Transport Minister Saksayam seeks timely construction of Bangkok’s Rama III Expressway-Dao Khanong Western Outer Ring Road
06 December 2019
Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob has ordered the Expressway Authority of Thailand (Exat) to ensure that construction of the Rama III Expressway-Dao Khanong Western Outer Ring Road proceeds on time to minimise traffic congestion.
Construction of the road linking the expressway to Dao Khanong — which is expected to take 39 months — will begin next April when the first tranche of the budget, worth three billion baht, will be disbursed from the Thailand Future Fund (TFF), according to Exat.
Mr Saksayam said the project must proceed on time and it should be managed effectively to avoid traffic congestion in the surrounding roads.
In particular, construction must not lead to traffic jams on Rama II Road where congestion became a problem when the road was being expanded.
The minister also expressed concerns that a project of this scale would have a knock-on effect on nearby roads leading to chronic and widespread congestion.
Exat governor Suchart Cholsakpipat said four out of five contracts related to the project have been signed with the contractor.
While the first to fourth contracts deal with civil engineering works, the fifth pertains to the tollgate and traffic control and communication systems.
The first and third contracts are due to be forwarded for approval by the Exat board on Dec 24.
If the board gives the two contracts the go-ahead, successful bidders will be announced.
Mr Suchart said the second contract is in the midst of legal clearance from the court while bid envelopes for the terms of reference for the fifth contract will be sold this month.
On Dec 4, Suchart Chokechaiwatthanakorn, assistant minister of transport, presided over the signing of the fourth contract in which CH Karnchang has been hired to undertake construction and the so-called integrity pact to prevent public procurement corruption.
The Rama III Expressway-Dao Khanong-Western Outer Ring Road project was conceived as part of the expressway master plan connecting other parts of Bangkok to the west of the city.
The ring road is intended to alleviate the build-up of traffic heading to the south of the country as well as divert some of the traffic away from the Dao Khanong-Tha Rua expressway and from Rama II Road.
The cabinet approved the project on June 6, 2017, after it gave the green light to the fund which is being mobilised by Exat to finance the project through the TFF.
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