Chiang Rai - R1152 The Other New 4-lane Highway To Chiang Khong.

[DavidFL]

Returning from Hell City I took a wrong turn & ended up on the 1326, so time to take another look at the missing link from Sop Pao, that goes around behind Phaya Mengrai. AH3 / R1421 is the road. (Aren't they all AH3?)

It was like this in October 2020, 7 months ago.

On 23 April 2021

soon to be gone.

On google earth location here: 19°52'56.3"N 100°08'28.9"E

This put you on R1421, that links up with R1174 & the road to the new bridge across the Ing.
The missing link at the other end on google earth is here: 19°53'02.3"N 100°09'34.1"E
A distance of 1.9 kms to do.

The end on the other side 19°53'02.3"N 100°09'34.1"E

Looking east towards R1174, the Ing in the distance

The bridge over the Ing 19°53'36.4"N 100°14'54.7"E

 

[Heineken]

This 1st photo below was taken on the 4th of September 2020 and we were discussing why the road had not proceeded onwards towards Chiang Rai, we thought maybe still acquiring the land ?


Fast forward 8 x months until 4th of May 2021 and here is the progress, see the last 2 x photos, taken from the exact same spot as lastyear ......................you can see they are going full steam ahead


Going by what the foreman "Mot" who is working on the bridgeworks over the Nong Luang lake told me I would not be surprised if this new highway #1421 is fully completed and open in August 2022 ?

 

[Heineken]

After seeing David's post from lastweek I thought it was time for Heineken to go and revisit this new highway #1421 and check out progress for myself, I had a look around starting from hwy #1020, the main highway from Thoeng to Chiang Khong


This photo is from the bridge over the Ing River looking towards Phu Chi Fa, they dont get much straighter roads than this, and its very tempting not to twist the throttle and go ............................the bonus is there are no cross roads on this stretch of highway, there are a couple of U turns though so keep that in mind if your throttle sticks wide open

I was curious as to what the small buildings were that are getting built near the Ing River, well it turns out they are just Sala's (rest area), two on each side of the highway, aswell as copious amounts of parking for trucks etc. The Sala's are quite large and will come in handy in a thunderstorm, you could ride your bike up under the Sala for shelter

Here is a photo of the Ing River under the new bridge, as you can see no water flowing atm, ill go back in a few months in the wet season and see the river flowing

These photos below are from the new highway #1421 crossing highway #1174 at Ban Lao looking towards Chiang Rai (there are traffic lights here, with barricades preventing you to enter the lhs lane, rhs has an access point), crushing plants are working here, aswell as Excavators, some with rock breakers, working on removing this hill and using the material for construction further along the highway

The photo below is an excavator placing the concrete pipes under a crossover being built which will be the access point to the land owners property, I dare say there will need to be quite a few of these as alot of this highway cuts right through farming land.......................

 

[Heineken]

A few days ago I called in to check progress on the bridge over Nong Luang lake, its amazing how much the worksite changes over the 3 or 4 week period


They have also made ramps so they can now access the top of the bridge via motor vehicles, there was a few work vehicles on the top of the bridge aswell as a crane truck, no one said a word when Heineken rode his X-Max onto the bridge for a few photos, just got a wave from a few of the workers


As you can see they are building a concrete staircase on eachside of the bridge so you can go down to the edge of the lake from the walkways, huge supports going into the construction design

 

[Heineken]

BRIDGE UPDATE

A few days ago I called in again to check progress on the bridge over Nong Luang lake


It looks like the major bridge construction has been completed, one side of the bridge you can actually ride over, just have to be careful as some expansion joints are not complete and there is a drop of about 5 or 6"...................................as usual no one said a word to me as I rode on the bridge, I always make sure to wave to anyone looking, just in case


Earlier on we were discussing whether there will be an intersection, bypass or flyover over at the hwy#1152, well it looks like there will be an intersection controlled by traffic lights, they are currently making concrete aprons eachside of the 1152, about 50m on eachside of concrete, and the 1152 is getting widened to allow for the intersection with lanes to go in either direction.

 

[DavidFL]

Nice work Gavin. Many thanks.

 

[Ian Bungy]

Awesome. there will be lots of fast options on Roads to get up and see You Guys, they just keep coming with the new Highways. Great photos Heineken!

 

[DavidFL]

A GPS track & google earth view.

Chiang Rai - Chiang Khong via the Chiang Saen bypass is still quickest for me.
Note on the lower CR - Khun Tan section, I did not ride all the new bypass, but stuck to what you can do in a car unrestricted at the moment, with no barriers to ride around.

