Five new toll booths on the Bangkok-Chonburi Motorway will be completed by August and could open after the start of next year.
Speaking to the Pattaya Business & Tourism Association at its Feb. 11 meeting at the Pattaya’s Grand Sole Hotel, Somnuk Wangamornmith, deputy director of the Office of Intercity Motorway Maintenance District 2, said the toll booths will be located in Ban Bung, Bangpra, Nongkham, Pong, and Pattaya.
Rates will be one baht per kilometer driven with a full drive from Pattaya to Chonburi doubling from the current 60 baht to 120 baht, he said.
Work continues, meanwhile, on extending Highway 7 to Rayong’s Maptaphut industrial estates. The Highways Department signed 13 contracts for the 31.2-kilometer extension, which will be complete by 2013. The estimated cost for the final section will be 14.2 billion baht.
Already begun construction to extend Highway 7 from Pattaya to Ban Chang and Laem Chabang Port has largely finished, Somnuk told the PBTA. Only utilities, including lighting, need to be done and already traffic congestion has improved.
