Chiang Mai’s Growing Pains: a closer look at the challenges of city planning

by Tus Werayutwattana

 

 

“Nimmanhaemin Road will be the next place with a bicycle lane,” announced Poonsawat Vorawan, former Deputy Mayor of Public Works, Chiang Mai Municipality in Citylife’s August 2001 issue on city zoning.

 

Our cityscape has changed dramatically since the turn of the millennium, though not all according to plan, obviously. Seeing that we are still suffering from growing pains and remain in the midst of great, though haphazard, changes and expansions, we thought we would take a look as to how intentions and plans mentioned in the 2001 article have been realised…or discarded, and what is going on with the city plan today.

 

The biggest topic at the time of that early article was the proposed underpasses along the Superhighway and the proposal’s vociferous protesters, who did manage to halt all but the airport overpass in favour of more discreet looking underpasses. The second ring road was also being built at the time and the third was a proposal awaiting approval. The article mentioned a confusing lack of clarity in which different roads came under the responsibility of different departments, a problem that hasn’t changed. Chang Klan Road was, and still is, having a hard time tidying up its Night Bazaar street vendors, the tedious public transportation and songtaew conflicts are an ongoing saga, Mae Kha Canal is still the stinking cesspool various elected bodies have been claiming to try to clean up for years. Sixteen years later Chiang Mai has grown exponentially, yet has there been any development?

 

Visionary Founders

 

We shouldn’t be in the mess we are in. Seven hundred years ago our forefathers gave much forethought to city planning. As explored in our July 2017 story, Do We Have a Flood Problem? King Mengrai founded the city with great deliberation, placing the moated city to the east of the mountain with plenty of natural reservoirs acting as buffer between any potential runoffs from Doi Suthep-Pui (concreted and covered, the damaging floods of last May were exactly what Mengrai was trying to avoid). The city was also buffered from any potential overflowing of the Ping River with its network of natural canals, importantly the Mae Kha Canal which runs parallel to the Ping. Poor planning and sheer ignorance over the past half century have led to the blockage of these canals in favour of road systems.

 

Full Story: http://www.chiangmaicitylife.com/citylife-articles/chiang-mais-growing-painsa-closer-look-challenges-city-planning-2/

 

-- © Copyright Chiang City News 2018-1-11

 

 

As an everyday-cyclist I can only say: "Don't repeat the nonsense of building bicycle lanes like along the canal road!" They are completely useless for cyclists but most convenient only for lottery vendors, BBQ sellers, motorbikes going the opposite direction, and customers of local shops using them as parking space. They even make life for cyclists more dangerous due to customers of these makeshift vendors who stop the car on the left lane of the road to buy things, so the cyclists even need to pass them on the middle lane of this busy road. Not to mention the stainless steel bollards, standing closer to each other than the width of many MTB handle bar ends, and of no benefit at all (except beneficiaries in their supply chain of course ...).
This bicycle lane is a good example for "well meant - if at all - is the opposite of well done", designed without a clue of cycling.
Get real!

I wonder if the Electricity and Water co.are / have planned for the great 

amount of building going on in Chiang Mai, all those Condo's sprouting

up like mushrooms,housing estates,Malls,are all going to need a supply

of electricity and water,Condos will all have pumps forcing water to high 

floors,while sometimes our water supply the pressure is low,in last few

weeks going off completely,sometimes all day. 

 

But I am sure they have a long term plan for utilities,well into the future,,,,,,,,won't they ? 

regards worgeordie

We live on 121 between 1317 and 1006.  Ten years ago there was nothing out here but 2 other housing complexes, and acres and acres of rice paddies.  The rice paddies are gone, replaced with half a dozen housing complexes, major home improvement stores, 7-11's and everything else you can think of.  It's getting crowded out here now.  

I go to Chiang Mai every year and this time I found the traffic simply ridiculous. It took me forever to get anywhere due to constant traffic lights and traffic jams. I felt like I was back in Bangkok. One thing that did impress me though was how many on bikes wore helmets. I'd never noticed in previous years but this time there must have been about 90% wearing  them.

City planning???

If it exists it is rather well hidden, certainly in the day to day life in and around...

25 minutes ago, alien365 said:

I go to Chiang Mai every year and this time I found the traffic simply ridiculous. It took me forever to get anywhere due to constant traffic lights and traffic jams. I felt like I was back in Bangkok. One thing that did impress me though was how many on bikes wore helmets. I'd never noticed in previous years but this time there must have been about 90% wearing  them.

many police checkpoints around town :)

I find one of the biggest pains is the fact that the ring roads like the Superhighway and Canal Road, and the arterial roads like Hang Dong Road (as well as the rest of the traffic signals in Chiangmai) are not equipped with any Intelligent Traffic System. 

