City motorway project gets another look

With more vehicles on Bangkok roads than ever, reviving the long-delayed third-stage expressway might seem like a good idea, but can planners overcome the strong opposition the project faced in the past?

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Kasetsart University students rally in front of office building of Expressway Authority of Thailand (EXAT) in January 2013 to protest against an expressway construction project near the university. APICHIT JINAKUL

Prajin dusts off city motorway project

Amornrat Mahitthirook

Transport Minister ACM Prajin Juntong has ordered authorities to put together a report on a long-delayed, third-stage expressway development project linking western Bangkok to the eastern motorway.

ACM Prajin said he has asked transport permanent secretary Soithip Traisuth and the Expressway Authority of Thailand (Exat) to collect everything they have on the scheme and submit it to him for consideration.

He said he needs a detailed report on the project to decide what to do with it.

"I passed by the area and wondered what these pillars were for. I didn't order a review of the scheme, just a report," he said.

ACM Prajin was referring to the pillars along Kaset-Navanim Road which were built by Exat more than a decade ago for the planned construction of part of a 42.9km expressway linking Bang Yai in western Bangkok to the eastern motorway project.

The pillars were built for the N2 section of the planned expressway which is set to pass Kasetsart University. The project did not come about due to strong opposition from Kasetsart University and several communities.

Kasetsart University students take part in a January 2013 ceremony to ordain trees, which could be felled if the Expressway Authority of Thailand presses ahead with an expressway construction project. The activity was part of a university protest against the project. APICHIT JINAKUL

A source familiar with the project said the Exat had conducted feasibility studies and environmental assessment impact studies for the expressway scheme.

A tunnel was proposed to alleviate concerns about the environment and pollution close to the university. However, no conclusion was reached.

The Transport Ministry's Traffic Policy and Planning Office was later instructed to study alternative projects. It came up with a 21.6-km monorail project linking Nonthaburi's Khae Rai and Bangkok's Min Buri area, said the source.

However, the monorail scheme is not part of the transport development master plan, the source said, adding more studies would be needed if it is to be regarded as a serious contender.

The source said the third-stage expressway is divided into three sections: N1 starts from Srirat expressway along Rattanathibet Road, passes Khae Rai intersection and connects to the Kaset intersection via Ngam Wong Wan Road; N2 starts from the Kaset intersection and runs along the Kaset-Navamin Road to Navamin Road; and N3 starts from Navamin Road and links to Serithai Road and Ramkhamhaeng Road and ends at the Bangkok-Chon Buri motorway.

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