Phahonyothin Traffic Nightmare to Get Worse for Three Years

The Italian-Thai Development PCL breaks ground on construction of the Green Line on Oct. 16 in Bangkok. Photo: MRT Green Line (North) Project / Facebook

BANGKOK — Parts of Phahonyothin Road in front of CentralPlaza Lardprao will shut down starting tonight for construction of the Green Line Skytrain extension until the work is finished – in just over three years.

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Considered one of the busiest and most gridlocked roads in Bangkok, Phahonyothin will be impacted by the construction of a station at Soi Phahonyothin 24 beginning at 10pm tonight until Feb. 9,  2019, according to the metropolitan transit authority.

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Individual lanes will be rotated out of service during the construction period. The innermost outbound lane from Central Ladprao to Soi Phahonyothin 21 will be closed tonight through Dec. 20. From Dec. 21 to Jan. 13, the inner lane on the inbound side will close.


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Full construction begins in earnest starting Jan. 14, when barriers will be installed blocking the outermost lanes in both directions until the station foundations are completed, which the government agency hopes will be by Feb. 9, 2019.

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Approved in 2008, the Green Line extension will connect BTS Mo Chit to Saphan Mai. Unlike the existing Sukhumvit and Silom lines, the Green Line won’t be operated by the Bangkok Mass Transit System Public Co. Ltd., instead the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority will manage it directly.

As it will run overhead, people will likely refer to it using the catch-all of “BTS.”