The Highways Department has signed contracts to extend the Bangkok-Chon Buri motorway to reach the Map Ta Phut industrial estates of Rayong within four years.
Department representatives signed five of 13 contracts for the 31.2-kilometre-long extension project for Highway No.7 on Monday.
Witnessing the signing, Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said the cost of the extension from Pattaya to Map Ta Phut was estimated at 14.2 billion baht. The remaining eight contracts should be signed either by later this month or early next month and the extension should be completed within 2019, he said.
The new section of Thailand's first intercity motorway will have four lanes, four interchanges and three toll plazas with a closed-toll system. It should facilitate traffic flow significantly, the minister said.
He also said bidding for construction of two other intercity expressways would be organised in the middle of this year.
One is a 196km route from Bang Pa-in district of Ayutthaya province to Nakhon Ratchasima province, estimated at 84.6 billion baht, and the other will stretch 96km from Bang Yai district of Nonthaburi province to Kanchanaburi province.