Circular No. 147/TT-GTVT guiding the implementation of Decree No. 10-HĐBT dated January 20, 1982 of the Council of Ministers.

CIRCULAR

OF THE MINISTRY OF TRANSPORTATION NUMBER 147/TT-GTVT, JULY 30, 1983
GUIDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF DECREE NO. 10-HĐBT, JANUARY 20, 1982
OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS.

On January 20, 1982, the Council of Ministers issued Decree No. 10-HĐBT stipulating the classification of capital investment and the hierarchical management of road systems. Based on Article 11 of the Decree, the Ministry of Transportation hereby issues this Circular to guide its implementation as follows:

I. PURPOSE AND SIGNIFICANCE

Currently, the network of roads has been expanded and continues to develop. To improve the quality of roads and align with the hierarchical management of local authorities, the Council of Ministers has redefined the classification of capital investment and hierarchical management of road systems, applying uniformly throughout the country.

The road network is a unified system, including motor vehicle roads and non-motorized vehicle roads; among which there are six systems for motor vehicles. Each road system serves at different levels within a locality or multiple localities or nationwide. However, these road systems still have organic relationships with each other, thus it is necessary to reclassify them accurately according to their service objects and adapt to current management conditions. Additionally, to enhance the responsibilities and authorities between the central government and local authorities according to Decree No. 35-CP dated February 9, 1981 of the Council of Ministers stipulating the tasks, powers, and responsibilities of ministers and the functions of the Ministry in certain areas of state management; along with Decrees No. 24-CP dated February 2, 1976, No. 33-CP dated February 4, 1978, and No. 112-HĐBT dated October 15, 1981 of the Council of Ministers stipulating the tasks, powers, and responsibilities of provincial, district, and commune-level authorities in economic management - based on the principle of specialized management combined with territorial management for transportation routes - to create a comprehensive strength in managing, repairing, and operating road systems to improve road quality and to rationally utilize central and local investment funds, achieving higher efficiency.

II. GUIDANCE AND EXPLANATION OF SOME SPECIFIC PROVISIONS OF THE DECREE

In this Circular, only some specific points are guided and explained to help localities, related sectors, and units understand thoroughly so that they can implement correctly in accordance with the spirit and content prescribed in the Decree.

1. Responsibilities for Managing and Protecting Roads (Article 1)

Roads are common assets of the State and the people, playing a very important role in serving economic construction, national defense, and public travel, therefore all sectors, levels, economic units, national defense forces, and every citizen have the responsibility to protect and maintain the road systems and strictly comply with traffic regulations.

The responsibility for managing roads, according to the division of authority between the Ministry of Transportation and the People's Committees of provinces, cities, and special administrative regions directly under the Central Government (hereinafter referred to as the People's Committees of provinces), is as follows:

a) The Ministry of Transportation is responsible for managing the entire road system nationwide based on the following principles:

- Developing plans for the road network across the country or in specific regions to serve the requirements of economic development, national defense, politics, culture...

- Issuing technical standards and procedures for bridges and roads as benchmarks for relevant sectors and units to follow when designing, constructing, and repairing roads to achieve high economic efficiency and safety.

- Directly issuing or submitting to the State for approval, or coordinating with related sectors to issue regulations on the management, operation, and protection of public roads to be uniformly applied on national highways. Organizing regular inspections of compliance with these regulations.

- Registering and managing motor vehicle routes currently in use or soon to be put into use according to the above principles.

b) The People's Committees of provinces are responsible for managing the road system in their respective provinces according to the following hierarchical principles:

- Participating in opinions with the Ministry of Transportation and the State Planning Committee in developing plans for the road network related to transportation in their province.

- Managing the road system in the province according to technical regulations and unified management principles set by the Ministry of Transportation.

- Inspecting economic units and military forces in the province to ensure strict compliance with transportation regulations. Educating the local population to regularly take good care of the road systems and public transportation facilities, and actively participate in ensuring traffic safety, especially on national highways.

The Department of Transportation represents the Ministry of Transportation and the People's Committee of the province in implementing tasks related to construction, improvement, repair, management, and operation of the road system in the province, while also advising the People's Committee of the province on matters concerning the Ministry of Transportation based on the aforementioned principles and hierarchical division.

2. Classification of Road Systems (Article 2)

The Decree classifies motor vehicle roads into six systems based on economic, political, national defense, and cultural requirements to serve various types of transport vehicles and pedestrians.

a) National Highway System. With a particularly important role in the national road network, serving national interests or regional interests, and also being very important for provinces, cities, and special administrative regions directly under the Central Government.

For roads connecting neighboring countries, although numerous, only those with significant traffic volume and serving two countries are classified as national highways.

Important national highways that clearly separate motor vehicle lanes from non-motorized vehicle lanes using a median strip, the non-motorized vehicle lane still belongs to the national highway system.

The Ministry of Transportation will base its decisions on specific economic, technical, and political conditions to define national highways.

b) Provincial Highway System. Besides directly serving the economic, political, cultural, and security interests of the province, it also serves the interests of one or more adjacent provinces or even a region. At the same time, it supports the national highway system when necessary.

c) The county road system and commune road system. Similar to the provincial road system, these systems not only serve the direct economic, political, and cultural interests of counties and communes but also relate to the interests of neighboring counties and communes within the same province or adjacent provinces.

d) Urban road system. As stated in the decree, all streets and traffic roads (excluding national highways) located within the urban area or city limits according to administrative boundaries of cities, towns, and townships, once defined by the State.

For residential clusters along provincial roads or near large industrial zones... that have not been designated by the State as towns or townships, those sections of roads have yet to be classified under the urban road system.

