Traffic delays expected next week as preparations made for Chalong Underpass construction

[snoop1130]

Traffic delays expected next week as preparations made for Chalong Underpass construction
Tanyaluk Sakoot


Traffic will be affected in the area of HomePro Village in Chalong.

PHUKET: -- People travelling around the area of the new Chalong Underpass can expect to encounter delays in their travelling time as from next week as preparations are made for construction of the underpass to commence.

Project Engineer Chalermpon Wongkietkun told The Phuket News today (Mar 4), “We are about to begin phase one of our preparations for the underpass construction. There will be four phases in total.

“The first phase will see water pipes and electricity pylons moved,” he said.

“Whilst work is being carried out drivers should be careful as large trucks and cranes will be in the road, and this will also have an impact on traffic heading towards Chalong Circle, especially in front of HomePro Village.

Full Story: http://www.thephuketnews.com/traffic-delays-expected-next-week-as-preparations-made-for-chalong-underpass-construction-56472.php

-- Phuket News 2016-03-04

[Guest]

The weird moment, when you realise that you'll know that Chalong is going to be isolated for the next four years.

Take care down there and see you guys in the next decade!

[chercheur888]

What a genius "Mr Chalermpon went on to say that motorists should avoid the area if possible as traffic jams are likely."

Please tell us how to avoid, which one of the many option that are place should we use???

[JetsetBkk]

What a genius "Mr Chalermpon went on to say that motorists should avoid the area if possible as traffic jams are likely."

Please tell us how to avoid, which one of the many option that are place should we use???

Exactly. The only road to avoid the circle is soi Suksan, and that helps only the people going from Rawai to Patong and vice versa.

They need to build a relief road now, just like they did in Phuket town while they were constructing the Central Festival underpass.

I wrote about it already here: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/688989-the-underpass-fiasco/?p=9367184

Divert all Patong bound traffic from Chao Fah west through soi Yot Sane 1 or 2 or both.

But TiT. No brains required. Get your job and hang on to it, especially if you're in the transport dept.

Edited March 4, 2016 by JetsetBkk

[bearpolar]

What a genius "Mr Chalermpon went on to say that motorists should avoid the area if possible as traffic jams are likely."

Please tell us how to avoid, which one of the many option that are place should we use???

It's been studied that most people causing traffic jams have no reason to be on the road.

Bit different in thailand because motorbikes are slow and take space and love to cut in front of lines then get cars stuck for longer because for the 10sec it takes the bike to finaly move ahead, theres someone arriving at the circle in the other direction but its still mostly, bored people that shouldnt be on the road.

[madmitch]

I wonder what the other three preparation phases are? If moving the pylons is phase one, where does the drainage work they've already started fit?

In more advanced countries, plans for a development such as this are made public well in advance, public meetings are held with the planners and engineers and projects are amended and adapted after such consultations. In Phuket you get a day or so's notice that the road you've been using for the past ten years is going to be closed for the next two years so you're going to have to find an alternative route.

I feel for you guys in Rawai as it looks like you're going to be well and truly ****ed. I'm in Kata/Karon which will also be pretty bad, especially the school runs.

Maybe we'll all have to go and live near Oilinki.

[pistachios]

They are now doing some drainage work that is already reducing the traffic in chaofa west to only one line each direction. It has created massive jams, the other day Viset road was blocked from Sai Yuan traffic light up to the circle! The worst jam I had seen before was starting at the petrol station.

I have no idea how they are going to find enough space to start digging the underpass unless they significantly widen the road, which is almost as wide as it can be close to the circle, but no doubt that it will create even more hellish traffic.

[JetsetBkk]

I wonder what the other three preparation phases are? If moving the pylons is phase one, where does the drainage work they've already started fit?

In more advanced countries, plans for a development such as this are made public well in advance, public meetings are held with the planners and engineers and projects are amended and adapted after such consultations. In Phuket you get a day or so's notice that the road you've been using for the past ten years is going to be closed for the next two years so you're going to have to find an alternative route.

I feel for you guys in Rawai as it looks like you're going to be well and truly ****ed. I'm in Kata/Karon which will also be pretty bad, especially the school runs.

Maybe we'll all have to go and live near Oilinki.

"We are about to begin phase one of our preparations..."

So what the heck do they call all the stuff they've been doing outside HomePro Village for the last several weeks? "Phase 0"?

[Valentine]

Drainage on one side of the road looks to be complete so why can't they finish it by sealing that part thus making it much wider than it is now. Perhaps they have to wait 2 years such as the section between Lotus & Central which is still not done by the same company.

[steelepulse]

What a genius "Mr Chalermpon went on to say that motorists should avoid the area if possible as traffic jams are likely."

Please tell us how to avoid, which one of the many option that are place should we use???

Perhaps he's suggesting Kata viewpoint, then go through Patong, then to where you were actually trying to get to.

[beechbum]

Have seen 2 bad crashes (1 was a silver airport taxi so hope the passenger was ok but no sympathy for the driver) near there in the last 2 days in the arvo.

Hot days+traffic jams+crap drivers= disaster!!

[keeniau96]

The entire island has gone construction crazy. Just saw article in Phuket News that bids starting for another major underpass, at the junction of Thepkassetri road and the airport road. Supposed to be the same as the current major traffic disaster at the Thepkassetri and Bypass road junction.

