Expressway build due to start in April

In a bid to ease the ever-worsening state of congestion in the capital, the Expressway Authority of Thailand (Exat) plans to start building a “hybrid” expressway from April.

It will be a combination of a suspension bridge and an elevated road linking Rama III Road and the Western Outer Ring Road, officials said.

The budget for the 30.4-billion-baht project will be allocated from the Thailand Future Fund (TTF), which is scheduled to be put up for an initial public offering early next year.

Officials are drafting terms of reference for the project to pave the way for a round of bidding in December, acting Exat governor Sudthisak Wattanavinid said yesterday.

The governor said he expected the first foundation pillar to be officially laid in April.

Delays are not expected but ground will be broken on the 17-km expressway by June at the latest, he said.

The Western Outer Ring Road is connected to Rama II and Nonthaburi’s Bang Bua Thong district.

The suspension bridge will comprise eight traffic lanes and run parallel to Rama IX bridge near Rama III. The elevated section will run along the traffic island on Rama II toward the ring road.

Exat expects to sign a contract with the successful bidder by the first quarter of 2018, Mr Sudthisak said.

The project is one of two planned new expressways financed by the TTF.

The other is the long-delayed northern expressway linking the Kasetsart intersection and Nawamin Road — also known as the N2 section — valued at 14.4 billion baht.

In May the cabinet approved a proposal to use two expressways as underlying assets for the TFF. They are the Chalong Rat Expressway (Ram Intra-At Narong) and Burapha Withi Expressway (Bang Na-Bhon Buri). Both are Exat owned.

The TFF initial public offering was due to be held late this year but problems emerged regarding an amendment to the Exat revenue contract over transferring money to the infrastructure fund.