The construction of highways on soft soils presents significant challenges due to the inherent characteristics of high compressibility and low permeability, which often lead to excessive settlement and stability problems. To address these issues, soil improvement techniques are required to accelerate consolidation and ensure long-term performance of embankments. This study compares two widely applied methods Prefabricated Vertical Drains (PVD) with preload and vacuum consolidation using numerical modeling through the finite element method. The analysis employed both the Soft Soil and Mohr–Coulomb models to capture soil behavior under staged loading conditions. The results indicate that both methods fulfill technical requirements related to stability and allowable settlement. However, vacuum consolidation demonstrates superior performance by achieving a higher safety factor throughout construction and operational stages, while also reducing the implementation time. In contrast, the PVD with preload method generates larger settlements and requires a higher surcharge load, which not only increases material demand but also introduces potential risks of instability during construction. These findings highlight the effectiveness of vacuum consolidation as a more efficient and reliable technique for soft soil improvement, particularly in large-scale highway infrastructure projects.