Expressways in Khanh Hoa

The four sections

Khánh Hòa's stretch of the North South Expressway was built in four separate contracts. Nha Trang to Cam Lâm and Cam Lâm to Vĩnh Hảo were both build operate transfer projects with private investors^[1][2], while Vân Phong to Nha Trang was funded directly from the state budget and managed by Project Management Board 7 of the Ministry of Transport^[3][10]. The table gives the length, opening date and cost reported for each section, together with the branch under construction toward Buôn Ma Thuột^[5].

Nha Trang to Cam Lam

Construction of the Nha Trang to Cam Lâm expressway began in September 2021 under a build operate transfer contract with Tập đoàn Sơn Hải, a construction group from Quảng Trị, through its subsidiary company for the road^[1][8]. Vietnamese Wikipedia gives the route's length as 49.11 km^[1]; Tuổi Trẻ reported it as 49.071 km when toll collection began^[8]. The road opened to traffic on 19 May 2023 and was formally inaugurated, jointly with the Vĩnh Hảo to Phan Thiết expressway further south, on 18 June 2023^[1][14]. Total investment was over 7,600 billion VND^[1][8].

The initial phase has four lanes without an emergency lane, a carriageway 17 m wide and a speed limit of 80 km/h, raised to 90 km/h in January 2024^[1]. The completed phase is planned for six lanes, a 32 m carriageway and 120 km/h^[1]. Four interchanges serve the road: Diên Thọ at its northern end, shared with the Vân Phong to Nha Trang expressway and linking to National Route 27C; Suối Dầu; Cam Lâm, near National Route 1; and Cam Ranh at the southern end, at kilometre 49.1, shared with the Cam Lâm to Vĩnh Hảo expressway and linking to National Route 27B^[1][3][2]. No fetched source named an interchange as serving Cam Ranh International Airport specifically.

The road tunnels through a ridge at Dốc Sạn, between Cam Phước Đông and Cam Thịnh Đông wards in Cam Ranh: about 700 m in early reporting, or two finished bores of 787 m in the Cam Lâm direction and 723 m in the Nha Trang direction, each carrying six lanes with two additional emergency lanes^[1]. Electronic tolling began at 08:00 on 26 April 2024, with fares for a full trip on the route ranging from nearly 82,000 VND to more than 311,000 VND across five vehicle classes^[8].

Cam Lam to Vinh Hao

The Cam Lâm to Vĩnh Hảo expressway was built under a build operate transfer contract signed in July 2021 by a consortium led by Tập đoàn Đèo Cả, with construction beginning that September^[2][12]. Vietnamese Wikipedia's current account gives the route as 78.5 km, made up of 67.5 km in Khánh Hòa province and 11 km in Lâm Đồng province^[2]. Reporting on the April 2024 opening described the same road, using the provincial map of the time, as about 78 km through three provinces: 5 km in Khánh Hòa, 63 km in Ninh Thuận and 12 km in Bình Thuận^[9]. Ninh Thuận merged into Khánh Hòa on 1 July 2025, under Resolution 202/2025/QH15, passed on 12 June 2025^[15], which accounts for part of the difference between the two figures.

The initial phase carries four lanes on a carriageway 17 m wide, with a design speed of 90 km/h; the completed phase is planned for six lanes and 100 to 120 km/h^[2]. Total investment was 8,925 billion VND under the public private partnership^[2][9]. A 38.8 km section opened temporarily from 7 to 21 February 2024, and the whole road opened officially at 07:00 on 26 April 2024, cutting the road journey from Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang to about 5 hours^[2][9]. Toll collection began on 28 May 2024^[2].

The road passes through the Núi Vung ridge in a tunnel 2.2 km long, on what was then the boundary between Ninh Thuận and Bình Thuận provinces^[2][12]. Each of its two bores is designed for three lanes at 14 m wide in the completed phase; in the initial phase only one bore operates, with two lanes carrying traffic in both directions, while the second bore is kept as an escape tunnel with a maximum speed of 70 km/h^[2]. As of the April 2024 opening its concrete lining and road surface were essentially finished, with internal equipment still being connected^[9].

Van Phong to Nha Trang

The Vân Phong to Nha Trang expressway is a state funded project, managed by Project Management Board 7 of the Ministry of Transport; construction began on 1 January 2023^[3][10]. Vietnamese Wikipedia's summary gives its length as 83 km, and Thanh Niên's report on the groundbreaking gives 83.35 km^[3][10]. Total investment was over 11,808 billion VND, with a construction contract allowing 34 months^[10]. The road runs entirely within Khánh Hòa province, through Đại Lãnh, Tu Bông, Vạn Thắng, Vạn Ninh, Hòa Trí, Tân Định, Diên Lâm and Diên Thọ^[3].

The road opened in two stages. A 70.35 km section from the Vạn Giã interchange to the National Route 27C interchange, between kilometre 299+812 and kilometre 368+350, opened at 16:30 on 19 April 2025, with the remaining 13 km still under construction and due before 30 June 2025^[13]. That final 13 km, linking to the Cổ Mã tunnel in Đại Lãnh commune at the road's northern end, in fact opened on 1 January 2026^[4]. Dân Trí reported that this completed a continuous expressway corridor of more than 460 km from the Cổ Mã tunnel to Ho Chi Minh City^[4].

The Khanh Hoa to Buon Ma Thuot branch

The Khánh Hòa to Buôn Ma Thuột expressway, route CT.24, is a branch running west from Ninh Hòa into Đắk Lắk province, approved for investment by National Assembly Resolution 58/2022/QH15^[5]. Its length is given as 117 km, split as 32.7 km in Khánh Hòa and about 84 km in Đắk Lắk, or as 117.5 km with 84.8 km in Đắk Lắk in 2026 reporting^[5][11]. Total investment was reported as approximately 22,000 billion VND in 2022 and as 21,935 billion VND in 2026^[16][11]. The design includes 56 bridges and three tunnels, named Phượng Hoàng, Ea Trang and Chư Te, all in the Đắk Lắk section^[16]. Construction began on 18 June 2023, with completion originally targeted for 2027^[5].

The first 20 km of component 1, from kilometre 0 to kilometre 22, together with all 48 km of component 3 in Đắk Lắk, reached technical passability on 19 December 2025^[11]. That same 20 km section in Khánh Hòa formally opened for traffic on 28 May 2026, connecting National Route 1 to the Vân Phong to Nha Trang expressway at kilometre 8+500 and to National Route 26 at kilometre 20+300; the remaining 10 km of component 1 was still under construction at that date^[6].

Progress reports through 2026 describe a project running to an accelerated schedule. On 19 March 2026, following a site inspection, the government reported component 1 in Khánh Hòa at 81.1 percent of contract value, component 2, built by the Ministry of Construction, at 62.2 percent, and component 3 in Đắk Lắk at 92.6 percent^[11]. Deputy Prime Minister Hồ Quốc Dũng, inspecting the works the same day, ordered component 2 to reach technical opening before 2 September 2026, with the whole road targeted for completion within 2026 rather than the original 2027 date^[17]. By 5 August 2026, component 1 had reached nearly 88 percent, component 2 over 72 percent and component 3 over 97 percent, with the project's overall contract value put at over 82 percent^[18].

The most recent dated report found, published on 14 September 2026, put component 2 at about 78 percent of its contracted work with 35 of its 37 km technically passable, and named the government's target as full completion and synchronised operation of the whole road by 31 December 2026; it noted the onset of the 2026 rainy season as a risk to the remaining schedule^[7]. No source fetched for this article gave a firm, final completion date for component 2 or for the Đắk Lắk section beyond these successive targets^[5][7].