When the underpass is complete, the existing surface lanes will be resurfaced to get rid of the many potholes and dips the construction work has caused.
The underpass will initially only be open to northbound traffic, while the two existing northbound traffic lanes on the Central Festival side are closed and resurfaced.
Once the resurfacing of the northbound lanes is complete, the two southbound lanes will be closed on the HomeWorks side and also resurfaced, and the underpass will be switched to southbound traffic only.
Once all the lanes have been resurfaced, the surface lanes and the underpass will be opened.
“In the morning, the traffic is usually jammed heading south, so we will open two lanes of the underpass for the southbound traffic, and one for northbound traffic,” said Itthiwat Kritsanawanich, an engineer from the Bureau of Bridge Construction, Department of Highways.
“In the evening, the traffic is usually busy heading north, so we will open two lanes for the northbound traffic, and one for the southbound.”
This will be a permanent arrangement, and there will be traffic lights to indicate when traffic can go, and which side people need to drive on.
When the underpass is complete, there will be no exits. Once motorists are on the underpass, they will have to wait until the exit before they can make a turn.
The whole project is expected to be finished by October, 2014. However, work will start on the Samkong underpass at the Tesco Lotus and bypass road intersection, in June this year.
“We are waiting for the approval from the Ministry of Transportation. Once we have that, Wiwat Korsang Co, the new contractor, will start working,” he said.
“The initial budget for the second underpass was B850m, but the price of construction material has dropped so we estimate the cost will be reduced by around B13m.”
Once the Samkong underpass is complete, work will then start on the third and final underpass, at the Bang Ku intersection at the north end of the bypass road where it joins with Thepkrasatri Road.