[VN] Vietnamese highways - Đường giao thông Việt Nam

[ChrisZwolle]

Vietnamese highways & Expressways


Since Vietnam is starting to develop an expressway system, i think it's time for a Vietnamese thread. I'm not sure the title is correct Vietnamese, at least it looks like it.

The total length of the Viet Nam road system is about 222,179 km with 19.0 % paved, mainly national roads and provincial roads (source: Vietnam Road Administration, 2004). The national road system length is 17,295 km with 83.5% of its length paved. The provincial road system is 27,762 km of length with 53.6% paved.

Expressway is rather a new concept for Vietnamese, traffic is growing rapidly but the major roads are dangerous due to inappropriate design and an inappropriate traffic mix. Expressways would solve these problems along the key corridors, by separating high speed traffic from slower, local traffic.

Viet Nam currently recognizes two classes of expressway. Both have a minimum of two lanes in each direction, but Class A has grade separated interchanges, while Class B has at-grade intersections. There are 4 design-speed categories: 60, 80, 100 and 120 Km/h. Generally all cars, buses and trucks are permitted on the expressway but cong nong and motorcycles of less than 70cm³ engine capacity are not.

New Vietnam highway

The central Vietnamese city of Da Nang has put for a proposal to build a second trans-Asia highway linking it with both Laos and Thailand. The so-called Second East-West Economic Corridor would connect Da Nang’s Tien Sa Port to the Dakt-oc border crossing in Quang Nam province, from where it would run to Sekong and Pakse in Laos, then passing through Chongmek and Nakhon to reach Bangkok in Thailand. The new route would be 487km in length, which is 400km shorter than the existing road.

Vietnam/Laos road accord?

Vietnam´s standing deputy prime minister, Nguyen Sinh Hung, has said via official media the strength of his country´s relationship with neighbouring Laos was due in part to improved roads.

The two sides who are aiming to expand two way trade three fold to US$1 billion in 2010 have already improved infrastructure with Nguyen specifically mentioning "co-operating in building roads and infrastructure to create favourable conditions for the travel of goods and people in the countries."

Tantalisingly, whilst he expressed belief in further development he did not elaborate on the possibility of there being any new roads.

US input for Vietnam beltway?

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) is prepared to support US exports for Vietnam's transportation and infrastructure development. This includes beltway roads in the Southern metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City, bank chairman and president James H Lambright told Vietnamese prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung at a meeting in Hanoi.

"Vietnam is an attractive market for US exporters, and Ex-Im Bank is prepared to facilitate those sales," Lambright said after the meeting. There is now US$10 billion in trade between the United States and Vietnam.

Dung said Vietnam´s relationship with Ex-Im Bank is "developing successfully" and welcomed more US companies to participate in his country's economic growth by exporting more products and services here.

Lambright's meeting with Dung focused on discussion of project financing in sectors ranging from oil and gas and power to transportation. Lambright and Ex-Im Bank senior vice president for export finance John A McAdams whilst in Ho Chi Minh City met with the city´s people's committee chairman Le Hoang Quan. Quan discussed the city's urban planning scheme calling for construction of a subway system, monorail and belt roads. Lambright said he hoped the city would use more American services, technologies and contractors in implementing these projects.

[ChrisZwolle]

I have very few pictures of Vietnamese roads. Please add more of roads, as long as it aren't dirt roads or so.

[Nexis]

interesting pictures i never knew Vietnam had highways.

[Verso]

Strange letters!

[lumpia]

wonderful pics of Vietnam highways! A great visual indicator of the strength of the new Vietnamese economy!!

[jkjkjk]

A few from Flickr:

highway between Hanoi and Haiphong
image hosted on flickr


Rush hour in central Ho Chi Minh City
image hosted on flickr

[Xusein]

Better than I expected. I hope for the best.

[kix111]

^

Rush hour in central Ho Chi Minh City

[jkjkjk]

In 2002 vehicle fleet in vientam was:
346,218 cars
162,552 trucks
15,185 articulated trucks
78,962 buses
10,273,000 motorcycles
in 2003 11,379,000 motorcycles

[ChrisZwolle]

That aren't very much cars for the population. But if it grows to western standards, you surely will encounter problems in Vietnam.

[ChrisZwolle]

Vietnam safety initiative

The World Health Organisation's Representative in Vietnam, Jean-Marc Olive, has urged Vietnamese to heed a new law effective mid-December which will make helmets mandatory for all motorists. Olive called the helmet law "a crucial step forward in addressing road safety issues in Viet Nam." He pointed to Thailand where the introduction of mandatory helmets saw big improvements. "There was a 40% reduction in head injuries among motorcyclists and a 24% fall in motorcyclist deaths," he said.

