Somkiet Yimpong, Project Manager at the Phuket office of the Highways Department, told The Phuket News today (Sept 11) that construction progress of the entire project currently stands at 56% complete.
That progress follows only 40% complete in March, he noted.
“The construction has progressed to about 56% and is expected to be completed in April 2019,” Mr Somkiet said.
“There is only 240 metres left to excavate for the underpass itself, and we are working on making the road that goes through underpass at the same time,” he added.
Mr Somkiet also Chalong Circle may be re-opened to traffic as early as December.
Currently huge traffic delays are created with Chalong Circle itself now closed, forcing motorists wanting to change direction at the locale to drive past the circle and then make a U-turn in order to continue their journeys.
“We will not re-open Chalong Circle until the roof of the underpass inside is finished, but I expect that to be done sometime in November,” Mr Somkiet said.
“Then we will have more space to switch traffic to other lanes to pave the new roads,” he said.
Regarding the dangerously uneven roads with large holes that currently pass the underpass site, Mr Somkiet explained, “We cannot fix the roads because they are always busy with traffic, but we will try to fix what areas we can.
“In the meantime, traffic delays will continue until this project is done,” he said.