Patong-Chalong road construction nears completion

The construction of a new road connecting Chalong to Patong in Phuket is expected to open to the public soon, according to the Phuket Provincial Administration Organisation (PPAO). The announcement came after the PPAO President and Deputy President conducted in-person inspections along the construction site yesterday and the day before.

The PPAO Deputy President has closely monitored progress, frequenting the jungle behind Luang Pu Supha Temple twice a month before January.

The Chalong-Patong road is 3.5 kilometres long and passes through steep hills, from behind the Klong Kata reservoir in Chalong to 50 Pi Road in Patong. Before the current construction started in October, the future road was just a dirt track through the hills.

This is not the first time local officials tried to make this path into an official paved road. A decade’s worth of attempts has been thwarted by a section of the trail that passes through a protected forest zone. Then on October 19, landslides wiped out the Patong Hill road, severely hampering travel. Just five days later, the road plan was cleared and construction began.

The PPAO reports on the construction did not provide a projected completion date. As an emergency measure, the project was initially estimated to take two weeks to complete, with a target deadline of opening a temporary road to traffic in early November.

However, plans were later changed in favour of a 12-metre-wide road and no specific completion date has been announced since. Photos from the site released by the PPAO show that progress on the construction is coming along swiftly. But the road currently under construction is not yet a 12-metre-wide carriageway.

According to the Phuket News, workers are creating a durable and versatile road by compacting crushed stones sprayed down with water. The technique should result in a solid road surface that can accommodate all types of vehicles, not just 4×4 pickups, heavy-duty motorcycles, and heavy machinery.