HANOI - Traffic on 15 operating sections of Vietnam’s North-South Expressway East jumped 57.4% on Aug. 29 from Aug. 27 as the National Day travel rush intensified.

The sections handled 321,776 vehicle trips, compared with 204,421 on Aug. 27, according to the Department for Roads of Vietnam. Traffic had already risen to 262,595 trips on Aug. 28, up 28.5% from the Aug. 27 baseline.

The increase varied sharply across the corridor. Chi Thanh-Van Phong recorded the largest percentage rise at 85.8%, followed by Vinh Hao-Phan Thiet at 85.2% and Bung-Van Ninh at 73.5%. Phan Thiet-Dau Giay handled 47,580 trips, up 69.3%, while Mai Son-National Highway 45 recorded 45,627 trips, an increase of 59.3%.

Despite the surge, traffic remained largely smooth on Aug. 29, with toll stations operating around the clock and electronic systems monitoring traffic and providing real-time guidance. 

Conditions became heavier on another part of the expressway network the following day. On Aug. 30, the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway experienced about 10 kilometers of congestion from the An Phu interchange toward the Long Phuoc toll station. Thousands of vehicles were caught in slow-moving traffic.

A roughly 22-kilometer section between the Ring Road 2 and Bien Hoa-Vung Tau Expressway interchanges is being widened while remaining open to traffic.

The expressway expansion project expands the section from Ring Road 2 to Ring Road 3 from four to eight lanes, while the stretch from Ring Road 3 to the Bien Hoa-Vung Tau interchange is being widened to 10 lanes.

Vietnam’s five-day National Day break from Aug. 29 through Sept. 2 applies to civil servants and public employees under a working-day swap arrangement.

Under the National Day holiday schedule, private-sector workers receive Sept. 2 and either Sept. 1 or Sept. 3, with employers encouraged to offer arrangements similar to the public-sector schedule where possible.

Road operators, technical teams and patrol crews are maintaining round-the-clock coverage as authorities manage elevated holiday traffic.

A Department for Roads of Vietnam representative, quoted by Nhân Dân, said, translated from Vietnamese: “Operations, technical and road-patrol teams are maintaining 24/7 duty, coordinating with traffic police to promptly handle incidents and assist road users during peak periods.”