New Phuket Highways Office Director Patiwetwoottisak Sookki confirmed to The Phuket News this week, “Construction will start soon, before the end of this year.
“The contract bid has been approved already, with CC Machinery and Construction Limited Partnership, from Nakhon Sri Thammarat province, selected to perform construction,” he added.
The two flyers, together costing about B200 million, will both be “mid-air U-turns”, allowing traffic heading northbound to return southbound unimpeded, and without causing delays to other motorists.
One flyover will be located near the Jeeteng mansion on Thepkrasattri Rd in Koh Kaew, about 1.38km south of the Heroine’s Monument. The other will be at the Nai Yang turn-off on Thepkrasattri Rd, about 3.3km north of the main intersection in Thalang Town.
Mr Patiwetwoottisa acknowledged that the government contract had yet to be signed, that the budget had yet to be handed over and that final approval had yet to come from the Transport Ministry, but was adamant that construction will start “after October or November”.
“Both flyovers were approved at their third public hearing on February 18, 2016. Now we are just waiting for the Ministry of Transport to approve the contract,” he said.
The Thalang flyover will be 640 metres long, with the elevated section spanning 335m, while the Koh Kaew flyover will be 550m long and an elevated section spanning 315m.
“The project will need an extra 10 metres of land on both sides of each flyover, but compensation for land expropriated for both flyovers is not included in the budget,” Mr Patiwetwoottisa said.
A completion date for either flyover has yet to be set.
“These flyovers will solve traffic jams as there are too many vehicles causing long tailbacks at U-turns along Thepkrasattri Rd,” Mr Patiwetwoottisa said.
“With these flyovers in place, traffic will flow through Heroines’ Monument and Thalang intersection much better.”