Work begins on central Vietnam highway $78M upgrade

The Ministry of Transport had workers begin the National Highway 14E upgrade project on a section of dilapidated road between Quang Nam’s Thang Binh and Phuoc Son districts which connects National Highway 1 with the Ho Chi Minh Road.

The highway section will be 9 m wide and have a maximum speed limit of 60 kph, while one section that intersects with the North-South Railway will be 12 m wide and have a maximum speed limit of 80 kph. Vietnam’s Department of Roads is the project’s main investor and expects that construction will continue until 2025.

The 14E National Highway, spanning 90 km, goes through Quang Nam’s Thang Binh, Hiep Duc and Phuoc Son districts. The highway is frequently congested with bad traffic as is only 6 m wide despite having to regularly handle substantial amounts of vehicles.

Previously, another 14E section, spanning 15 km and running from Vo Chi Cong Street in Binh Minh Commune to the Da Nang-Quang Ngai Highway in Thang Binh District, was expanded by Quang Nam authorities.

Once completed, the project should reduce travel time from areas in the Central Highlands, southern Laos, northeastern Cambodia and Thailand to northern and central Vietnamese localities, promoting opportunities for socio-economic development.