The underpass and the overground lanes at the main intersection are now fully complete, Phuket Highways Chief Somwang Lohamut told The Phuket News.
“The underpass has been open to traffic for quite some time now, but the installation of all the electrical systems, the fire suppression system, the air ventilation system and the water pumps are now done,” he said.
“This project is now open and has been completed in time for the contracted deadline at the end of October (Oct 31),” he added.
Contractor Italian-Thai Development Co Ltd (Ital-Thai) commenced construction of the project in October 2016 with an initial deadline of June 17, 2019, but the deadline was pushed back four months due to issues with acquiring further parcels of land needed for the project and with power lines needed to be moved – both factors beyond the contractor’s control, Mr Somwang explained.
Also, Mr Somwang confirmed that the actual budget for the project was B470 million, clarifying the “about B500mn budget” figure repeatedly given in previous reports.
The entire length of the roadworks built as part of the project is 1.6 kilometres, and the tunnel itself is 669 meters long.
The tunnel has two lanes only, both dedicated to traffic travelling northbound.
Above ground the one-lane northbound left-hand turn at any time with care to travel to the airport remains as it was before the project started, and there are now two lanes dedicated to traffic travelling southbound while allowing one right-hand lane for southbound vehicles turning off towards the airport and one emergency lane on the left.
The current official name of the underpass, as designated by the blue sign over the tunnel entrance, is “Underpass at Phuket Airport Intersection”.
As far as I know there will be no ceremony to declare the underpass officially open, but that is up to Highways Department officials in Bangkok,” Mr Somwang said.
He also urged drivers to exercise caution while driving through the underpass.
“Be careful, don’t drive too fast. Just be safe when driving through the underpass. All motorbikes, big bikes and salaeng [motorbikes with sidecars] are not allowed in the underpass,” Mr Somwang noted.