Due to the lack of conditions to move national highways outside the city, town, or township limits, national highways running through the urban areas remain unchanged regarding their mileage and route according to the existing national highway directory. For large cities or towns with many streets, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Construction, and the People's Committee of the province will jointly determine the national highways running through the urban areas (even though they still bear the names of other urban streets). Specifically for the capital or major cities serving as starting points for several national highways, the Ministry of Transport and the People's Committee of the province will determine the zero kilometer mark to begin calculating the national highway.

Standards for various types of urban streets will be specifically regulated by the Ministry of Construction after coordinating with the Ministry of Transport and the People's Committees of the provinces to ensure localities properly classify streets according to their types.

đ) Special-purpose road system. As stipulated in the decree, the boundaries of special-purpose roads include:

- Roads connecting from outside the gate of agencies, enterprises, factories, forestry farms... to national highways, provincial roads...

- Internal roads within agencies, enterprises, factories...

3. Authority to classify and adjust traffic roads (Article 3)

The decree has defined the authority to classify and adjust roads into the road systems for the Minister of Transport and the Chairmen of the People's Committees at the provincial and district levels to enhance the responsibility of leaders at all levels.

At specified times, based on the development of the road network in terms of economy, politics, culture... and technical conditions, decisions shall be made:

- To arrange roads ready for use or adjust operating roads from one system to another such as upgrading provincial roads to national highways, provincial roads to urban roads, county roads to provincial roads, special-purpose roads to provincial roads...

- To announce the technical grade of roads and the type of road surface based on the technical specifications of the road surface to serve transportation.

The Ministry of Transport will issue technical standards for each road system for localities to base their classification or adjustment of roads to their appropriate positions.

Joint associations, integrated construction enterprises, and transportation departments have the duty to monitor and report to the Ministry of Transport and the People's Committees of the provinces about the road conditions under their management.

4. Issues related to road management and repair funds (Article 4)

Road management and repair funds include expenses for road repairs (major and regular) and management costs to organize protection and exploitation of roads.

To ensure the effective operation of this fund, the State will balance the provision of labor, materials, and equipment in accordance with current road management conditions.

The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport will issue a joint circular to specifically regulate the issuance of road management and repair funds.

5. Investment and management of the national highway system (Article 5).

The Ministry of Transport is responsible for managing the entire national highway system and can use construction investment funds, management and repair funds provided by the central budget to organize the management, repair, and construction of this system according to approved state plans.

To leverage the comprehensive strength of localities and closely integrate specialized sectors with territorial administration, the Ministry of Transport will directly manage some important roads, while other national highways will be managed by the People's Committees of the provinces (through Provincial Transportation Departments) based on planning indicators, quality, funding, and other criteria allocated by the Ministry of Transport.

The content of responsibilities, authorities, and forms of handover for the management, repair, and construction of national highways will be specifically regulated by the Ministry of Transport.

6. Investment and management of the provincial road system (Article 6)

The People's Committees of the provinces manage the provincial road system within their jurisdictions (through Provincial Transportation Departments), including planning transportation, establishing construction plans, and submitting them for approval by the Council of Ministers. With overall management responsibilities, the Ministry of Transport will participate in providing opinions to localities on planning, construction, and repair to ensure consistency between localities and regions or the national road network; at the same time, it may request additional funding from the State to complete the road network.

For provincial roads related to two or more provinces or an entire economic region, the People's Committees of the provinces and the Ministry of Transport need to discuss and reach consensus on planning and construction standards.

7. Investment and management of the urban road system (Article 9).

The decree has defined the basic tasks of the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Construction in managing the urban road system (through Provincial Transportation Departments and Provincial Construction Departments or Urban Engineering Management Departments).

The Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Construction will issue a joint circular to guide and explain the specific tasks of the two sectors to facilitate the implementation of the decree by localities, strengthen management work, and prevent any violations affecting the quality and safety of the urban road system.

Streets identified as national highways running through urban areas are funded by the central budget for basic construction, management, and repair.

For national highways under the direct management of the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Transport shall entrust the construction and maintenance joint enterprises and integrated construction enterprises within the management area to undertake such tasks. To facilitate management and ensure uniform repair techniques, these joint enterprises and integrated construction enterprises may subcontract the management and repair work to the local transport departments for sections of national highways running through urban areas, similar to other sections of national highways.

For excavation works on roads for underground projects or any work on the road surface or above that affects the quality of the road and safety, the project owners must obtain permission from the local transport departments. The Ministry of Transport will issue specific regulations regarding the format of this permit.

8. Investment and management of dedicated roads.

As stipulated in the decree, for dedicated roads used by multiple agencies and enterprises, to ensure sufficient funds for management and repair, the People's Committee of the province will establish reasonable allocation levels for the agencies and enterprises to contribute based on the proposal of the provincial transport department.

When an agency (or enterprise...) requests the professional management and repair forces of the transportation sector (at central and local levels) to take charge, the investment capital for management and repair will still be borne by that agency (or enterprise) - even for dedicated roads used by multiple agencies and enterprises. Only when the transportation sector assesses the economic, political, cultural, and technical aspects and reports to the People's Committee of the province for approval to transfer such roads into the local management system will the local budget bear the cost.

In accordance with the planning for the development of the transportation network in a locality or multiple localities, the transportation sector has the responsibility to provide opinions on construction plans and road base techniques to ensure safety for vehicles passing through. At the same time, they must register road files with the provincial transport department so that support can be provided to local or central roads when necessary. The Ministry of Transport will issue specific regulations regarding the registration of dedicated roads.

This circular takes effect from the date of signature. During implementation, relevant sectors, localities, and units should report any difficulties to the Ministry of Transport for timely amendments and supplements to ensure compliance.