The Siem Reap Provincial Authority’s plans to widen National Road 6A to a dual carriageway to improve traffic flow will begin in October, according to Bun Tharith, Deputy Governor and spokesman for Provincial Hall.

“To avoid any traffic jams, we have to make the road bigger than before,” he said. The provincial authority’s first step will be to widen the national highway in front of Psar Leu, and the second step will start from the Royal Residence Bridge bridge to the Chong Kasou bus station. “We will start our work in October, after the raining season, and maybe spend one year to finish it,” Bun Tharith said.

The Siem Reap Provincial Authority has several plans for road widening, and in April next year work will start on construction of a new bridge next to the existing Royal Residence Bridge, and to widen the road from the bridge to the crossroads next to Sokha Angkor Resort. In April this year, Siem Reap residents were angry when a local newspaper reported that the Siem Reap Director of Public Works and Transport Department, Kim Bunna said some big trees along both sides of the road would be cut down to facilitate road widening.

But Governor Khim Bun Song quickly responded and vowed to save the splendid avenue of trees. He said it was not necessary to cut down the trees as authorities now have a role to protect and conserve trees. Meanwhile, the beautification of the downtown district is now well underway, with parking provision being a priority in the Old Market and Pub Street areas. Also tourist walks have been created along Sivutha Boulevard – this involved the hacking down of many ‘illegal’ signs for commercial properties. Many business owners said they were stunned to discover their footpath-cluttering signs had been removed without notice, but the authorities said most businesses were in fact given a week’s notice which they chose to ignore.