 

This would allow synchronisation of traffic signals and ease traffic flow according to volume and density, rather than the simple  time based system which holds everyone up at crossroads for 90 seconds upwards. Introduction of alternatives like roundabouts and alterations to the ludicrous U turns every few hundred metres would also help.

 

Just looking forward to the traffic disruption once they start closing lanes and implementing diversions to build the Chiangmai Light Rail!

15 hours ago, rebo said:

As an everyday-cyclist I can only say: "Don't repeat the nonsense of building bicycle lanes like along the canal road!" They are completely useless for cyclists but most convenient only for lottery vendors, BBQ sellers, motorbikes going the opposite direction, and customers of local shops using them as parking space. They even make life for cyclists more dangerous due to customers of these makeshift vendors who stop the car on the left lane of the road to buy things, so the cyclists even need to pass them on the middle lane of this busy road. Not to mention the stainless steel bollards, standing closer to each other than the width of many MTB handle bar ends, and of no benefit at all (except beneficiaries in their supply chain of course ...).
This bicycle lane is a good example for "well meant - if at all - is the opposite of well done", designed without a clue of cycling.
Get real!

Built by people who have never ridden a bike in the area.. 

“Nimmanhaemin Road will be the next place with a bicycle lane,”

Nothing against bicyclists, but the concept of placing bike lanes on the existing roads is akin to trying to shovel 10 kg of horse manure into a 5 kg sack.  The 'bike lane' on Thapae is a perfect example.  You have a congested two lane, one way road with a lane for parking. You paint a strip down the road segmenting a bike lane and leaving 1 and 1/2 lanes for vehicle traffic.  What happens is that Thais, who already don't really give a hoot about the painted lines in the road primarily because the police do not enforce any right-of-way laws such as issuing citations for not maintaining a lane - well, then nobody cares about those artificial painted lines in the road at all. And to be honest, you can't worry about them because there literally is nowhere else to drive except by driving in the demarcated 'bike lane' if traffic is going to flow with any reasonable efficiency.  Thapae on a good day is a mess.  So until the police enforce laws regarding maintaining lanes and enforcing right-of-ways laws, any new artificial line in the road is just that - so much paint on the road.  Nobody will care.  It may be a reason to charge someone in the event of an accident with a bicycle after the fact, but it will mean nothing on a day to day basis to virtually any driver.  To be honest, they should try putting in real sidewalk that pedestrians can use to keep from walking on the road first and foremost.  Clear sidewalks without trees planting in the middle of them, or sign post, or utility poles, or other items that blocks a pedestrian from being able to use it instead of being forced into the road.  They kill about 4x more pedestrians than they do bicyclists, so I"m thinking 'real' sidewalks that are constructed so people with disabilities can use them too would be at the top of a infrastructure revision list. And construct bicycle lanes on the newly constructed roads, like dedicated bike paths separated from vehicle traffic by cement retaining walls on the new segments of Highway 11 would be a good start.

Make a normal side walk first on Nimman , now it is already a digrase for the cities uptown shopping / dining street.

 

Very interesting article: First time I learn that CM got a plan.....

They have a plan and more importantly they actually have a planning dept, I ASSUME , most of the time they are out for lunch then

6 hours ago, alant said:

City planning???

If it exists it is rather well hidden, certainly in the day to day life in and around...

 

24 minutes ago, Khun Paul said:

They have a plan and more importantly they actually have a planning dept, I ASSUME , most of the time they are out for lunch then

As I've said before, some enterprising mapmaker in Europe produced a map of Chiang Mai showing the MTR stops!   What a joke.  Even the bus stops are unused.

Most cyclists wearing helmets are farangs.

Motor cyclists almost never use a helmet after dark.

The street gutters are so filled with sand, turning to mud after each rain, that it's a real disgrace.  I have never seen a mechanical road sweeper in my years here.

Footpaths are breaking up more and more every week.The back streets are used as rubbish dumps and rats galore.

It might be the 2nd city, but more like a forgotten city.

7 hours ago, Classic Ray said:

Introduction of alternatives like roundabouts and alterations to the ludicrous U turns every few hundred metres would also help.

 

 

Would you really want to share a round about with the vast majority of Thais? Maybe if there were lights controlling everyone it wouldn't be so bad. I've used the roundabouts in Cambodia and Vietnam and didn't find it nice at all. 

Chiang Mai ......................................................... City Planning.

They just do not go together at all.

 

Money+Building - that goes very well together in Chiang Mai.

 

fix the intersection at Nimman and Huay Kaew in front of Maya Mall.. make it a safe crossing for pedestrians. build a fly over.  improve the almost non existent  bus service.. fix sidewalks, put utilities under ground.  enforce pollution and traffic laws, lol