Rev. Michael Picharn Jaiseri
announces that the 15 million baht budget for a wheelchair-accessible
pedestrian bridge over Sukhumvit Road is slated to begin in 2016.
Jetsada Homklin
Construction of a wheelchair-accessible pedestrian bridge over Sukhumvit
Road is slated to begin in 2016, more than three years after it was first
proposed.
Rev. Michael Picharn Jaiseri, president of the Father Ray Foundation, said
June 18 that the 15 million baht budget for the bridge servicing the
Redemptorist School for Persons with Disabilities finally was approved and
bidding for a contractor should begin in 2016, followed shortly after by
construction.
School administrators called for the bridge as more than 300 disabled
students attend the facility, many of them needing to traverse the busy
highway. The Transport Ministry in January 2013 agreed to fund Thailand’s
first crossover bridge outfitted with elevators in the area to ensure their
safety.
The crossover was proposed as part of the planned project to construct a
traffic-bypass tunnel under Sukhumvit Road at Central Road. Repeatedly
delayed, that project finally secured funding from the Department of Rural
Roads, which earlier this year released the funds for the first three-year
phase of construction.
Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome announced with great fanfare April 3 that work on
the tunnel would begin this year. Quietly, that date - which followed
similar announced start dates in 2010, 2011 and 2012 - has slipped again at
least another 12 months.
While school officials painted a rosy picture about the construction
schedule for the crossover-bridge, Pattaya City Councilman Rattanachai
Sutidechanai warned there could be more delays.
The bridge is planned for the 145-kilometer marker on Sukhumvit. But
Rattanachai said if neighbors complain, work would have to stop and changes
implemented, delaying completion.
