In addition to National Highway 18 and National Highway 4B, there is also Provincial Road 342 connecting Ha Long City in Quang Ninh Province to Dinh Lap District in Lang Son Province. This road is over 60 kilometers long but is only a low-grade rural road, insufficient to meet transportation and trade needs. To promote socio-economic development and enhance regional connectivity, Quang Ninh Province has decided to invest in upgrading Provincial Road 342, linking Ha Long City with Ba Che District and Lang Son Province.
On July 28, the project to upgrade the section of Provincial Road 342 belonging to Ba Che District was completed, with a welcome signboard erected to celebrate the 12th Congress of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Quang Ninh Province.
The section of Provincial Road 342 in Ba Che District is 20.9 kilometers long and passes through the mountainous forests of the region’s highland communes. The starting point of the route is at Km37+500 (at the boundary between Ha Long City and Ba Che District), and the endpoint is at Km58+405 (in the Deo Liu area, bordering Bac Lang Commune, Dinh Lap District, Lang Son Province).
The project was completed after nearly 18 months of construction and meets the technical standards of a Grade III mountain road, with two lanes and a designed speed of 60 km/h. The route also includes four bridges and 69 culverts to ensure safety in the terrain with many rivers and streams. The total investment for the project is 816 billion VND, funded by the Quang Ninh provincial budget.
The project is significant as it “opens up” the region, particularly for the highland and ethnic minority communes of Ba Che District and Quang Ninh Province as a whole. It reduces travel time to both Ha Long City and Lang Son, facilitating transportation and trade.
Along with the recently completed section in Ba Che District, the first section of Provincial Road 342 in Ha Long City has also been in use since early 2024. This project, invested by Ha Long City, includes upgrading, improving, and expanding the road from the intersection of the Ha Long – Van Don expressway at Trai Me Village, Son Duong Commune, to Dong Tra Village, Dong Lam Commune, and connecting to National Highway 279, with a total length of 13 kilometers.
The project has a scale of a Grade III mountain road with four lanes (in the first phase), four bridges, and a maximum speed of 60 km/h. The total investment is nearly 813 billion VND, funded by the city budget and other legal sources.
The road offers a breathtaking view as it winds along the foothills, surrounded by limestone mountains, forests, and streams in the highland communes of Ha Long City, such as Son Duong and Dong Lam.
Notably, this first section of Provincial Road 342 directly connects to important transportation routes such as the Ha Long – Van Don – Mong Cai expressway, National Highway 279, and leads to industrial parks, seaports, and the central area of Ha Long City within a radius of less than 10 kilometers.
The new road runs alongside the residential area of Dong Tra Village, Dong Lam Commune, reducing the travel time to Ha Long City center to less than 30 minutes. The improved transportation infrastructure also opens up more development opportunities for the local people in the highland communes of Ha Long City (formerly part of Hoanh Bo District), who previously faced many difficulties.
With the completion of the first and last sections of the route, the investment project for the middle section of Provincial Road 342, connecting Ha Long City and Ba Che District, was approved by the Quang Ninh Provincial People’s Council in July 2023 and is expected to commence soon. The project has a total length of about 30 kilometers and will be built to Grade III-IV mountain road standards with two lanes. The road will mostly be newly constructed and will pass through the Dong Son – Ky Thuong Nature Reserve, featuring high bridges offering panoramic views of the majestic landscape.
In addition to the projects in Quang Ninh Province, Lang Son Province has also approved and commenced investment in projects to improve the section from the end of Provincial Road 342 to National Highway 4B, and to upgrade National Highway 4B, with a total length of over 76 kilometers and a total investment of nearly VND 3,300 billion. Once the entire route is completed, the distance from Lang Son (from km 74+700, National Highway 4B) to Ha Long City will be shortened to approximately 60 kilometers, becoming a vital transport route for agricultural and forestry products between the two border provinces in the Northeast region.
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