Before the 27 new city buses arrive
Yangyel Lhaden
If all goes as planned, North Thimphu residents would forget all the inconveniences caused by the ongoing road expansion works between Jungshina and the Bhutan Telecom office in Chubachhu.
Construction of the four-lane road that has irked commuters will be completed by October and it will link North and South Thimphu to the rapid bus transit route that the Thromde is working on. Linking the road to the two other four-lane roads, Doebum (swimming pool road) – Chubachhu and Jungshina-Taba, will not only ease the traffic flow, but will also improve public transport.
Thimphu Thromde’s chief engineer, Yeshi Wangdi, said the four lane was dedicated for city buses to improve public transport in the city. “Currently, buses are stuck in traffic jams, and with more city buses coming to Thimphu it would worsen the traffic without a dedicated lane.”
The City Bus Service has ordered 27 buses, which are expected to reach Thimphu by October end.
Yeshi Wangdi said the thromde was hoping to complete the four-lane road during the pandemic as they expected reduced traffic. The delay in import of hume pipes for drainage from India hampered the work other than disturbances caused by the traffic and underground cable lines.
Yeshi Wangdi said all major works on the Chubachhu- Jungshina are completed with the construction of footpaths and drains ongoing.
He said, after monsoon, blacktopping of the road would be carried out.
Thimphu thromde started the four-lane road construction project in May , last year with a financial aid of Nu 150 million from the Government of India (GoI).
Druk school- Changbangdu road
Meanwhile, the Thromde has started working on the 1.3 kilometre double-lane road from Druk School till Changbangdu.
The construction of the road began in 2019 to be completed in four months.
Thromde’s engineer Ngawang Tashi who was involved in the project said the thromde could complete some stretch of road formation, drain cutting, and about 70 percent work of laying cable ducts underground in 2019. Construction came to a halt after a landowner who owns two plots of land refused to pool or contribute land to the thromde.
“The land pooling issue is resolved and we will complete construction of Changbangdu road within this fiscal year,” said Yeshi Wangdi. Other road improvements around the thromde will also be carried out once the budget is finalised by August.
Road improvement works includes improvement of the Motithang double-turning road, road above the doctor’s colony, the old highway around Babesa and IT park.