The traffic volume on the 4 expressways managed by the Viet Nam Expressway Corporation (VEC) over the past 9 months increased by 22% over the same period last year to 27.4 million vehicles, VEC reported on Tuesday.  

HCM City–Long Thanh–Dau Giay Expressway is managed by VEC.— VNS File Photo

In the north, the Cau Gie-Ninh Binh Expressway traffic grew by 35% compared to last year, with 9.7 million vehicles.  Traffic on the Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway grew by 25% with over 6.6 million vehicles.

In the south, the HCM City-Long Thanh–Dau Giay Expressway was the busiest, with over 11 million vehicles, and an average flow of 35,000-40,000 vehicles per day.

A 65km-long section of Da Nang–Quang Ngai Expressway, the first of its kind in the central region, was put into operation last August, and it has to date served nearly 86,000 vehicles, with an average flow of 1,400-1,600 daily.   

Although VEC was facing with difficulties in controlling the growing transportation load, it has instructed its member units to protect the road infrastructure, improve road quality and reduce maintenance costs.

Over the past 9 months, the number of vehicles that were banned from the expressways due to excess weight doubled compared to the same period last year, reaching over 2 million.

The management board of the 265km-long Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway, the longest route in Viet Nam, reported it banned a number of overloaded vehicles from the road, accounting for 1.86% of the total vehicles examined.

Also in the past nine months, there were 63 traffic accidents on the expressways managed by VEC, mainly involving drivers who failed to keep a safe distance from other cars.

Of the 6 expressway projects invested by the VEC, 4 are already operational, totalling 415km.  Two others  are under construction, the Da Nang–Quang Ngai Expressway’s second section, and Ben Luc-Long Thanh Expressway.

(Source: VNS/ DA NANG Today)