be completed and can be operated stably until 2035. After that, it is necessary to study the expansion according to the planned scale of 10 lanes.

The Phu Thu-Liem Tuyen section (Km226+200-Km230+700) has a traffic volume exceeding 20% of the current capacity. By the end of 2027, the expansion to a scale of 6 lanes will be completed and can be operated stably until 2035.

After 2035, the Phu Thu-Liem Tuyen section needs to study and invest in building parallel roads on both sides of the highway or reasonably divide traffic according to the regional network to meet transportation needs (because the section has been completed according to the planning scale).

For the Liem Tuyen-Cao Bo section (Km230+700-Km260+030), according to the assessment, the scale of 4 lanes can be operated stably until the end of 2028. After 2027, the expansion to the scale of 6 lanes according to the plan can be operated stably until the end of 2035. After this time, it is necessary to study the construction of parallel roads on both sides or reasonable traffic diversion to ensure the efficiency of the route.

Currently, the Phap Van-Cau Gie expressway is operating with 6 complete lanes and the Cao Bo-Mai Son section is under construction to expand to 6 complete lanes (expected to be completed in 2026). After the project is completed, it will lead to increased traffic pressure, creating a bottleneck in the Cau Gie-Ninh Binh section. Therefore, VEC believes that expanding the expressway is necessary.

Source: https://vtv.vn/de-xuat-mo-rong-cao-toc-cau-gie-ninh-binh-len-6-lan-xe-hoan-thanh-nam-2027-100251001164508061.htm