Quang Ngai North-South Expressway section awaits final approval for opening ahead of Tet

QUANG NGAI – Construction of the junction connecting the Quang Ngai-Hoai Nhon and Da Nang-Quang Ngai expressways is largely complete, with officials pushing to open the route ahead of the 2026 Lunar New Year holiday.

Work at the site in Nghia Giang Commune has finished its primary construction phases. Crews have completed asphalt paving and lane striping, while safety barriers and traffic signage are already in place.

Contractors are now finalizing fire prevention systems and processing administrative paperwork required for the project’s official launch. The Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) has also completed the installation of an automated toll collection system.

According to Project Management Unit 2, the project meets all technical requirements to open for traffic. However, the road is currently awaiting final approval for its traffic management plan and fire safety certification.

Relevant agencies are expected to conduct final inspections this week. Officials aim to bring the junction into operation soon to accommodate the surge in travel demand expected during the 2026 Lunar New Year, also known as Tet.

The completion of the junction connecting the Da Nang-Quang Ngai and Quang Ngai-Hoai Nhon expressways represents more than a localized infrastructure milestone; it is a pivotal step in Vietnam’s long-standing strategic ambition to operationalize a seamless North-South arterial corridor. By integrating these two segments, the government aims to dissolve a critical logistics bottleneck in the Central Coast, effectively streamlining the economic corridor that links major industrial hubs—including Da Nang and the Chu Lai and Dung Quat Economic Zones—to the South Central region.

However, the project’s current status underscores a persistent structural challenge within Vietnam’s public investment landscape: administrative gridlock. While physical construction is reportedly nearing completion, the project remains in regulatory limbo, awaiting final sign-offs from the Department of Roads and the Traffic Police.

This scenario reflects a recurring motif in the Vietnamese policy cycle, where the political imperative to inaugurate projects ahead of the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday forces a compressed approval timeline. Such late-stage administrative pressure often creates a trade-off, where the rush to meet public expectations may bypass rigorous technical and safety audits. While the socio-economic dividends of opening the route are clear, the systemic reliance on last-minute bureaucratic maneuvers remains a significant risk to the execution and long-term quality of Vietnam’s national priority infrastructure.

The opening of the new expressway just ahead of Lunar New Year is a welcome relief for Vietnamese-American families traveling home to visit relatives in Central Vietnam. For those heading to provinces like Quảng Ngãi and Bình Định, the new route will significantly cut down travel times and allow them to bypass the notorious traffic congestion typically found on National Highway 1 during the busy Tết season.