Bypass project nears halfway mark

PHUKET: Motorists are asked not to be unduly alarmed by the sound of explosions as they travel along the bypass road to do their weekend shopping – it’s all part of the Government’s 111-million-baht project to widen Chalermprakiat Ror IX Rd to make for room for Phuket’s ever-growing number of vehicles.

Boonyakiat Kongketyai, government engineer with the Highway Department and head of the Bypass Enlargement Project, told the Gazette today that the project was about 40% complete. About 40 million baht of the total 111 million baht budget had already been released to the main contractor, Chiang Rai Harn Charoen Enterprise Ltd.

He said blasting on the hillside stretch north of the Samkong Intersection began, after the contractors waited some 265 days for government approval.

The blasting work, limited to a two-hour window between 1 pm and 3 pm daily, is expected to continue until about the first week of April, he said.

K. Boonyakiat said traffic is being halted for 20 minutes when blasting takes place. Drivers can either wait until after the bang, or can use Soi Paniang as an alternative route.

He added that the bypass road in its current state was designed for a daily traffic load of about 7,000 vehicles, including motorcycles – far less than the 20,000 vehicles a day it now serves.

He asked the public to have patience with the inevitable traffic congestion until construction is competed.