 

[Ian Bungy]

We rode both routes last time we came to Chiang Kong for the Pre-Christmas Dinner. Fantastic Roads. Google Maps also claims the Chiang Saen Bypass is the fastest way.

 

[DavidFL]

We rode both routes last time we came to Chiang Kong for the Pre-Christmas Dinner. Fantastic Roads. Google Maps also claims the Chiang Saen Bypass is the fastest way.

Yes it will be damn interesting. Once the new Wiang Chai - Phayamengrai section is done that should be a fast blast too, & perhaps a tad shorter.
The issue with the "southern" route is R1020 & all the villages & dogs along the way for 40 kms.
You don't seem to have that issue so much going via the "northern" short cut.

 

[Heineken]

Yes it will be damn interesting. Once the new Wiang Chai - Phayamengrai section is done that should be a fast blast too, & perhaps a tad shorter.
The issue with the "southern" route is R1020 & all the villages & dogs along the way for 40 kms.
You don't seem to have that issue so much going via the "northern" short cut.

The intersection of the new highway and the #1020 when completed is only 4 of 5km from the Airport bypass road in Chiang Rai, that section of the #1020 has already been upgraded to 4 lanes...........................the design of the highway network is to get the truck traffic south so they will be turning onto the Airport bypass road and heading down onto hwy #1

 

[Heineken]

A few days ago I took a detour to check progress on #1421, I got on the new highway #1421 at the intersection #1152 and headed over the bridge over the lake that is now finished, with elaborate covers over the street lights ..........................................I would say that this highway should be fully open in a few months................................once you head over the bridge the new road is all completed and sealed except for a small section where they had built a small bridge over a creek, they were doing the approaches when I was there so wont be long.


I stopped to take a few photos and was approached by one of the workers, I thought I might get in trouble, nope, quite the opposite, he showed me where to go to get around the bridge, a small gravel bypass road........................................from there I followed the new road all the way to the #1020 intersection, all which has been upgraded to dual carriageway (this road goes past the Santiburi Golf Course)

 

[DavidFL]

Fantasti

A few days ago I took a detour to check progress on #1421, I got on the new highway #1421 at the intersection #1152 and headed over the bridge over the lake that is now finished, with elaborate covers over the street lights ..........................................I would say that this highway should be fully open in a few months................................once you head over the bridge the new road is all completed and sealed except for a small section where they had built a small bridge over a creek, they were doing the approaches when I was there so wont be long.


I stopped to take a few photos and was approached by one of the workers, I thought I might get in trouble, nope, quite the opposite, he showed me where to go to get around the bridge, a small gravel bypass road........................................from there I followed the new road all the way to the #1020 intersection, all which has been upgraded to dual carriageway (this road goes past the Santiburi Golf Course)

Fantastic. I wonder what the travel time to / from Chiang Rai will be now when it is finished.

 

[Heineken]

Update 1st of August 2022


I had a bit of spare time on Monday so checked out the progress of the highway #1421, I got on the new highway from the existing highway #1152 which will be a controlled intersection with traffic lights, all completed already, just no traffic lights installed at this stage, concrete barriers stop vehicles entering at the moment, but there is a few entry points accessible at the moment, mainly for Heinekens benefit I presume


First photos are from the #1152 heading towards Phaya Mengrai, I never did a kilometre check but maybe about 10km nearly completed, the overpass near the big Pharmaceutical building is all finished, go another few kilometres and they are still constructing 2 big culverts to allow water under the highway.....................Interesting the highway after the 2nd culvert was getting bitumen laid for about 3 or 4km and then this dual carriageway comes to a dead end


Yep a complete stop, no earthworks past this point, dont know why, maybe still land acquisition ?.........................................another suggestion maybe bridgeworks for the new railway line, Time will tell I suppose

Beautiful weather on Monday and I couldn't resist a few photos of the rice fields, just stunning imo this time of year

This next lot of photos are taken heading from the highway #1152 to highway #1020, past the Santiburi Golf Course, this section is now completely finished, infact I cant see why this section cannot be opened ?.......................................from the #1152 there used to be a few intersections, these are now not there, you can still enter the new highway #1421 but have to go with the direction of traffic until a U turn point if you need to go the opposite direction, better than traffic lights for the trucks Imo

 

[DavidFL]

Another confirmation R1421 is all done, all asphalt, but the barriers are still up, partially blocking traffic. Drive around the barriers and away you go.

Mid way there's a barrier where you need to change sides and just keep on going, but be mindful of other traffic that maybe oncoming.

Cheers. Enjoy the ride. The roads are getting better and faster.