Construction will begin by April on a $6 million, 400-meter-long elevated “sky bridge” in Phnom Penh, which will bypass the intersection of Norodom and Monivong boulevards at the Monivong Bridge, municipal officials said Monday.
Connecting the districts of Chamkar Mon and Meanchey, the 32-meter-wide bridge will add four lanes to the southern section of Norodom and was approved in December by the Council of Ministers, according to a Jan 26 letter signed by Municipal Governor Kep Chuktema.
According to schematics provided by the municipality, the bridge will do away with the roundabout at the western end of the Monivong Bridge. The new sky bridge on Norodom will pass over lanes feeding in and out of the new Monivong Bridge, which is currently being constructed adjacent to the current Monivong bridge.
“It is really necessary to create good traffic order at the area of the Monivong Bridge,” Kep Chuktema said at a City Hall meeting Monday.
The four-lane bridge will double the number of lanes on its section of Norodom Boulevard, said Touch Samnang, project manager for Overseas Cambodia Investment Corp, which will build the bridge. OCIC owns Canadia Bank.
Construction will last 12 months, Touch Samnang said, adding that the municipality will not pay for the construction as it is part of a larger agreement concerning Koh Pich island in the Tonle Bassac, where Canadia is building a satellite city.
Kep Chuktema told municipal officials at the meeting that they must contact families in both districts who will face possible eviction due to the construction of the bridge.
“Do not make the villagers feel upset,” he said. “All you people here need to announce the project to local villagers, then we need to compensate them.”
(Additional reporting by Tim Sturrock)
