Map of Road 7 extention and a New East-West link.

[Rimmer]

Please stay on topic which is new highway 7 not 331 widening

[Rimmer]

They have started cutting the East West link through to Sukhumvit Road, this picture is taken on a back road that runs parallel to Sukhumvit Road and is looking west toward the sea and the two towers at Ocean Marina.

[orlov]

Only just read this topic so thanks guys for all the info. I did wonder what was going on in SSCC road between the S bends just

short of Maprachan Lake. Actually I still can't make out what they're doing. There are some huge drums linked up to a container

shaped box and some really big cranes. Almost looks like a fuel depot. Still, I'm not a construction engineer so maybe somebody

can enlighten me.

In the meantime, having looked at the route of this new road I can't see that it has any purpose whatsoever. It more or less

runs parallel with the existing 36/331 route and ends in the middle of nowhere at a point somewhere east of Sattahip and west of

Rayong.

As others have mentioned, the 331 is being up-graded to duel carriageway which takes you straight to U-Tapao airport and if you

want to go to Rayong then you take the 36 all the way and just turn off into the centre of the city.

Can't help feeling that the money could have been better spent double-tracking the railway from Pattaya to Bangkok, electrifying

it, providing some modern air conditioned rolling stock and offering a half hourly service. Could up-grade the rail link to Laem

Chabang at the same time (which is already sorely needed) and take thousands of containers off the road.

[NightRider70]

Updated "interactive" map:

new_road.html

[OMGImInPattaya]

Only just read this topic so thanks guys for all the info. I did wonder what was going on in SSCC road between the S bends just

short of Maprachan Lake. Actually I still can't make out what they're doing. There are some huge drums linked up to a container

shaped box and some really big cranes. Almost looks like a fuel depot. Still, I'm not a construction engineer so maybe somebody

can enlighten me.

In the meantime, having looked at the route of this new road I can't see that it has any purpose whatsoever. It more or less

runs parallel with the existing 36/331 route and ends in the middle of nowhere at a point somewhere east of Sattahip and west of

Rayong.

As others have mentioned, the 331 is being up-graded to duel carriageway which takes you straight to U-Tapao airport and if you

want to go to Rayong then you take the 36 all the way and just turn off into the centre of the city.

Can't help feeling that the money could have been better spent double-tracking the railway from Pattaya to Bangkok, electrifying

it, providing some modern air conditioned rolling stock and offering a half hourly service. Could up-grade the rail link to Laem

Chabang at the same time (which is already sorely needed) and take thousands of containers off the road.

Other than the skim, it's hard to see the rationale for this H7 extension...to dump people at the Portofino Condominioms. The major traffic bottlenecks are at the Pattaya and Naklua intersections of Sukhumvit Road. It would have been a better investment to construct overpasses at the intersections, like they have done on Sukhumvit in Leam Chambang and Sri Racha. Maybe also widen Sukhumvit (H3) to 3-4 lanes each direction from Pattaya to Rayong.

[NanLaew]

Only just read this topic so thanks guys for all the info. I did wonder what was going on in SSCC road between the S bends just

short of Maprachan Lake. Actually I still can't make out what they're doing. There are some huge drums linked up to a container

shaped box and some really big cranes. Almost looks like a fuel depot. Still, I'm not a construction engineer so maybe somebody

can enlighten me.

In the meantime, having looked at the route of this new road I can't see that it has any purpose whatsoever. It more or less

runs parallel with the existing 36/331 route and ends in the middle of nowhere at a point somewhere east of Sattahip and west of

Rayong.

As others have mentioned, the 331 is being up-graded to duel carriageway which takes you straight to U-Tapao airport and if you

want to go to Rayong then you take the 36 all the way and just turn off into the centre of the city.

Can't help feeling that the money could have been better spent double-tracking the railway from Pattaya to Bangkok, electrifying

it, providing some modern air conditioned rolling stock and offering a half hourly service. Could up-grade the rail link to Laem

Chabang at the same time (which is already sorely needed) and take thousands of containers off the road.

Other than the skim, it's hard to see the rationale for this H7 extension...to dump people at the Portofino Condominioms. The major traffic bottlenecks are at the Pattaya and Naklua intersections of Sukhumvit Road. It would have been a better investment to construct overpasses at the intersections, like they have done on Sukhumvit in Leam Chambang and Sri Racha. Maybe also widen Sukhumvit (H3) to 3-4 lanes each direction from Pattaya to Rayong.

