The news follows The Phuket News receiving many updates from motorists this morning reporting that the section of road had already been repaved, following the Phuket City Traffic Police issuing a notice about the lane closures yesterday afternoon. (See story here.)
Two southbound lanes were closed at 9am today and will remain so until 3pm while more work is carried out, Phuket Highways Office engineer Somkiet Yimpong told The Phuket News this morning.
“The work is not complete. What people are seeing is only part of the work that needs to be done,” he said.
“Trust me, our construction team is working on this now, making the entire width of the road the same level. Two southbound lanes are closed, one is left open for traffic to pass through the site,” he added.
Mr Somkiet said the construction team were on target to complete the B600-million project ahead of schedule.
“We expect the entire project will be completed by the end of this month. We want to complete the project before the official deadline of Oct 18,” he said.
The original deadline of Sept 14, 2017 was delayed by a month after Phuket Highways Office Chief Papiwetwoottisak Sookkii suspended work at all major road construction sites as a “New Year’s gift” to the people, Mr Somkiet noted.
Asked if any date had been set for an official opening ceremony to commemorate the project, Mr Somkiet said, “I have no idea about this. For now we are just focusing on getting the job done.
“We’ll let you know if we receive any information about that,” he added.