All go for green in Phuket Town

PHUKET TOWN: A range of projects announced yesterday by Phuket Town Mayor Phummisak Hongsyok will add more green to the center of town. The projects include a nine-rai park, a huge canopy to cover Lan Nawamin Square, and three high-tech traffic lights to be fitted at major junctions on Mae Luan Rd. The park, already under construction on the site where the Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority office once stood on Thalang Rd, will cost 40 million baht. It will include recreational facilities and a car park, and three rai will be occupied by shophouses, government offices and a tourist information center. Contruction of the park is scheduled for completion by August next year to coincide with HM Queen Sirikit’s birthday. The park will be named Suan Chalermprakiat 72 Punsa Maharachinee BE 2547 Park. Across town at Lan Nawamin Square, on Phuket Rd, a 38-meter-long canopy will be fitted to provide shade from sun and shelter from rain. “Whether it’s raining or too hot, people will always be able go there to relax,” Mayor Phummisak said. The canopy should be ready by January, he added. Even in getting to the parks people should see more green, as high-tech Rondo traffic lights will be fitted at major junctions on Mae Luan Rd to improve traffic flow. Costing 4 million baht, the Rondo traffic lights will be installed at the junctions of Wichitsongkram Rd, Patipat Rd and Satun Rd within three months. Rondo traffic lights, which have already been installed at the Thepkrasattri Rd-Komarapaj Rd, Thepkrasattri Rd-Thungka Rd and Mae Luan Rd-Yaowarat Rd intersection, use image processing cameras to count the numbers of vehicles in the various lines and assess the lengths of the queues, and a sonic echo system to work out how busy the traffic is.