A sizeable chunk of the traffic that fouls up the Highway 7 @ Sukhumvit junction (heading south) are destined for Bang Sare and beyond. The extension of Highway 7 that comes out at the marina will be of great benefit to those and others headed beyond Jomtien. The current heavy local traffic at the Highway 7 @ Sukhumvit junction (heading north) into Nua are trying to avoid the tunneling mess and once they are finished, I would expect a more even split of 'normal' traffic entering Pattaya via Nua, Klang and Tai. I agree that flyovers would have been cheaper and faster but they seem to be used only at industrial type intersections at Laem Chabang. Chiang Mai and Khon Kaen have tunneling projects (versus flyovers) so of course it befits Thailand's premier beach resort to have the same, no? Highway 3 should be widened to 3 lanes between the (new) marina junction heading north to the current point just south of the Floating Market otherwise the bottlenecks around the Huayyai intersection will be even bigger. I think the 2 lanes (each way) south of the marine and all the way to Rayong will be adequate.... for maybe another 10 years.

Edited July 8, 2016 by NanLaew

[longball53098]

Updated "interactive" map:

new_road.html

This update is good. Thanks for the new info and it seems that in the remote areas I never get to that there really is some work getting done. Maybe we will see this tollway extension before I die

[thaihome]

Only just read this topic so thanks guys for all the info. I did wonder what was going on in SSCC road between the S bends just

short of Maprachan Lake. Actually I still can't make out what they're doing. There are some huge drums linked up to a container

shaped box and some really big cranes. Almost looks like a fuel depot. Still, I'm not a construction engineer so maybe somebody

can enlighten me.

In the meantime, having looked at the route of this new road I can't see that it has any purpose whatsoever. It more or less

runs parallel with the existing 36/331 route and ends in the middle of nowhere at a point somewhere east of Sattahip and west of

Rayong.

As others have mentioned, the 331 is being up-graded to duel carriageway which takes you straight to U-Tapao airport and if you

want to go to Rayong then you take the 36 all the way and just turn off into the centre of the city.

Can't help feeling that the money could have been better spent double-tracking the railway from Pattaya to Bangkok, electrifying

it, providing some modern air conditioned rolling stock and offering a half hourly service. Could up-grade the rail link to Laem

Chabang at the same time (which is already sorely needed) and take thousands of containers off the road.

Other than the skim, it's hard to see the rationale for this H7 extension...to dump people at the Portofino Condominioms. The major traffic bottlenecks are at the Pattaya and Naklua intersections of Sukhumvit Road. It would have been a better investment to construct overpasses at the intersections, like they have done on Sukhumvit in Leam Chambang and Sri Racha. Maybe also widen Sukhumvit (H3) to 3-4 lanes each direction from Pattaya to Rayong.

The purpose of the new extension is a direct route to Ban Chang, the airport/navy base and Map Ta Phut. The reason the map shows ending in "nowhere" is the connection to Sukhumvit and the Ban Chang bypass has not been finalized nor has the land been purchased. This is cause for much speculation in Ban Chang.

When finished this is going to take at least 30 minutes off the drive from bangkok to ban chang.

TH

[OMGImInPattaya]

Only just read this topic so thanks guys for all the info. I did wonder what was going on in SSCC road between the S bends just

short of Maprachan Lake. Actually I still can't make out what they're doing. There are some huge drums linked up to a container

shaped box and some really big cranes. Almost looks like a fuel depot. Still, I'm not a construction engineer so maybe somebody

can enlighten me.

In the meantime, having looked at the route of this new road I can't see that it has any purpose whatsoever. It more or less

runs parallel with the existing 36/331 route and ends in the middle of nowhere at a point somewhere east of Sattahip and west of

Rayong.

As others have mentioned, the 331 is being up-graded to duel carriageway which takes you straight to U-Tapao airport and if you

want to go to Rayong then you take the 36 all the way and just turn off into the centre of the city.

Can't help feeling that the money could have been better spent double-tracking the railway from Pattaya to Bangkok, electrifying

it, providing some modern air conditioned rolling stock and offering a half hourly service. Could up-grade the rail link to Laem

Chabang at the same time (which is already sorely needed) and take thousands of containers off the road.

