As you may know work has started on the 118- 121 junction near Mae Kuang market planned for 2 years.  going to be a bit of a pain.

Looks rather neat though doesn't it? 

 

At least the 1367 HomePro road can take some of the strain away whilst they are doing the work I guess.  Shame they didn't budget to put underpasses on the 3rd ring road like they did on the second as it would have saved a lot of re-work time & expense.

Very strange design.  All those figure 8 merge points look very confusing for the average driver. The construction is going to be a major headache for those of us living off the 118 north of the 121.  I had no idea what was going on there.  Thanks sappersrest for all the details. 

It amazes me how they build rather semi-permanent buildings for the construction staff first and later tear them down, as they did at the 121/107 build.  They remained as derelict eyesores for some time. 

Sure hope someone has planned hiway signs with numbers.  But hey, i love all the neat colours on the maps.

1 hour ago, silverhawk_usa said:

Very strange design.  All those figure 8 merge points look very confusing for the average driver. The construction is going to be a major headache for those of us living off the 118 north of the 121.  I had no idea what was going on there.  Thanks sappersrest for all the details. 

It amazes me how they build rather semi-permanent buildings for the construction staff first and later tear them down, as they did at the 121/107 build.  They remained as derelict eyesores for some time. 

Have you seen how they do it in Bangkok? They build makeshift housing for hundreds of workers only a few meters away from the site (along the railroad tracks). They can literally roll out of bed and start work. It looks very dangerous to me. Partially built bridges with workers living/sleeping underneath them.

Any plans/timelines for when 121 will be all four lanes?

7 hours ago, JimGant said:

Any plans/timelines for when 121 will be all four lanes?

That should be a higher priority. 

That's the way I drive my kids to school, considering alternative routes, anyone know if the 11/1001 intersection is done yet? (I'm still on my escape-from-the-smoke trip)

 

1014 and 3013 to the East

1367 1001 to the West

Both will bypass the 118/121 junction

You can bet your boots traffic will increase on these routes

10 hours ago, junglechef said:

That's the way I drive my kids to school, considering alternative routes, anyone know if the 11/1001 intersection is done yet? (I'm still on my escape-from-the-smoke trip)

 

Yes, it's all finally finished. Big improvement to traffic flow. 

On 4/20/2018 at 4:53 PM, JimGant said:

Any plans/timelines for when 121 will be all four lanes?

approximately 2 years

I travel many times on the 121 and 118 and have never seen a serious traffic problem at the junction there. Why do it?  anyway it might improve things a bit but now 3/4 years of Hell.

18 hours ago, canthai55 said:

1014 and 3013 to the East

1367 1001 to the West

Both will bypass the 118/121 junction

You can bet your boots traffic will increase on these routes

I think you meant 3017, and I agree traffic will increase.  The problem is that the small downtown of Doi Saket, at one end, and Borsang, at the other, will not be able to handle this influx of traffic.  Recently they installed a traffic light at the 118 turn off for Doi Saket.  Where traffic previously entered town (where I live) a couple cars at a time, they are now released in a line of traffic all at once when the traffic light changes.  This already causes a backup of traffic in town in front of the ever busy 7-11, Lotus Express, and banks. 

The same can be said for the small 2 lane road past all the tourist venues in Borsang.
I see some major headaches in the future. 

4 hours ago, BobBKK said:

I travel many times on the 121 and 118 and have never seen a serious traffic problem at the junction there. Why do it?  anyway it might improve things a bit but now 3/4 years of Hell.

One of the major causes, in my opinion, of the traffic problems in Chiang Mai is their failure to be pro-active and plan for the future.  Although I dread the inconvenience of this new construction, it is now a necessary evil and will be even more necessary for the future as traffic will not get any less.  The recent improvements to intersections on the north side of town should have been done years ago. 

So they just finish the underpass and bridge reworks down from Central Festival, which went for what? Three years or four?

...and now they will start another? 

Ya just can't win in this city.

19 hours ago, CMMCB said:

Yes, it's all finally finished. Big improvement to traffic flow. 

Almost....still some work going on at the bridge and of course down by MAYA, but yes the underpass is complete. Already some noticeable improvement.

21 hours ago, silverhawk_usa said:

One of the major causes, in my opinion, of the traffic problems in Chiang Mai is their failure to be pro-active and plan for the future.  Although I dread the inconvenience of this new construction, it is now a necessary evil and will be even more necessary for the future as traffic will not get any less.  The recent improvements to intersections on the north side of town should have been done years ago. 

Yes I probably agree and i'm probably not recognizing enough that 4/5pm it does get very bad at that junction.

Do you work ? If not - pick the time you travel.

Doi Saket to Superhiway easy after 1000. And before 1500 for the return trip.

First two photos show before and after at  the traffic lights near Koolpuntvill 15 at Tha Rua market junction of 121 and 3013..

The third photo shows extent of complete works to 121