Knowing that transport infrastructure plays an important role in socioeconomic development and creates advantages in investment attraction, the transport sector of Son La province always actively advises the Provincial People's Committee on building and suitably adjusting transport development plans for each stage.
Son La province’s transportation infrastructure is evolving toward increased synchronicity and modernity
Many key transport projects completed
Mr. Nguyen Van Chinh, Deputy Director of the Department of Transport, Son La province said: The transport sector of Son La province has utilized all resources, planned and invested in transport infrastructure development in all stages. Based on the above approaches and the viewpoint: "Transport must be one step ahead to support investment attraction”, the province now has a relatively complete road traffic network with a total length of over 18,286km, including 884.8km of national highways, 1,006km of provincial roads, 1,956km of district roads, 237.6km of urban roads, 5,327km of commune roads, 309km of specialized roads and over 8,564km of other rural roads.
The department has actively coordinated and joined with other agencies in Son La Provincial Planning for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050; proposed a transport network development plan integrated into the Son La Provincial Planning; managed and implemented transport development plans approved by competent authorities; promptly reviewed, advised, approved and adjusted road investment plans to meet local socioeconomic development goals in the 2021 - 2025 period.
The Son La transport sector has completed and operated National Highway 6 that bypasses Son La City and Son La section on Hoa Binh - Moc Chau Expressway, which the Prime Minister assigned Son La Provincial People's Committee as the project management unit. The province is carrying out the approved investment policy. It completed preparing the Na San Airport investment socialization and operation project and submitted it to the Ministry of Transport for appraisal and to the Prime Minister for approval. The province is carrying out 30 investment projects on 427km of roads (74.25km of provincial roads, 58km of urban roads and 295km of rural roads) according to the medium-term public investment plan in 2021 - 2025.
Regarding administrative reform, with the goal of taking public and business satisfaction as a measure of the sector’s administrative reform, the Department of Transport has striven to have 100% of eligible administrative procedures settled with 10-33.3% less time than the regulatory timeframe; and announce, publicize and resolve all administrative records by the deadline, without any overdue documents. The department has continuously ranked first on the administrative reform index among 20 departmental agencies of the province.
Reinforcing road maintenance
Currently, the Department of Transport is assigned to manage nine national highways, with a total length of 671km and 19 provincial roads with 1,005km of length. To ensure smooth traffic for traveling and freight transportation, the department directs relevant units to manage and maintain its assigned roads, detecting shortcomings of traffic infrastructure; reviews and clearly determines the urgency of each location and each route to work out maintenance plans, especially clearing “black spots”. In addition, the agency has adopted new technologies and new materials for road maintenance. Consequently, many roads have no potholes, unsafe traffic spots, subsidence, surface damage and deteriorations.
In 2023, the transport sector managed 14 periodic and unexpected repair projects, including nine national highway projects and five provincial road projects. Most projects were able to ensure quality, schedule and investment efficiency.
The Department of Transport also arranged personnel with knowledge, expertise and management skills to handle emerging issues continuously and effectively. Moreover, road management units also regularly inspect and protect road traffic infrastructure; further review and erect road signs on routes with traffic safety risks; complete and correct the traffic control systems and signs; trim trees and cut grass; and clean sewers.
| Some key tasks of the Son La transport sector in 2024: Advising the Provincial People's Committee to accelerate two key projects, namely Hoa Binh - Moc Chau Expressway and Na San Airport; advising and directing quicker completion and operation of ongoing transport infrastructure projects according to the 2021-2025 public investment plan, Project 666 and Project 88; further encouraging the development of rural roads in line with the National Target Program on New Rural Development with the motto “The people work, the State supports”. |
The transport sector will further reinforce road management and maintenance to ensure smoothness and safety. In particular, special attention is paid to digital application to road management as well as advanced knowhow application to road maintenance to make sure that roads are operated at the right capacity for traffic safety. The sector will exploit and effectively use investment capital for road construction while strengthening patrolling, inspection and protection of road corridors, detecting traffic shortcomings to propose immediate solutions to guarantee absolute safety for people and means of transport.
With the close direction of the Department of Transport and with the effort of road management units, the quality of road management and maintenance in Son La province has been increasingly improved, helping ensure traffic safety and effectively serving local socioeconomic development tasks.
By Nguyen Dung, Vietnam Business Forum
Vietnamese
October 2024
Hanoi