I'll wait until Patong hill fully reopens before condeming Phuket. Cherngtalay and Chalong routes were taking a hammering with Patong diversion traffic and I suspect still are. Yep peak periods are nasty at the moment, but outside those times its pretty calm. In fact I did 18 minutes from boat lagoon to chalong yesterday at 8pm. (Yes we do have a 'highway' ;))
. That's as quick as its ever been. Its easy to moan about traffic, probably the same people that would moan if there wasn't modern conveniences, places to work, modern schools, water parks, malls etc. You have to expect crowds, you can't have one without the other. If you don't like that lifestyle, move to the countryside or an island with a bamboo shack and little else.