Residents of Banglamung’s Sak Ngaew neighborhood are opposing a planned extension of Highway 7 that cuts their village in half, placing most of its 100 homes under the elevated roadway.
At an Aug. 10 public hearing at Pattaya’s Discovery Beach Hotel, neighborhood spokesman Sompong Kanjanaprapat said that unless changes are made to the proposed route, the villagers will sue to block its construction.
“The highway will greatly affect Sak Ngaew, as it cuts right through the middle of the neighborhood, the market and Ban Sak Ngaew clinic,” Sompong said. “When we first opposed to plan, the Department of Highways claimed to solve the problem by building the roadway over the neighborhood. But the department doesn’t realize the suffering that will be caused by noise and pollution, as well the mental impact of having to live under a bridge.”
Sak Ngaew residents voice their opposition to the proposed extension of Highway 7 that would cut their village in half.
The Bangkok-Chonburi Expressway project would extend the popular highway to the busy Maptaput Industrial Estate, giving logistics companies and exporters a shorter, faster route between Laem Chabang Port and the capital. As proposed, the highway would run from Pattaya through the west side of Mabprachan Reservoir, Huay Yai, Sak Ngaew, the eastern side of the Mabfakthong Reservoir, across Rural Road No. 331, the eastern side of Khao Chi-Aon, Ban Chang area and terminate at kilometer marker 192 on Highway 3.
Approximately 1,950 rai of land would be appropriated by the government and 356 buildings would be affected, project manager Nirat Tansawat said.
Design and survey work got underway in June and is not expected to be completed until next May. Nirat said that while the end points of the highway extension cannot be changed, “that doesn’t mean that the route cannot be adjusted to avoid affecting people.”
Nirat said the dispute over Highway 7’s planned Sak Ngaew section is a known issue and that the Highway Department has been working with residents to find a resolution.
Sompong, however, said the community was initially presented three proposed routes, two of which residents found preferable to the one ultimately chosen. However, he said, planners dismissed their concerns and offered no explanation why the alternate routes were rejected, saying only that the third plan was “most appropriate.”
Nirat said public hearings like this one will ultimately help solve the issue, as they help the Highway Department disseminate the correct information and allow planners to gather community feedback. He said the problem would continue to be addressed at the next meeting.