Other than the skim, it's hard to see the rationale for this H7 extension...to dump people at the Portofino Condominioms. The major traffic bottlenecks are at the Pattaya and Naklua intersections of Sukhumvit Road. It would have been a better investment to construct overpasses at the intersections, like they have done on Sukhumvit in Leam Chambang and Sri Racha. Maybe also widen Sukhumvit (H3) to 3-4 lanes each direction from Pattaya to Rayong.

The purpose of the new extension is a direct route to Ban Chang, the airport/navy base and Map Ta Phut. The reason the map shows ending in "nowhere" is the connection to Sukhumvit and the Ban Chang bypass has not been finalized nor has the land been purchased. This is cause for much speculation in Ban Chang.

When finished this is going to take at least 30 minutes off the drive from bangkok to ban chang.

TH

Can't they just take 36 towards Rayong and transition to 331?

[LennyW]

Only just read this topic so thanks guys for all the info. I did wonder what was going on in SSCC road between the S bends just

short of Maprachan Lake. Actually I still can't make out what they're doing. There are some huge drums linked up to a container

shaped box and some really big cranes. Almost looks like a fuel depot. Still, I'm not a construction engineer so maybe somebody

can enlighten me.

In the meantime, having looked at the route of this new road I can't see that it has any purpose whatsoever. It more or less

runs parallel with the existing 36/331 route and ends in the middle of nowhere at a point somewhere east of Sattahip and west of

Rayong.

As others have mentioned, the 331 is being up-graded to duel carriageway which takes you straight to U-Tapao airport and if you

want to go to Rayong then you take the 36 all the way and just turn off into the centre of the city.

Can't help feeling that the money could have been better spent double-tracking the railway from Pattaya to Bangkok, electrifying

it, providing some modern air conditioned rolling stock and offering a half hourly service. Could up-grade the rail link to Laem

Chabang at the same time (which is already sorely needed) and take thousands of containers off the road.

Other than the skim, it's hard to see the rationale for this H7 extension...to dump people at the Portofino Condominioms. The major traffic bottlenecks are at the Pattaya and Naklua intersections of Sukhumvit Road. It would have been a better investment to construct overpasses at the intersections, like they have done on Sukhumvit in Leam Chambang and Sri Racha. Maybe also widen Sukhumvit (H3) to 3-4 lanes each direction from Pattaya to Rayong.

The purpose of the new extension is a direct route to Ban Chang, the airport/navy base and Map Ta Phut. The reason the map shows ending in "nowhere" is the connection to Sukhumvit and the Ban Chang bypass has not been finalized nor has the land been purchased. This is cause for much speculation in Ban Chang.

When finished this is going to take at least 30 minutes off the drive from bangkok to ban chang.

TH

Can't they just take 36 towards Rayong and transition to 331?

36 Does not go to Mapthaput, that is what this extension is all about, high speed and direct access to Thailands financial heart, nothing to do with Pattaya per se?

I guess wrong forum, Pattaya go back to sleep, not your road.

[Rimmer]

Sukhumvit E W link looking east

[OMGImInPattaya]

Only just read this topic so thanks guys for all the info. I did wonder what was going on in SSCC road between the S bends just
short of Maprachan Lake. Actually I still can't make out what they're doing. There are some huge drums linked up to a container
shaped box and some really big cranes. Almost looks like a fuel depot. Still, I'm not a construction engineer so maybe somebody
can enlighten me.

In the meantime, having looked at the route of this new road I can't see that it has any purpose whatsoever. It more or less
runs parallel with the existing 36/331 route and ends in the middle of nowhere at a point somewhere east of Sattahip and west of
Rayong.

As others have mentioned, the 331 is being up-graded to duel carriageway which takes you straight to U-Tapao airport and if you
want to go to Rayong then you take the 36 all the way and just turn off into the centre of the city.

Can't help feeling that the money could have been better spent double-tracking the railway from Pattaya to Bangkok, electrifying
it, providing some modern air conditioned rolling stock and offering a half hourly service. Could up-grade the rail link to Laem
Chabang at the same time (which is already sorely needed) and take thousands of containers off the road.

