Phuket needs better roads, Governor tells national commission

[webfact]

Phuket needs better roads, Governor tells national commission

The Phuket News

 

Phuket Govenror Norraphat Plodthing urged the national transport commission to expedite improvements to Thepkrasattri Rd and to push ahead with the B5.5 billion road from Phuket International Airport to Koh Kaew. Photo: PR Dept

 

PHUKET: Phuket Governor Norraphat Plodthong yesterday called for national government support to improve the state of Thepkrasattri Rd – formally regarded as Route 402 and easily Phuket’s busiest road – and for the budget to be expedited to carve the new B5.5 billion road from Phuket International Airport southwards through the heart of the island.

 

The call came at a meeting of the Commission for the Management of Land Traffic held in Nai Yang yesterday (Mar 26) to garner feedback for land transport infrastructure needs for the four Andaman coast provinces of Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi and Ranong.

 

Present at the meeting were Commission Chairman Lt Gen Jareasakanee Anupaph, Vice Chairman of the 1st Committee Wanchai Sarattultut, Vice Chairman of the 2nd Committee Admiral Yutthana Fakpholgnarn, and Vice Governors from Phang Nga, Krabi and Ranong.

 

Full story: https://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-needs-better-roads-governor-tells-national-commission-66529.php

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2018-03-27

[Chang_paarp]

3 minutes ago, webfact said:

Phuket needs better roads, Governor tells national commission

It aint just Phuket sunshine. 

[BigBadGeordie]

Geordie expat tells Governor "Buses/Thailand needs better drivers".

[Deli]

Phuket need less ( Chinese ) mass tourism and than existing roads would just be fine.

Only a dream

[Felt 35]

hmm...looking around I think we need more parks, walk paths and cycling lanes than roads

[the guest]

Phuket is a total mess! What it needs is alternative transport, Rail and a BTS. The Island must be loosing millions of baht every day in lost business and in tourists arriving only to get stuck in a large traffic jam. Welcome to Phuket !

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, the guest said:

Phuket is a total mess! What it needs is alternative transport, Rail and a BTS. The Island must be loosing millions of baht every day in lost business and in tourists arriving only to get stuck in a large traffic jam. Welcome to Phuket !

All the time money for "projects" gets skimmed off by the powers that be, nothing will change here............

 

How many hundreds of millions of baht have been allocated and supposedly spent on drains in Patong, for example?

The result is a drainage system which is inadequate and will soon be tested yet again when the rainy season gets here.

 

The wastewater treatment plant has been inadequate for years; sewage flows into the drains here and into the sea; buildings keep going up without any planning around infrastructure, whatsoever, thereby making the situation worse.

 

As long as the people at the top are getting their rake off, then nothing else matters, this especially when TAT are getting pats on the back for bringing in record number of tourists, many of which in Phuket/Patong do nothing more than spend minimal amounts, clog up the roads and are generally despised.

[Psimbo]

The roads are fine for the most part- it's the 'driving' that is at fault.

 

Cars double parked on main arteries, clapped out buses and trucks chugging over (or attempting to) hills, no lane or roundabout discipline, lack of basic driving skills,  food carts operating in the road, ghost riding- where do we stop?

 

Improve Thepkasattri by moving the 'monument to a fairytale' to the Thalang Battleground, install an underpass to take the Cherng Talay-Paklok traffic- the current system of having to use the U-turns is a massive bottleneck. The other week there was a ceremony at Heroines at peak traffic time in the morning- it's absolutely ridiculous.

 

Work out some way of clearing the Thalang bottleneck and the rest of the hwy would be in good shape now. Construct the Kathu-Kamala and Chalong-Patong routes to alleviate traffic. A second N-S highway would just become a speedway and rapidly blocked again with the problems highlighted in para 2.

 

Finally- proper enforcement of traffic laws (yes- I know it's not April the First yet) and tow trucks to clear illegally parked vehicles. Even Somchai will get the message after his vehicle has been towed 3 times.

Edited March 28, 2018 by Psimbo

[xylophone]

14 hours ago, Psimbo said:

The roads are fine for the most part- it's the 'driving' that is at fault.

 

Cars double parked on main arteries, clapped out buses and trucks chugging over (or attempting to) hills, no lane or roundabout discipline, lack of basic driving skills,  food carts operating in the road, ghost riding- where do we stop?

 

Improve Thepkasattri by moving the 'monument to a fairytale' to the Thalang Battleground, install an underpass to take the Cherng Talay-Paklok traffic- the current system of having to use the U-turns is a massive bottleneck. The other week there was a ceremony at Heroines at peak traffic time in the morning- it's absolutely ridiculous.

 

Work out some way of clearing the Thalang bottleneck and the rest of the hwy would be in good shape now. Construct the Kathu-Kamala and Chalong-Patong routes to alleviate traffic. A second N-S highway would just become a speedway and rapidly blocked again with the problems highlighted in para 2.

 

Finally- proper enforcement of traffic laws (yes- I know it's not April the First yet) and tow trucks to clear illegally parked vehicles. Even Somchai will get the message after his vehicle has been towed 3 times.

Nice ideas Psimbo.............but the reality is that they are just "dreams" (unless someone can get a big enough "rake-off").

[Psimbo]

3 hours ago, xylophone said:

Nice ideas Psimbo.............but the reality is that they are just "dreams" (unless someone can get a big enough "rake-off").

Yep- in dream terms it's right up there with the 'tunnel believers'!

 

Cementing my comment about drivers I came back from Cherng Talay about 1130 and Somchai's 'dream to be first' go-faster Yaris was in bits in front of the Muslim Cemetery in Kamala-  looking at the damage the other driver (not seen) must have been in a state.

 

Ever since the road has been widened along there it has become a black spot and supports my dislike of another N-S artery. Most Thai drivers struggle with the 'Fantasea turn'  coming south as well, often drifting from the offside into the inside lane right across the bows of cars navigating it correctly.