National Highway 51 passing through Dong Nai and Ba Ria-Vung Tau Provinces, neighbors of Ho Chi Minh City, has seriously deteriorated since the investor stopped maintenance services when toll collection on the road was suspended over half a year ago.

The over-72-kilometer-long road, whose investor is Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway Development JSC, is now full of potholes, causing difficulty for commuters and posing a high risk of traffic accidents, especially during the rainy season.

This is an arterial road linking Ba Ria-Vung Tau with Dong Nai and Binh Duong Provinces and Ho Chi Minh City.

The Department for Roads of Vietnam had earlier announced that the toll collection on National Highway 51 passing through Dong Nai and Ba Ria-Vung Tau was suspended from 7:00 am on January 13.

Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway Development JSC on February 1 announced a halt to the maintenance of all items on the road.

Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters found that the road is filled with potholes and cracks, while painted lines are faded and difficult to see.

A 400-meter section near an intersection with Vo Nguyen Giap Street in An Hoa Ward, Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai Province is the most degraded. It has tens of potholes with some measuring over half a meter in diameter.

On a section that is close to the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway in Long Thanh District, Dong Nai Province, there is a large pothole. With dense traffic, drivers have to pass the pothole regardless of danger.

National Highway 51 has a designed capacity of 12,000 vehicles per day.

However, the road is severely overloaded after being put into operation for 10 years. It sometimes sees 40,000-45,000 vehicles per day, which has caused the road to deteriorate.

The Road Management Zone IV under the Department for Roads of Vietnam took charge of the road maintenance on April 19 this year and signed a contract with a traffic infrastructure development company on May 17 to manage and frequently maintain a National Highway 51 section in Dong Nai Province.

The traffic infrastructure development company has continuously fixed the road to remove traffic accident hotspots.

The Dong Nai Traffic Safety Board has also suggested solutions to ensure traffic safety on the road and urged the Ministry of Transport to require relevant agencies to repair it.

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