HCMC – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has called for the fast expansion of narrow expressways nationwide, particularly those having two lanes, in the wake of a recent deadly accident on the two-lane Cam Lo-La Son Expressway.
In a directive signed on February 21, he instructed the Ministry of Transport to promptly allocate funds for the expansion of newly-constructed expressways that have only two lanes.
The directive also emphasized the need for the fast development of rest areas along new expressways. A review of these tasks must be reported to the Government by March this year.
The directive tells the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Science and Technology to work together to set national technical standards for expressways and make them ready in the first quarter of this year. These standards will serve as a foundation for traffic infrastructure planning, design, investment management, construction, and operation.
PM Chinh called upon local authorities to swiftly propose plans for widening expressways that have been developed in phases, with submissions to be made to the Ministry of Transport before March 15.
While the demand for the construction of expressways nationwide is huge, funding remains limited. Therefore, some new expressways have only two lanes pending future expansion, making it unsafe to travel at high speed due to the lack of median barriers.
The February 18 accident on the Cam Lo-La Son Expressway left a woman and her two children dead.
This expressway was opened to traffic more than a year ago, but 36 accidents have happened since then, with six people killed and 20 others injured.