A new WHO initiative would channel US$860,000 into Vietnam for prevention programmes focusing not only on increasing the use of motorcycle helmets, but on reducing drunk-driving and improving the visibility of pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. "In Viet Nam, on average, more than 11,000 deaths and tens of thousands of injuries are reported annually due to traffic accidents," said Deputy Minister of Health Trinh Quan Huan.

In the first eight months of 2007 alone, Vietnam has seen 9,900 accidents with 8,900 deaths, 500 more than in the same period last year, the deputy head of the National Traffic Safety Committee’s Bureau, Nguyen Trong Thai noted.

Among the leading causes were low awareness of traffic laws and the increasing number of vehicles on the nation’s roads, Thai said. There were now 20 million motorbikes and a million cars, he noted, a million more vehicles in total than only a year earlier.

The Asian Development Bank also has estimated that traffic accidents cause a combined economic loss of $885 million/year in Viet Nam alone.

Quite a record of accidents...

[keber]

Never seen yellow road markings in Vietnam and I've traveled it from south to north. Above pictures may not all be from Vietnam.

Also, I've not seen single expressway in Vietnam, that would fully comply to western standards. There is too much mixing of fast and slow traffic. But country is developing and fascinating project are planned or already realized. Because ... what will happen, when Vietnamese people will start to change motorcycles for cars? I've experienced rushhour in Saigon, and believe me, this is something amazing to experience.

[ChrisZwolle]

Vietnam bullish

Several of Vietnam's state-owned banks are bankrolling the development of new expressway projects announced this year. These include the North-South road, as well as roads linking Noi Bai-Lao Cai, Ha Noi-Hai Phong, HCM City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay. Overall, these will require financing totalling US$70 billion by 2020.

The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), for example, proposed the $612 million bankrolling of one highway project using capital from non-state resources. Vietnam Expressway Company, however, is looking to the Asian Development Bank and the Japanese Bank for International Corporation to raise the necessary $620 million, quoting a return on capital of around 25 years. The government preferred the latter strategy, prompting the bank to withdraw.

Significantly, a group of domestic investors headed by BIDV will fund the $1.8 billion project to build an expressway between HCM City, Trun Luong, My Thuan and Can Tho. Some 50% of the overall capital will be raised abroad, initially with $500 million in the bonds by 2008. Construction is earmarked for late 2008.

Vietnam Development Bank is also involved in the Ha Noi-Hai Phong Expressway project, which has capital of $187.5 million, although will eventually require $925 million investment. Work is to go ahead in May 2008 and be completed by 2010.

I haven't seen any maps so far.

[Minato ku]

Originally Posted by Chriszwolle

That aren't very much cars for the population. But if it grows to western standards, you surely will encounter problems in Vietnam.

No but the number of motorcycles is.....

[hkskyline]

ADB lends $1.1 bn to Vietnam-China highway project

HANOI, Dec 14 (Reuters) - The Asian Development Bank said on Friday it is lending nearly $1.1 billion to Vietnam to build a highway linking the country's capital with China's southern city of Kunming that could halve travelling time between the cities.

The financing, the biggest for the Manila-based bank for a single project, would go to a 244-km (152 miles) highway that should cut down travelling time by road between Hanoi and Kunming to one day, the ADB said in a statement.

The project's total cost is estimated at $1.22 billion.

ADB said it was giving two loans to the project, a $200-million soft loan from the Asian Development Fund and $896 million from the bank's Ordinary Capital Resources, provided under ADB's LIBOR-based lending facility.

It did not provide any interest rates.

Open for traffic in 2012, the highway is expected to bring more jobs to Vietnam's impoverished northwest region, increase social service access and boost tourism, the bank said.

The project would boost Vietnam's export of agricultural and seafood products to China and also give Chinese firms quicker access to shipping in the South China Sea.

Foreign investors say Vietnam, which joined the World Trade Organisation in January, needs to do much more to improve infrastructure, such as roads and ports.

Modern highways would help Vietnam deal with transportation bottlenecks, accelerate economic growth and expand business opportunity, John Cooney, Director of ADB's Southeast Asia Department Infrastructure Division, said in the statement.

[ChrisZwolle]

Interesting, though i don't think 244km needs a whole day for travel, that's like just over 2 hours driving time on an expressway.

[keber]

Actually you need to see Vietnam and its chaotic traffic. Even on "expressway" average traveling speed is around 40-50 km/h. Bus journey from Hai Phong to Hanoi (about 100 km) took for me almost three hours on expressway. And no, there were almost no traffic jams, only traffic moves slowly.

Also, between Kunming and Hanoi is rather 700 km, 250 km planned highway is on Vietnamese side.

[khoojyh]

yeah, Vietnam's road dominated my motorbikes, the amount of motorbike really wow !!!

[oliver999]

i wonder why china hasn't a motocycles in city since china is very similar with vietnam.
developing is really fast in vietnam.

[mojaBL]

i Like the greenery on this photo
http://img323.imageshack.us/img323/8772/35ou.jpg