OrBorJor President Paiboon Upatising announced during a meeting on Tuesday (June 12) that the money, an estimated B100 million, has been approved provided that the necessary land can be expropriated.
The proposed road will begin just west of the airport turnoff, and run parallel with Thepkrassattri Road before connecting to the bypass road near the Premium Outlet store.
The project was proposed by the then-governor of Phuket, Wichai Praisa-ngob (now Phuket’s appointed Senator) in 2009. The idea behind the proposal was to ease traffic congestion from the airport to Phuket Town, and cater for the growth of population and tourism.
The study and the design of the project was completed by the Highways Office. However, the project has been suspended since it was proposed, partly because of problems surrounding land expropriation and the massive expense – as much as B955 million will be needed to complete it.
Base on an initial study, it is estimated that each kilometre of the road would cost about B50 million to build.
Mr Paiboon said the first two kilometres of the road would be located under the high voltage power lines from Baan Sri Soonthorn to Baan Huan Harn in Thalang District.
“If we can negotiate with the owners of the land [earmarked for the road], the first two kilometers will be a pilot for the remainder of the road. But we need to negotiate with land owners for the rest of it,” he said.
For the first section, four pieces of land will need to be expropriated. Community leaders from Sri Soonthorn have been given the task of discussing the issue with the land owners.