The Provincial Electricity Authority’s project to modernize the Pattaya’s power grid has run smack into the city’s ancient remnants as it digs up Walking Street.
The PEA’s plan was to continue work begun on Beach Road to dig a new trench, lay power and communications lines in a sealed tube and patch the street back up. It hasn’t worked out so easily.
Unlike Beach Road, which has been dug up and rebuilt a half-dozen times since 2003, Walking Street has remained largely untouched for two decades. Now, as the PEA tries to lay new underground lines, it has to contend with 20-year-old water pipes that aren’t even in use anymore.
Furthermore, Walking Street – technically the southernmost end of 1st Road, which is Beach Road’s legal name – isn’t the same width from end to end. Toss in some old trees and the PEA’s schedule for completing the job has been shredded.
The utility is now seeking permission to yank out the disused 1.2-meter-wide pipes and clear enough room to lay the conduit pipes and work with phone and cable companies to get all their lines lined up.
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