Government Spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana announced the news in Bangkok yesterday (Jan 18).
“The Kathu-Patong Expressway Project aims to increase travel between the east side of Phuket to Patong Beach for locals and tourists,” Mr Thanakorn said.
“The expressway would prevent traffic accidents caused by steep and curving roads and can be used as an evacuation route in the event of a calamity like a tsunami," he said.
The Phuket News notes that although the 2004 tsunami caused horrific devastation along the Patong beachfront, due to the concentration of buildings already standing at that time the waves never reached Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Rd at the inland end of Bangla Rd, just under 400 metres from the beach.
However, during the tsunami scare in April 2012 panic sent local residents and tourists fleeing into the hills. The road over the top of Patong Hill became jammed with vehicles loaded with people trying to evacuate the town. (See reports here and here.)
The Kathu-Patong Expressway Project of the Expressway Authority of Thailand (EXAT) will be operated under the form of a joint investment between the public and private sectors, Mr Thanakorn explained.
“The EXAT will announce the invitation for private sector participation in May-June, with construction starting in 2023 and service scheduled to start in July 2027,” he said.
The expressway will be built as an elevated road construction project, which will be 3.98 kilometres long, with a tunnel through the hills behind the town, Mr Thanakorn said.
The expressway will have four traffic lanes in each direction, he continued.
The road project will connect Phra Metta Rd, which runs behind Jungceylon in Patong, and Kathu, with two elevated sections of road leading up, through and down the hills. A toll gate will be located on the Kathu side, he added.
"The Kathu-Patong Expressway Project is expected to take a total of five years to complete. The locals and tourists will benefit from this route, " Mr Thanakorn said.
“It is also the development of the country’s transportation infrastructure in line with supporting the development of Phuket Province under the concept of Smart City development,” he added.