Nearly 7,700 billion VND to 'upgrade' Yen Bai

Speaking with Tien Phong reporter , VEC representative said that according to plan, the project to expand Yen Bai - Lao Cai expressway will start construction on September 27.

According to VEC representative, the project aims to invest in expanding the route from Km123+080 to Km244+155 with a total length of 121.33 km; the intelligent transport system (ITS) will be deployed along the entire route.

The project will expand the road from 2 lanes to 4 lanes, with a road surface width of 24 m; add a median strip in sync with the expanded sections in phase 1; and extend the residential underpass to match the scale of the 4-lane highway.

The Yen Bai - Lao Cai expressway section of the Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway will be expanded from 2 to 4 lanes. Photo: Anh Tu.

The bridge section of the Yen Bai - Lao Cai expressway will be built with a new bridge unit on the left side of the route, synchronized with the existing bridge. At the same time, research will be conducted to build a new tunnel about 530m long, with a scale of 3 lanes, to meet the planning adjustment to 6 lanes on the entire route.

The total investment of the project is nearly 7,700 billion VND, of which 3,000 billion VND is from the State budget; nearly 940 billion VND is VEC's own capital (including loan interest during construction); the rest is additional capital mobilized by VEC.

According to the Prime Minister 's direction in Document No. 624/TTg-CN dated May 30, 2025, the project to expand the Yen Bai - Lao Cai expressway section, part of the Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway route, will start construction this year and be basically completed in 2026.

The Noi Bai - Lao Cai Expressway is 264 km long, starting at the intersection between National Highway 2 and the North Thang Long - Noi Bai Expressway, ending at Bat Xat Commune (Lao Cai). The route passes through Hanoi, Phu Tho, Yen Bai and Lao Cai; connects with the Kunming - Hekou Expressway (China) and is an important part of the Kunming - Hanoi - Hai Phong Economic Corridor.

The Noi Bai - Lao Cai Expressway construction project, phase 1, is nearly 245 km long, invested by VEC, and was completed and put into operation in 2014. Of which, the Noi Bai - Yen Bai section is built with 4 lanes, designed speed of 100 km/h; the Yen Bai - Lao Cai section is built with 2 lanes, designed speed of 80 km/h.

The operation of the route has shortened the travel time from Hanoi to Lao Cai from 7 hours to 3.5 hours, opening up great opportunities for economic, social and tourism development in the Northwest region, while reducing pressure and accidents on national highways.

Noi Bai - Lao Cai Expressway. Photo: VEC.

In phase 1, the Yen Bai - Lao Cai expressway section was invested with a 4-lane roadbed but only exploited the road surface with 2 lanes. The bridge, tunnel, and underpass items also only met the scale of 2 lanes. Some sections were later expanded to 4 lanes, and the route installed a non-stop toll collection system (ETC). However, because many sections do not have a median strip, there is a potential risk of unsafety when traffic volume increases and the exploitation speed does not meet the design.

Statistics show that traffic volume on the Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway increases by an average of 10% per year. With the current scale, the Yen Bai - Lao Cai section will be overloaded by 2027. Therefore, early expansion is necessary to ensure safety, meet traffic demand and comply with approved planning.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/gan-7700-ty-dong-len-doi-doan-cao-toc-yen-bai-lao-cai-post1779729.tpo