BANGKOK – Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sitthiphan said that improving sidewalks is one of the city’s development priorities, and they will be ready for the Songkran celebration in April.
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has been confirmed to have improved the sidewalks for 48 districts (another two districts do not have pavements that need to be repaired), a total of 58 routes and 56 kilometres, with a budget of 441 million baht and a 30-540-day improvement period.
According to development standards, they are removing street furniture obstructions, making the footpaths smooth, clean, bright, safe, environmentally friendly, and equipped with CCTV cameras.
However, recently, the Pleunchit pavement renovation has become difficult due to the large number of people walking and motorcyclists riding illegally on the pavement. As a result, certain completed sections appear old quickly.
Meanwhile, the sidewalk of Lang Suan Road has unclean and difficult-to-manage hawker stalls, while Ratchadamri Road requires officials to remove waste from water intake lines and cover the floor.
Some points remain unprocessed because they belong to another agency. As a result, they must wait before handing over the land to Bangkok’s management.
The Bangkok Governor stated that once the sidewalks have been renovated, the BMA will ask a group of wheelchair users to test them out before approving work. By the end of March, it should be ready to welcome Thai and foreign tourists who will visit Bangkok during the Songkran festival in April.
On Friday, Chadchart and the BMA officers met with Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and relevant agencies, including the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Transport, and Royal Thai Police, to discuss and accelerate Bangkok’s development at Bangkok City Hall.
Chadchat said that) many governments have previously launched large projects to improve public transport, such as the Orange Line, Yellow Line, Pink Line, and Purple Line, but the challenge is how to bring people who leave their homes to the train station conveniently.
“What we are working on is that, in the meanwhile, Bangkok has created pedestrian paths so that people may pass smoothly. Within four years, 1,700 kilometres of enhanced pedestrian walkways will be constructed to connect the vehicle system in the motorcycle taxi alley to the main transportation networks. This is a long-term system that combines multiple traffic disciplines and uses technology to control traffic signals. We will see actual outcomes starting this year,” he said.
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