Other than the skim, it's hard to see the rationale for this H7 extension...to dump people at the Portofino Condominioms. The major traffic bottlenecks are at the Pattaya and Naklua intersections of Sukhumvit Road. It would have been a better investment to construct overpasses at the intersections, like they have done on Sukhumvit in Leam Chambang and Sri Racha. Maybe also widen Sukhumvit (H3) to 3-4 lanes each direction from Pattaya to Rayong.

The purpose of the new extension is a direct route to Ban Chang, the airport/navy base and Map Ta Phut. The reason the map shows ending in "nowhere" is the connection to Sukhumvit and the Ban Chang bypass has not been finalized nor has the land been purchased. This is cause for much speculation in Ban Chang.

When finished this is going to take at least 30 minutes off the drive from bangkok to ban chang.
TH

Can't they just take 36 towards Rayong and transition to 331?

36 Does not go to Mapthaput, that is what this extension is all about, high speed and direct access to Thailands financial heart, nothing to do with Pattaya per se?
I guess wrong forum, Pattaya go back to sleep, not your road.

Maptaput is Thailand's financial heart?

[thaihome]

Maptaput is Thailand's financial heart?

As far as largest investments and production of key raw materials for Thai industry, yes.

TH

[joepattaya1961]

So the tunnel-project was and is nothing more than a huge money-pit, creating some extra pension for the leaving city-council?

The #7 project will be finished around the same time as the tunnel. Too bad, because it will never be proved that the tunnel was and is a huge waste of money and that it is actually the #7-project that gives Pattaya some "air".

[Berty100]

So the tunnel-project was and is nothing more than a huge money-pit, creating some extra pension for the leaving city-council?

The #7 project will be finished around the same time as the tunnel. Too bad, because it will never be proved that the tunnel was and is a huge waste of money and that it is actually the #7-project that gives Pattaya some "air".

The tunnel project, there are 2 more planned by the way, has lesser to do with relieving traffic on Sukhumvit but rather traffic entering and exiting Pattaya Klang - Tai and Thepprassit.

Though I agree that it is indeed a money pit for someone, since fly overs would have the exact same result and save a lot of money.

[longball53098]

I just noticed in the last few days some potential progress in the area of the Sukhumvit area in Ban Chang. Seems a concrete batch plant is being built very close to the railroad tracks and the Sukhumvit flyover. There also has been some clearing and grading done that appears like they are going to be building an entry/exit ramp in this same area.

I attach a screen shot with some very crude outlines of where the work is located. Anyone reading this and frequenting that area can see and agree or disagree.

I will make a few photos over the next weeks to confirm what I see.

tollway 7 Ban Chang.pdf

[Thailand J]

View at the North end of the project:

[jarno1973]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5zYg8WLNIsw

[Thailand J]

Looking at the document in the OP link, I can find illustrations of 4 other major junctions.

Somehow they did not show us an illustration of the junction where the E-W road meets Sukhumvit near Jomtein.

I hope the design does not include traffic lights. Not a repeat of the mess near Pattaya Nua.

The design at the other end of E-W link looks great without any traffic lights.

[craigt3365]

Looks to be a toll road?

[Thailand J]

Looks to be a toll road?

[SidJames]

For who the bells tolls & they are many of them

[longball53098]

Work is continuing on the south end of the toll road extension just west of Ban Chang at the flyover the RR tracks and Sukhumvit. I stopped to take a few photos of the road grading and some large pile driving equipment. The photos show the work in very early stages

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 8, 2016 by longball53098
remove double photo

[craigt3365]

They seem to be moving very quickly on this.  There's a large construction camp just before you get to where the road terminates at Ocean Marina.  Seems like they are doing about as pictured above there.

[Thailand J]

A lot more has been done at the N end compared to the S.. the columns are up, scaffolding for the road deck is being put up. I took a picture today:

[craigt3365]

Great progress!  Thanks!

[craigt3365]

From the small road East of Sukhumvit.  That's Ocean Marina in the background.  Pics are taken looking East and West.  Great progress!

[Thailand J]

Latest on youtube:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-ilLXWgcXY

[craigt3365]

I'm afraid shoving that much traffic onto Sukhumvit near Ocean Marina is going to cause a huge mess.  They desperately need to add turn lanes and more lights.  It's terrible now.  Can't imagine what it will be after this opens.

[AdrianBerry]

Here is an image of the east-west link heading to Ocean Marina (Looking east from Ocean Portofino).