Central Traffic Fiasco

[stevehaigh]

i'm surprised there hasn't been more discussion about the road works between central and home works. does anyone know how long this underpass building thing is supposed to go on for?

each time i drive past there there is no one working. it looks like they've started digging a hole but haven't got very far. at that pace it could take years.

if i had to drive that every day i would eventually snap and shoot someone i think!

also, why an underpass? wouldn't an overpass be cheaper and faster to build since most of it could be built off site and dropped in with big cranes?

Edited December 2, 2012 by stevehaigh

[phuketsub]

There was a previous thread speculating how bad it will be :

Now it looks like we will all get to see for real...I don't think you will find any lack of comment or complaint on this topic in the upcoming months...

[KarenBravo]

They said two years.............count on three, at least.

[LivinginKata]

completion expected mid-October 2014 - yes 2014

[Old Croc]

completion expected mid-October 2014 - yes 2014

How many accidents, missed appointments, missed flights and road rage incidents will happen before then.

[Shot]

"if i had to drive that every day i would eventually snap and shoot someone i think!"

Reminds me of this movie

Edited December 2, 2012 by Shot

[glassdude007]

How about some suggestions for alternate routes?

Any alternate routes from Chalong to the airport? Or vissa versa??

From airport to Chalong suppose you could go straight at the bypass road lights and bypass the bypass road and scoot through Phuket town by the police station and follow signs for Chalong/Rawai??

For me sometimes if not in a hurry and have my own rent a car.

I go from Airport to Chalong via Turn at Victory monument and travel through Surin,Kamala,Patong, Karon then back road way to Chalong circle might be an option.

But I am sure no taxi driver will go that way….

[fiddlehead]

I came by there the other day and thought it wasn't too bad.

The thing they need to do is get people to stop parking in the left lane, (Northbound) in front of Central.

That will free up the lane they have closed off.

Southbound may be a little more difficult BUT, they have 4 lanes there already, so removing one isn't going to upset the flow too much.

In the long run, I do believe it will save a lot of the congestion.

The problem, of course, is how long it's all going to take.

And yes, there was no one working at 3:30PM in the afternoon when I went through

[britpop]

Came through it at peak time yesterday, don't know if i was just lucky, but no real hold ups, today it's getting a mention in the gazette, on the misery to motorists, a price tag of 600 million baht, in the UK, the busiest intersections are controlled by traffic lights and a roundabout system for places busier then centrals traffic, sorry forgot, thai's like to send you 100m up the road to do a U turn first, won't work in that case. why not a overpass, has to be cheaper and easier to build, you can't drive around anywhere without some sort of road troubles, get them sorted first Mr thai government man

[Somtamnication]

I just came back. It was hell on all four sides. And the lights are now 5 minutes or longer. We are talking Sunday at 3pm. The other issue is the "authorities" ha ha, are allowing parking on the street northbound, so it does convert it from 2 to 1 lane going north.

I was picked up by brother in law in front of the taxi stands. I could not cross over to the right turning lane. I had to go back north, through big c and back around.

[stevehaigh]

How about some suggestions for alternate routes?

problem is, everyone figures out the alternates eventually and they become just as bad. i just got back from talang, i turned left at tesco and went though town to jao faa east and that took an hour, and that's sunday afternoon at 4pm, no schools kicking out, not much going on

the only way to avoid problems is to go through in the middle of the night

i will have to rethink all my travel and business now, try to stay south of central if i need to go by car or go at 5am

Edited December 2, 2012 by stevehaigh

[Valentine]

How about some suggestions for alternate routes?

problem is, everyone figures out the alternates eventually and they become just as bad. i just got back from talang, i turned left at tesco and went though town to jao faa east and that took an hour, and that's sunday afternoon at 4pm, no schools kicking out, not much going on

the only way to avoid problems is to go through in the middle of the night

i will have to rethink all my travel and business now, try to stay south of central if i need to go by car or go at 5am

Late Sunday afternoon is just as bad as any peak hour as most people have a day off & get out on the road to shopping centres, restaurants etc. The alternate routes were busy before construction. Spending the underpass money on widening some the roads would have relieved much of the congestion. They were able to do it around the Bangkok Rd area so why not the rest of town? It will be too little, too late & as the PG article stated it is not going to help those travelling south due to the narrow stretch which runs all the way past Promphan.

