25th SEA Games, Laos

The SEA Games Transportation Committee on Tuesday announced transport arrangements for the event.

Committee representative Mr Chanxay Vinavong said traffic arrangements need to be implemented to facilitate transportation during the games, particularly on the days of the opening and closing ceremonies.

“Those days in particular will involve a lot of traffic as it is expected at least 20,000 people will attend so we hope to minimise disruptions and make transport more convenient for everyone.”

The committee reported that all delegations, officials and athletes participating in the opening and closing ceremonies on December 9 and 18 should use Lane Xang Avenue Kaysone Phomvihane Avenue, the Dongdok road and Road 13 South to get to the National Stadium before parking in a designated parking lot.

Spectators coming from the north should travel through Tanmixay village in Xaythany district, and take the newly constructed road to the Udomphon junction where they should turn right onto Road 10 before turning left at Dontiew water tank onto the new road.

This will take them to the Viengving parking area in front of the National Stadium.

People coming from the south should travel to the stadium via central Vientiane . They should turn left at Km21 and pass through Khoksa-ard, Nakhuay and Huakhua junctions or Khoksa-ard, Ban Xok, Xamkhe, and Vangxai junctions, and Nongnieng and Huakhua villages to enter Vientiane .

They can also turn right at Km19 through Dongbang and Ladkhuay to Udomphon junction, drive along the new road until Tanmixay junction and then carry on until they reach central Vientiane .

Mr Chanxay said that parking areas are available for all vehicles outside the stadium.

Vientiane Traffic Police and Fire Fighting Division Chief, Lieutenant Colonel Salong Seng-Athid, said the traffic arrangements will help to reduce traffic jams during the games.

“I'd like to ask people to follow these arrangements on the days of the ceremonies. Traffic will be the same as usual on days without big matches at the main stadium.”

The committee plans to install directions to assist motorists.


By Souknilundon Southivongnorath

The 25 SEA Games in Vientiane is approaching, and all the sport avenues are now almost ready to welcome all guests. Check out photostream of SEA Games sport complex located at KM 16, Vientiane, Laos















More photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/laostadium/

(KPL) The Lao National Train Authority (LNTA) plans to increase two more rail trips daily on the train schedule service between Thanaleng?s Vientiane Capital and Nongkhai province, Thailand, following the increase in the number of passengers, said Chief of the Thanaleng Train Station Mr Phouttavanh Sonthavong, last week.
He added that the increment of the train trips was aimed at coping with the number of arrivals during the 25th SEA Games.

At present, almost 10,000 passengers a day take the train, said Mr Phouttavanh, Selling direct train tickets at the Thanaleng train station is an increasing factor of passengers. This service was attracting local passengers, he said.
So far, a train with two bogies has been availed for passengers but now it added more one bogie, he said.

In the near future, there will be more facilities set up at the station such as ATM, warehouse and restaurants.

The plan of increasing two more trips of train service is expected to be operational at the end of this year or before the 25th SEA Games.

Transport officials have confirmed the construction of roads to be used during the SEA Games to be held in Laos in December will be finished on schedule.

Contractors would add more machinery and work longer both day and night on some jobs that must be done before the rainy season.

So far 52 percent of the four-lane road linking Don Noun junction to the new national stadium in Vientiane 's Xaythany district has been completed.

Head of the capital's SEA Games road project, Mr Noulot Latxaphong, said asphalt sealing work was 70 percent complete and would be finished by the start of next month.

He said land levelling was mostly completed. Footpaths, traffic islands and light installations were next on the drawing board.

“The rainy season will not pose any challenges for us. But the most important thing we must do is get the asphalting done as other jobs can be done during the rainy season.”

The four-lane 21-metre wide road will stretch for 4.5km and will be paved with 5-cm-thick asphalt, with a lifespan of 10 years.

The road is expected to be complete by September, three months before the SEA Games start. The road, valued at US$3.7 million, is being built by the government with a loan from the Republic of Korea .

Meanwhile, construction of the six-lane 450 Year Road linking Dongdok Road to the Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge in Dongphosy village, Hadxaifong district, has seen progress.

The contractor has agreed to focus on completion of a 4-km section to ease the flow of traffic during the SEA Games.

The main work for this road at the moment is land levelling and drainage installation, followed by paving.

The 450 Year Road is a result of the government's policy to improve access to rural areas, coinciding with the 450th anniversary of Vientiane as the capital of Laos in 2010.

Construction costs for the 33m-wide 20.3km-long road are expected to total US$37.59 million. It is set for completion on October 30, 2010.

Phontong is another road planned for completion ahead of the SEA Games.

The 90 billion kip (US$11million) road is 23 percent complete.

Project Manager Kounsombath Feaymanivong said the 12m-wide and 8.9km-long concrete road will be ready in October.

“From now on we will pave at least 100m a day. Now we're laying concrete at Mittaphab Hospital ,” he said.

“The rain is not a challenge for us, but our biggest problem is the overlapping between our project and other projects such as water pipes, which means pipes have had to be dug up.”

By Times Reporters
vientianetimes

ORGANIZERS of the 25th Southeast Asian Games in Laos, which will be hosting the games for the first time, said they need at least two more months to complete the construction of the venues and other facilities.

This was according to Deputy Prime Minister and chairman of the 25th SEA Games Organizing Committee Somsavat Lengsavad and senior LNSC officials following an ocular inspection they conducted on the main stadium, the golf course, the main access roads and the Athletes’ Village.

Work was supposed to be finished by March, but according to the Games’ official Web site, the Chinese and Korean companies involved in the construction work are having a difficult time completing the job at the main venue in the Saythany district.

The foreign contractors said the delay was caused by several factors, one of which is the dry summer season, which is not suitable for growing grass inside the football stadium. The grass will only be planted in June, which is the start of the rainy season.

Also, the land around the golf course have yet to be cleared because “some people have yet to leave their homes to make way for the construction.”

Lao Golf Federation president Songkham Silaphets said the course would be completed in May, “as long as plans don’t change.”

Meanwhile, the access road is reportedly 75 percent complete and will be landscaped by May, while engineers from the two companies said it is also difficult to dig drainage channels and install electricity around the main stadium and other venues, prompting Somsavat to ask the Ministry of Public Works and Transport committee to cooperate with the contractors regarding these problems.

More than 400 Lao workers are involved in the construction at a cost of more than $100 million.

A ceremony to hand over the stadium to the Lao government will take place in September.

The 25 events of the 2009 SEA Games to be held in Vientiane in December will be scattered around the eight stadiums. Peter Atencio

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