Motorway to Kanchanaburi toll-free until Jan 3 to ease holiday traffic
In a bid to ease holiday traffic, motorists are being given free access to a 51-kilometre stretch of the Bang Yai-Kanchanaburi motorway from Wednesday.
The stretch will be toll-free for eight days during the New Year break.
Deputy Transport Minister Surapong Piyachote presided over a ceremony at the Highways Department to launch the free use of a section of Motorway No 81.
The toll-free section spans from the west Nakhon Pathom gate to the Kanchanaburi gate.
With this stretch open, motorists can reach Kanchanaburi from Nakhon Pathom in half an hour, compared to the hour and 10 minutes they normally spend driving on highways 4 and 323.
Surapong said that not only will this free access ease traffic, it will also boost tourism to Kanchanaburi.
The freebie lasts until January 3.
Piyapong Jiwattanakulpaisarn, deputy director-general of the Highways Department, said the 96km-long Motorway No 81 is 95.96% complete.
The BGSR Consortium secured the project under a public-private partnership model to design and build the motorway. Once the project has been completed, the consortium will operate it for 30 years.
The motorway, originating in Nonthaburi’s Bang Yai district, will feature eight gates and six rest areas across three locations.
The Highways Department has yet to select a company to build and operate the rest areas.
It is believed that granting free access to the 51km stretch will ease traffic from Nakhon Pathom to Kanchanaburi by 20% or about 9,000 vehicles should be using it daily, the department said.