Absolutely incredible they are still allowing people to park on the red & white no parking zone alongside Central. I have passed by there several times last week & the most I saw were two guys sitting on a concrete block. You think they could have had it surveyed & at least the one digger which is there working. Actually once it does get going in earnest it will be much worse with dirt trucks entering & exiting.

[Felt 35]

Both the local and Central Government have their priorities totally wrong in view of their task which should be to improve the life for the general population and not only for their own pockets and business associates. When that is said, infrastructure and road projects in Phuket are more one man shows than a Government in agreement. However todays priorities and populist policies will also be their own downfall.

[stevehaigh]

Actually once it does get going in earnest it will be much worse with dirt trucks entering & exiting.

i was thinking the same thing, i hope they plan to work at night but probably not

i wonder why they didn't do an overpass, seems that's just a few posts in ground and then the rest could be transported in pre-made and dropped in with a crane. and they could have kept going south for the next 3-4 lights

[Valentine]

Both the local and Central Government have their priorities totally wrong in view of their task which should be to improve the life for the general population and not only for their own pockets and business associates. When that is said, infrastructure and road projects in Phuket are more one man shows than a Government in agreement. However todays priorities and populist policies will also be their own downfall.

Yes, price for this project does seem to be over inflated. An overpass could be built much quicker but with less cost there would not be so much cream.

[LivinginKata]

Yes, price for this project does seem to be over inflated. An overpass could be built much quicker but with less cost there would not be so much cream.

Exactly, not a thought about the public's inconvenience.

[Shot]

i wonder why they didn't do an overpass, seems that's just a few posts in ground and then the rest could be transported in pre-made and dropped in with a crane. and they could have kept going south for the next 3-4 lights

Because, it would be cheap, easy, quick, and it would make sense.

[Kernow86]

I commute through here in a car from Mon-Fri. South to North and back.

Going at about 7am, the majority of the delay is, as mentioned above, South of the junction where cars trying desperately to get through create lanes that are not there then merging slowly.

Coming at about 7pm it's BAD. Cars trying to U-Turn just outside Cental are backed up so badly that cars trying to keep heading South can't get through. Then, as mentioned above, delays further South are just as bad.

I feel that the only solution is for me to move or get a new job.

[Valentine]

I commute through here in a car from Mon-Fri. South to North and back.

Going at about 7am, the majority of the delay is, as mentioned above, South of the junction where cars trying desperately to get through create lanes that are not there then merging slowly.

Coming at about 7pm it's BAD. Cars trying to U-Turn just outside Cental are backed up so badly that cars trying to keep heading South can't get through. Then, as mentioned above, delays further South are just as bad.

I feel that the only solution is for me to move or get a new job.

I thought they were going to create a better U turn at Phuket International so cars could go the back way to Big C & Central. Better still why not open up the turn at Index?

[starkey_rich]

"Absolutely incredible they are still allowing people to park on the red & white no parking zone alongside Central. I have passed by there several times last week & the most I saw were two guys sitting on a concrete block. You think they could have had it surveyed & at least the one digger which is there working. Actually once it does get going in earnest it will be much worse with dirt trucks entering & exiting."

Now come on guy's did you really think it would only take 2 years to finish, after all T.I.T

Totally Incompetent Thailand.

[dogpoo]

"Absolutely incredible they are still allowing people to park on the red & white no parking zone alongside Central. I have passed by there several times last week & the most I saw were two guys sitting on a concrete block. You think they could have had it surveyed & at least the one digger which is there working. Actually once it does get going in earnest it will be much worse with dirt trucks entering & exiting."

Now come on guy's did you really think it would only take 2 years to finish, after all T.I.T

Totally Incompetent Thailand.

