Rest stops unavailable along 100km-long expressway in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta
Friday, April 26, 2024, 15:31 GMT+7
The dearth of rest areas along two sections of expressway which total 100 kilometers long in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta is raising significant concerns regarding traffic safety.
Across the entire 113-kilometer route, which consists of a 62-kilometer stretch from Ho Chi Minh City to Trung Luong and a 51-kilometer segment from Trung Luong to My Thuan, there is only one rest stop.
Chau Thanh Petro Company was previously tasked with developing an over-98,000-square-meter rest stop along the Trung Luong-My Thuan Expressway, which is located in Tien Giang Province and was put into use in April, 2022.
Carrying a price tag of VND335 billion (US$13.2 million), this rest stop was meant to include parking spaces, rooms for drivers to take a break between journeys, toilet facilities, a petrol station, and other services.
However, the project developer confirmed on Thursday that work on the rest stop project remains incomplete, so it is impossible for the rest area to be put into service prior to the upcoming Reunification Day holiday (April 30), during which traffic volume on the route is expected to soar significantly.
A leader from the company pointed out two reasons that the project may be lagging behind schedule.
The leader elaborated that authorities in Tien Giang have not yet constructed acceleration and deceleration lanes to connect the expressway with the rest stop, while the routes leading to the construction site of the rest stop are too narrow to accommodate large-sized vehicles required for transporting equipment, machinery, and building materials to the site.
Apart from the absence of rest stops, the Trung Luong-My Thuan Expressway currently has just two lanes and no emergency shoulder.
Hence, the expressway developer set up emergency stops some 10 kilometers away from each other as a band-aid solution, but these narrow emergency stops have posed a threat of traffic accidents.
On Monday, a taxi crashed into a truck which was parked at an emergency stop along the route. The taxi driver died at the scene.
Despite such possible dangers, most drivers have no choice but to park their vehicles at emergency stops to attend to their personal needs.
The company added that there is no expected completion date for the rest stop.
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| A driver has to relieve himself on a section of the Trung Luong-My Thuan Expressway in Tien Giang Province, southern Vietnam due to the absence of rest stops along the route. Photo: Mau Truong / Tuoi Tre |
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