Fears Of Phuket Underpass Traffic Jams Prompt Alternative Routes Plan

[webfact]

Fears of Phuket underpass traffic jams prompt 'alternative routes' plan

Phuket Gazette

One of the suggestions for southbound traffic on the bypass road was to use the Bang Yai Rd detour behind Big C. Image: Google Earth

A computer-generated image of what the completed 600-million-baht underpass will look like two years from now. Image: Highways Dept

PHUKET: -- The Highways Department yesterday held a public meeting to suggest alternative routes for motorists to alleviate traffic congestion when construction of Phuket’s first underpass at the Darasamuth Intersection, in front of Central Festival Phuket shopping mall, begins next month.

The news came at a public meeting chaired by Phuket Vice Governor Sommai Prijasilpa at Wichit Municipality Office.

Present were representatives from the Department of Highways’ Bureau of Bridge Construction in Bangkok, the Phuket Highways Office, and the contractor for the 600-million-baht mega-project, Thailand’s largest construction firm Italian-Thai Development PLC.

“The Darasamuth Intersection underpass [construction project] will start in the middle of this coming October [next month]. The whole project will take approximately two years, or 720 days, to complete,” explained Phuket Highways Office Director Samak Luedwonghad.

“Once this project is complete, it can solve the traffic problems for both local residents as well as tourists. The traffic flow heading to Rawai, Promthep Cape and Patong will be much better,” he added.

Mr Samak expressed serious concern about traffic congestion while the project is underway.

“We expect traffic [around the construction project] to be 20 to 30 per cent worse than it currently is. Therefore, we have come up with alternative routes to propose to the public and to ask for their opinions,” he explained.

Three alternative routes presented to the public yesterday included for southbound traffic heading toward Patong, to turn right at the Samkong Intersection, in front of the Tesco Lotus mall about one kilometer north of the underpass project, and continue on to Kathu and Patong, as most southbound traffic already does.

Alternatively, motorists would be able to continue through the Samkong Intersection and make a u-turn in front of Phuket International Hospital and then turn left into Bang Yai Road, which runs behind the Big C shopping center.

Mr Samak explained that the u-turn, which is currently for ambulance access only, would be re-opened fully to allow regular traffic to use it.

For southbound traffic heading toward Chalong, it was suggested that motorists turn left at the Tesco Lotus intersection onto Yaowarat Road, and continue right through the heart of Phuket Town.

Motorists would exit the downtown area by turning right onto Bangkok Road. From there, they would continue straight through the Slaughterhouse Intersection onto Wirat-Hongyok Road and rejoin the bypass road at the already-busy Naka Intersection about one kilometer south of Central Festival.

Alternatively, motorists could turn left onto Chao Fa Road and continue to Chalong, rejoining Chao Fa West by turning right onto Kwang Road further south if they wished, Mr Samak said.

Several other routes were suggested for northbound traffic, including one wherein vehicles heading north on Chao Fa West Road would turn off near the Honda showroom in Wichit onto Muang Chaofah Road, which would bring the traffic into Kathu.

(Click here to see a large map of the area and suggested alternative routes.)

Mr Samak also revealed yesterday that construction of the underpass at the Samkong Intersection in front of Tesco Lotus was expected to start in April 2014.

“The bidding for the construction price and other processes should begin six months from today. The budget approved for this project is 850 million baht, but some of that budget funding will need to be spent on the Darasamuth underpass because the government did not approve the entire amount required in its initial budget approval,” Mr Samak explained.

Source: http://www.phuketgaz...ticle17958.html

-- Phuket Gazette 2012-09-19

[Valentine]

They may be well meaning but all those alternatives will only serve to frustrate motorists as bottlenecks will occur in all those places.

“Once this project is complete, it can solve the traffic problems for both local residents as well as tourists. The traffic flow heading to Rawai, Promthep Cape and Patong will be much better,” Have any of them ever travelled Chao Fa West during peak hour? The narrow strip running alongside Promphan will always be congested unless they widen the road, in other words reclaim the land alongside the road which should belong to the state. After that you have the congestion created by vehicles going in & out of Kajonkiet School of which both side by side schools only have a single access in each.

[starkey_rich]

If I didn't live in Rawai and have to travel this route many times a week I would be wetting my pants with laughing at these clowns.What do they do put a load of stupid ideas on paper,throw them in the air and the first one to land wins.

I am waiting to see the total chaos at the Tesco lights and the ones in opposite direction when the underpass opens as it will take them a year to figure out the lights need re timing to avoid backups.

Oh and we are going to have another estimated 63 buses visiting some new crappy souvenir store openening on Chao Fa West to add the the nightmare.

[Valentine]

If I didn't live in Rawai and have to travel this route many times a week I would be wetting my pants with laughing at these clowns.What do they do put a load of stupid ideas on paper,throw them in the air and the first one to land wins.

I am waiting to see the total chaos at the Tesco lights and the ones in opposite direction when the underpass opens as it will take them a year to figure out the lights need re timing to avoid backups.

Oh and we are going to have another estimated 63 buses visiting some new crappy souvenir store openening on Chao Fa West to add the the nightmare.

Like the buses attempting 'U' turns near Wat Chalong. BTW it only took about 3 years or so to get the Central lights configured properly.

[madmitch]

If I didn't live in Rawai and have to travel this route many times a week I would be wetting my pants with laughing at these clowns.What do they do put a load of stupid ideas on paper,throw them in the air and the first one to land wins.

I am waiting to see the total chaos at the Tesco lights and the ones in opposite direction when the underpass opens as it will take them a year to figure out the lights need re timing to avoid backups.

Oh and we are going to have another estimated 63 buses visiting some new crappy souvenir store openening on Chao Fa West to add the the nightmare.

Like the buses attempting 'U' turns near Wat Chalong. BTW it only took about 3 years or so to get the Central lights configured properly.

And the police still insist on taking over control during the busy periods, usually making the traffic worse.

I'm dreading this as my daughter is at Headstart School and I use Chaofa West on a daily basis. I know some back routes but after a couple of days of traffic at Central, more people are going to find these roads.

And when this one's nearly done they are going to start at Tesco Lotus.

By the time Phuket's new underpasses are complete there will probably be so many cars on the road that nothing will be able to move anyway.

[starkey_rich]

And the one of the solutions to this madness is as EVERYBODY knows is a functioning public transport system to take traffic off the roads as any form of intelligence person knows, but nobody with any b-lls will sort it out.