Drove past Central this morning at 09.30 traffic was normal, no one can park outside Central as there are cones all along that section!!

[LivinginKata]

Samkong Road from Bankok Hospital to Vichara Hospital was very slow moving into the town, I assume with traffic exiting left at Lotus to avoid Central junction. Had lunch at Steak Samkong and the traffic was queued up all the time I was sitting there.

[NamKangMan]

Both the local and Central Government have their priorities totally wrong in view of their task which should be to improve the life for the general population and not only for their own pockets and business associates. When that is said, infrastructure and road projects in Phuket are more one man shows than a Government in agreement. However todays priorities and populist policies will also be their own downfall.

Yes, price for this project does seem to be over inflated. An overpass could be built much quicker but with less cost there would not be so much cream.

You've been here long enough to know the "project" was all about "the cream" - the spinoff from the project was the actual underpass road being built.

Edited December 3, 2012 by NamKangMan

[starkey_rich]

Well I have just got back from one of the longest airport runs in 8 years.

Nearly 5 hrs from Rawai and back.

Went the coast route.Patong was at a standstill, don't know if anything happened on the hill but the beach road was nose to tail all the way and on the way back tailbacks caused by those ---kin muay thai boxing trucks.In Patong and Karon/Kata.

Oh well only 17 days and can't wait days to be out of here.

[NamKangMan]

Well I have just got back from one of the longest airport runs in 8 years.

Nearly 5 hrs from Rawai and back.

Went the coast route.Patong was at a standstill, don't know if anything happened on the hill but the beach road was nose to tail all the way and on the way back tailbacks caused by those ---kin muay thai boxing trucks.In Patong and Karon/Kata.

Oh well only 17 days and can't wait days to be out of here.

Wow, 5 hours. I can see a sharp rise in road rage incidents. That's a lot of unhappy and frustrated people sitting in the hot sun, for hours.

Must remember to change my usual flight times for visa runs to "off peak times" for road travel to the airport.

[stevehaigh]

I commute through here in a car from Mon-Fri. South to North and back.

Going at about 7am, the majority of the delay is, as mentioned above, South of the junction where cars trying desperately to get through create lanes that are not there then merging slowly.

Coming at about 7pm it's BAD. Cars trying to U-Turn just outside Cental are backed up so badly that cars trying to keep heading South can't get through. Then, as mentioned above, delays further South are just as bad.

I feel that the only solution is for me to move or get a new job.

i would think so, how can you deal with that for 2 plus years? i have to do it about twice a week and i can choose my time and day and i'm changing my plans to avoid that.

going north there is a good bypass route. i don't know if i should publicize it here but if anyone wants to know the quick way from chalong to the tesco lights, PM me. going south, i think you are screwed, its like there is a blockade of south phuket. maybe someone should start a car ferry

[NamKangMan]

There was a comment on the forum for a PG article about this topic. The poster stated the current traffic debarcle is being used by airport transport drivers to near double their rates.

Can anyone confirm this?

[LivinginKata]

<snip>

going north there is a good bypass route. i don't know if i should publicize it here but if anyone wants to know the quick way from chalong to the tesco lights, PM me. going south, i think you are screwed, its like there is a blockade of south phuket. maybe someone should start a car ferry

I fancy that I know that route. Used it today, for sure a lot more traffic than usual ....

[Guest]

going north there is a good bypass route. i don't know if i should publicize it here but if anyone wants to know the quick way from chalong to the tesco lights, PM me. going south, i think you are screwed, its like there is a blockade of south phuket. maybe someone should start a car ferry

I guess it will be public in any case very soon. When there is enough traffic people start looking for alternative routes.

This is few hundred meters south-west from Katonkiejet school to Kathu?

There is also an alternative route from Kathu to 2 lady monument in case bypass road is full of traffic.

[Somtamnication]

The new issue now is that traffic will be backed up from behind Prince of Songkla Uni "bypass road". Went to Kathu from Chao Fa West and it was a long wait. (Last night at about 6 pm).