An under-construction section of Cam Lộ–La Sơn Expressway, passing through Huế City. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Construction has submitted a proposal to the Government about expanding two-lane highways to ensure traffic safety, reduce congestion and enhance economic development.

Based on reports of localities and investors, the total investment for the highway expansion is estimated to reach VNĐ500 trillion (US$190 billion).

At present, there are five routes with the total length of 329km being expanded to up to four lanes, including Cam Lộ–La Sơn, La Sơn–Hòa Liên, Yên Bái–Lào Cai, Tuyên Quang–Hà Giang, and the route in Cốc Nam–Hữu Nghị border gate.

The total investment of the projects is about VNĐ17.669 trillion ($670 million) that has already been allocated.

For the Hòa Lạc–Hòa Bình 26km route, the Prime Minister has decided the investment policy will be under a public-private partnership (PPP) model.

The People’s Committee of Phú Thọ Province has set up a pre-feasibility study with the total investment of VNĐ8 trillion ($303.5 million).

The other six routes with a total length of 298km have already been studied to widen to four lanes. The estimated investment for the projects is about VNĐ30.5 trillion ($1.15 billion) which will be extracted from the State Budget.

According to the Ministry of Construction, the routes are mainly passing through mountainous areas that face many economic difficulties so mobilising social resources faces many limitations and still relies primarily on public investment.

For expressways currently operating with four limited lanes that need to be expanded to between four and eight lanes under the master plan, the estimated preliminary investment demand is around VNĐ414.58 trillion ($15.96 billion), including both State Budget capital and non-budget funding sources.

Among these projects, the Cao Bồ–Mai Sơn section is being expanded through public investment and is expected to be completed in 2026, while the Trung Lương–Mỹ Thuận section will be widened under the PPP model and is scheduled for completion in 2028.

Regarding the eastern North–South Expressway, the ministryis studying various expansion options using both public investment and PPP mechanisms.

According to preliminary calculations, if only the radial sections leading into Hà Nội and HCM City are expanded, covering a total length of about 534km, the estimated investment would exceed VNĐ64 trillion ($2.46 billion), of which the demand for central government budget funding in the 2026–30 period is estimated at more than VNĐ30.5 trillion ($1.17 billion).

In the event that the entire route is expanded, covering a length of around 1,144km, the total projected investment would be nearly VNĐ155 trillion ($5.96 billion), of which the demand for central government budget capital in the 2026–2030 period is estimated at more than VNĐ103 trillion ($3.96 billion).

The ministry assessed that mobilising non-budget funding sources remained difficult at present, and therefore investment roadmaps and project priorities needed to be carefully calculated.

Regarding the HCM City–Cà Mau section, the Trung Lương–Mỹ Thuận segment is being expanded under the PPP model, while investors have already expressed interest in the Mỹ Thuận–Cần Thơ section, according to the ministry.

However, traffic volume on the Cần Thơ - Cà Mau section remains relatively low, while construction conditions are complex and the region is facing shortages of construction materials, which could affect progress if expansion is carried out simultaneously across all sections.

For other publicly funded projects, the estimated total funding demand for expansion is around VNĐ140.394 trillion ($5.4 billion).

Under road transport laws and requirements set by the National Assembly, expressways will collect toll fees after being put into operation in order to recover State Budget investment.

Decisions on expansion would be considered based on toll collection results, actual traffic volumes and investment efficiency, the ministry said.

Initially, the ministry and People’s Committees of localities of Hà Nội, Lạng Sơn and Lâm Đồng would study detailed plans of expanding routes of Hữu Nghị–Chi Lăng, Dầu Giây–Tân Phú–Bảo Lộc–Liên Khương and Hà Nội’s Ring Road No.4. — VNS