This morning, April 22, the provincial National Assembly Delegation worked with the Vietnam Road Administration on the traffic diversion plan on the Cam Lo - La Son Expressway. Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Ha Sy Dong and Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council Nguyen Chien Thang attended the meeting.

Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Ha Sy Dong suggested that the Vietnam Road Administration should absorb local opinions to ensure efficiency in traffic organization - Photo: Le Truong

“Coercive” traffic diversion measures

At the meeting, representatives of the Vietnam Road Administration reported on the traffic situation on national highways and expressways passing through Quang Tri and some contents on receiving and implementing recommendations of the National Assembly Delegation and the People's Committee of Quang Tri province.

In which, the basis for traffic flow on the route is based on counting and analyzing the type of vehicles circulating on the Cam Lo - La Son expressway, reaching 9,989 PCU (conversion coefficient of vehicles of all types to cars) compared to the calculated traffic capacity for a 2-lane highway without a median strip of 9,200-11,000 PCU, so the expressway has reached the overload threshold.

On the other hand, according to vehicle count data on National Highway 1 through Quang Tri province, the number of PCUs reached 26,852 compared to the calculated traffic capacity for a 4-lane highway with a median strip of 31,000 - 33,500 PCUs, with about 6,000 PCUs remaining to reach the overload threshold.

Therefore, it is appropriate to divert traffic from Cam Lo - La Son expressway to other routes such as National Highway 1, Ho Chi Minh road (West branch) and some other routes, ensuring that the traffic volume on the route is not overloaded.

Director of Vietnam Road Administration Nguyen Xuan Cuong speaks at the meeting - Photo: Le Truong

Director of the Vietnam Road Administration Nguyen Xuan Cuong said that the disadvantage of exploiting the Cam Lo - La Son expressway is the difficulty in capital sources, so the project has to be divided into investment phases, leading to limited infrastructure. While the expressway has not yet collected tolls, it has attracted a large number of vehicles to travel through it.

On the other hand, the operating conditions of the Cam Lo - La Son expressway are greatly affected by the weather, rain and fog, leading to slippery conditions for vehicles, especially heavy trucks, which can easily cause accidents; there are currently no rest stops or speed-change lanes on the route...

Therefore, while waiting for capital allocation to invest in expanding the Cam Lo - La Son expressway to 4 lanes, based on the analysis and service capacity of National Highway 1, it is reasonable to regulate and re-divided traffic on the route by prohibiting passenger vans with more than 30 seats, sleeper buses, and vehicles with 6 axles or more (including monocoques and tractor-trailer combinations) from circulating as they are now.

Head of the Provincial Traffic Police Department, Lieutenant Colonel Hoang Van Trung proposed reversing the traffic diversion plan on the Cam Lo - La Son expressway - Photo: Le Truong

In return, Head of the Traffic Police Department, Provincial Police, Lieutenant Colonel Hoang Van Trung said that reality has proven that the basis for traffic regulation of the Vietnam Road Administration is not comprehensive in terms of political, practical and scientific basis.

This is a "coercive" traffic separation measure while local opinions have not been really accepted and listened to. Therefore, it is recommended that the Vietnam Road Administration reconsider this traffic separation plan. It is possible that reversing the plan by prohibiting small vehicles from traveling on the Cam Lo - La Son expressway to travel on National Highway 1 would be suitable for traffic organization with mixed lanes; or traffic separation and regulation for large vehicles traveling according to time frames on the expressway...

Will absorb and research to come up with more reasonable solutions

Speaking at the meeting, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council Nguyen Chien Thang said that after the Vietnam Road Administration decided to divert heavy-duty vehicles from traveling on the Cam Lo - La Son expressway, these vehicles were forced to go to National Highway 1 through Quang Tri province.

Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council Nguyen Chien Thang speaks at the meeting - Photo: Le Truong

This has caused public opinion and local people to be very indignant. Because, currently, Quang Tri province does not have a route to avoid the city, while National Highway 1 passing through the province has many intersections; the volume of personal vehicles and population density in the area is large, potentially causing many traffic accidents. And in fact, there have been consecutive accidents, especially since the decision to separate traffic on the highway was made on April 4.

Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, National Assembly Delegate of Quang Tri Province Ha Sy Dong said that after the traffic diversion on the Cam Lo - La Son Expressway took effect, banning large vehicles from traveling from April 4, the traffic volume on National Highway 1 through the province increased, causing many serious traffic accidents, causing public outrage, and making it difficult for management and ensuring local traffic order and safety.

Regarding the traffic diversion facilities on the Cam Lo - La Son expressway proposed by the Vietnam Road Administration, it is recommended that the Administration should start from the actual and specific conditions of Quang Tri, review from many perspectives, absorb opinions from the industry and localities to ensure efficiency in traffic organization and put the safety of the people first.

In the coming time, we request that the Vietnam Road Administration continue to pay attention to recommending the Ministry of Transport to soon allocate capital to invest in expanding the Cam Lo - La Son Expressway. In the immediate future, the Vietnam Road Administration needs to review, inspect, fix and supplement conditions to ensure traffic safety on National Highway 1 to create peace of mind and trust for the people.

Responding to comments, Director of the Vietnam Road Administration Nguyen Xuan Cuong affirmed that because the Cam Lo - La Son expressway has just been invested in with 2 lanes, the current traffic exploitation and organization plan is not really guaranteed.

In the short term, the current traffic diversion is considered the most optimal solution, but in the long term, the department continues to propose to soon invest in expanding the project to a complete 4-lane system. Based on local opinions, the department will absorb and study to propose more reasonable adjustment solutions in the near future.

Le Truong