HÀ NỘI — The Directorate for Roads of Việt Nam has proposed to spend VNĐ35 billion (US$1.6 million) to upgrade the Quảng Bình stretch of the Hồ Chí Minh Highway.

The proposal was made to reduce floods and traffic jams on the stretch during the rainy season.

The project will be supported by the Government’s Road Maintenance Fund for 2017.

According to the directorate, the Quảng Bình stretch of the highway, from km909 to km912 in Thượng Hóa Commune, was opened for use in 2003. 

The stretch is 7m wide, with both sides surrounded by mountains. A gully, which is some 20m wide and 10m long, lies on the right side of the stretch.

Every year, during the rainy season, water overflows from the gully and inundates the stretch, making it dangerous for people and vehicles, in addition to causing traffic jams.

To improve the situation, the proposed budget will be spent on lifting the stretch’s foundation, improving the drainage system and widening the gully, the directorate said.

The directorate ordered Road Management Department II to conduct regular patrols and direct traffic on the stretch when floods occur.

Following the heavy rainfall on October 13-16, Lê Đình Thọ, deputy transport minister, surveyed and evaluated the conditions of several stretches of the Hồ Chí Minh Highway and the National Route 1A where floods often take place.

The ministry plans to ask concerned authorities to replace the hard traffic separators with the soft ones so that water can be drained more easily. — VNS