Mai Son Expressway - National Highway 45 has enough basis to increase speed to 90km/h

On May 13, news from the Vietnam Expressway Administration said that it had just reported to the Ministry of Transport to study and evaluate the overall possibility of increasing the operating speed (maximum allowed speed) for the 4-lane expressway with a lane width of 3.5m from the current 80 km/h to 90 km/h.

The basis for increasing the speed to 90km/h, according to the Vietnam Expressway Administration, according to the system of standards and regulations of Vietnam and international, there are two types of speed: design speed and operating speed.

Design speed in Vietnamese and international standards is used to calculate the main geometric technical standards of the road in case of difficult terrain. This speed is different from the permitted traffic speed.

Allowable speed depends on actual conditions, functions, terrain, technical condition of the route and climate, weather, and traffic conditions to ensure traffic safety during operation.

Mai Son - National Highway 45 (Photo: N. Huyen)

The design speed is determined and selected during the investment and construction process of the route and is a constant value throughout the construction and operation of the project.

The operating speed is determined and selected during the organization and operation of the routes and is regularly evaluated to adjust and select appropriately for each operating stage.

Vietnam Expressway Administration believes that considering increasing the maximum allowed speed from 80km/h to 90-100km/h for 4-lane limited-traffic expressways has scientific , theoretical and practical basis.

"This adjustment will contribute to increasing the travel speed of vehicles participating in traffic, improving the service level of the route, contributing to improving investment efficiency and exploitation efficiency of the routes, promoting socio-economic development of the routes passing through," said the Expressway Administration.

This unit said that recently, many expressways such as some sections of the North-South expressway in the East, Ha Long - Van Don - Mong Cai, Bac Giang - Lang Son, Trung Luong - My Thuan, My Thuan - Can Tho have been put into operation and use.

Some expressway sections have completed construction according to the phased plan and put into operation such as Cao Bo - Mai Son and Trung Luong - My Thuan sections. Some routes will be completed and put into operation in 2023 such as Mai Son - QL45 - Nghi Son, Nha Trang - Cam Lam and Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet.

These sections have approved traffic organization plans with a maximum allowed speed of 80 km/h and a minimum allowed speed of 60 km/h.

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