The Department of Highways (DoH) plans to implement 10 urgent policies, costing 131 billion baht, focusing on safety improvement for both road users and construction workers.
Director-General Piyapong Jiwattanakulpasal said the Transport Ministry had assigned the DoH to improve construction safety by implementing technology to improve workflow quality.
In response, Mr Piyapong said the DoH’s safety improvement policies would focus on road construction, communication networks, and public safety regarding road usage.
They include a detailed analysis of construction methodology while swiftly addressing some riskier points in road networks.
The ministry also ordered the DoH to strategically manage its 131 billion baht allocated from the fiscal budget.
The budget was divided into four main missions, with most focused on the communication and logistics development, worth 121 billion baht, or 92.4% of the total budget.
The rest would be used in human resource management (3.7%), competitiveness development (1.1%), and a cooperation project with the Eastern Economic Corridor (2.8%).
He said the DoH had announced 10 urgent policies for the 2026 fiscal year. They included speeding up the M6 and M81 construction projects to meet deadline.
The DoH planned to urgently expedite its budget acquisition, especially for some bidding projects and spending at the start of the fiscal year, to help stimulate the economy, he said.
Its plan also covers the Nakhon Pathom-Pak Tho motorway project, approved earlier by the cabinet.
The DoH also planned to upgrade the M-Flow payment system for easier use and would implement a Job Safety Analysis system for construction projects, he said.