[bearpolar]

hopefully we get one right after the one at central

if they had made one there, there would be at least 60% less traffic in phuket town/kathu

[Tapster]

@Oilinki

Yes, welcome to "Island Rawai"!

We'll establish border checkpoints just south of Chalong circle, start growing our own food, levying taxes and building a new international hospital because anyone could die in the time it will take an ambulance to drive from Rawai to Bangkok Hospital Phuket!

Please come and visit. Visas for Rawai will be easy to get because so few people will visit here!

There might be some advantages in the reduced tourist numbers (apart from tourist-oriented businesses, sorry).

But seriously, soon we will have to decide whether we want to live north or south of Chalong circle, and then stay there.

I will miss French cheese from Villa Market but when normal diplomatic relations are re-estalished with the rest of Thailand, four years from now, I can enjoy it again.

[madmitch]

The entire island has gone construction crazy. Just saw article in Phuket News that bids starting for another major underpass, at the junction of Thepkassetri road and the airport road. Supposed to be the same as the current major traffic disaster at the Thepkassetri and Bypass road junction.

Now that one is totally unnecessary. I've never been stuck in a major traffic jam here and going south it's just going to make the next two major junctions, which are already busy, even worse. Maybe I've just been lucky as it's not somewhere I pass through that often.

Some people are making huge amounts of money out of all this. Now it's the Thalang politicians' turn.

[Valentine]

They do not seem to be in any hurry to get the side of the road back up & running now the drainage has been done. Nearly 6 months into it & already one can see a huge delay in this project getting finished, like the Samkong one which I understand is the same company.

[madmitch]

They do not seem to be in any hurry to get the side of the road back up & running now the drainage has been done. Nearly 6 months into it & already one can see a huge delay in this project getting finished, like the Samkong one which I understand is the same company.

They can't even be bothered to pave the other side of the road which has been in a dreadful state from the Circle for maybe 5km for the last year at least. Different company, maybe, but with more work about to take place surely someone should fix this.

[grumpyoldman]

What a genius "Mr Chalermpon went on to say that motorists should avoid the area if possible as traffic jams are likely."

Please tell us how to avoid, which one of the many option that are place should we use???

Perhaps he's suggesting Kata viewpoint, then go through Patong, then to where you were actually trying to get to.

What a cluster truck the road into Kata from the viewpoint is going to be, it already gets completely backed up with one Chinese bus going throuigh, oh, and then the guy who stops in front of such-and-such restaurant for a delivery..............I envision accidents on the steep part of the viewpoint hill as it backs up beyond there.

Yes, what a mess.

[madmitch]

So, at the time when it's going to become more important to avoid Chalong Circle, what do they do? They close the right turn which allows you to cut through to Viset Road, Rawai from Patak Road, the one that passes the old stunt show. I don't know the name. It's a crappy road but a good cut through. It appears as though the wall down the centre of the road is going to be built there, whereas originally they sensibly left a gap.

Now either the Green Man is going to see more traffic as people use it as the nearest convenient turning spot or the Circle is going to get even busier. As for a right turn out of that road, it's left and a u-turn at, er, I don't know! Maybe the originators of the scheme are looking for additional justification for the underpass.

There's already a trench dug so it looks like it will be a permanent wall. I'm guessing that this is the usual lack of commonsense and forethought that we are so used to in this country and not a precursor to a major plan to divert traffic away from the Circle.

[bearpolar]

There's already a trench dug so it looks like it will be a permanent wall. I'm guessing that this is the usual lack of commonsense and forethought that we are so used to in this country and not a precursor to a major plan to divert traffic away from the Circle.

So you can't turn back to chalong from there? It's blocked by a hole?

the problem is this:

If that road actually existed, a lot of people could use it to avoid viset.

[madmitch]

There's already a trench dug so it looks like it will be a permanent wall. I'm guessing that this is the usual lack of commonsense and forethought that we are so used to in this country and not a precursor to a major plan to divert traffic away from the Circle.

So you can't turn back to chalong from there? It's blocked by a hole?

the problem is this:

If that road actually existed, a lot of people could use it to avoid viset.

That's right. No right turn from either side.

[Old Croc]

I posted this 18 months ago proposing some bypass roads that would have obviated the need for the underpass.

I suggested the roads join into Patak near the shooting range with the current dangerous entry to the Orchid Farm rd being closed.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/751334-chalong-underpass/?p=8242038

[Valentine]

At the current rate it looks like it will take at least 5 years to finish. The so called preparation work is a mish mash of construction as they did not even finish the Chao Fa West side before starting on the Visit Rd side. Multi tasking is certainly not in this company's makeup.

Nothing to do with the underpass but it seems like it was last year that West was dug up in various parts for drainage but the road never repaired. Now the rains are upon us expect bigger potholes.

[exbikey]

At the current rate it looks like it will take at least 5 years to finish. The so called preparation work is a mish mash of construction as they did not even finish the Chao Fa West side before starting on the Visit Rd side. Multi tasking is certainly not in this company's makeup.

Nothing to do with the underpass but it seems like it was last year that West was dug up in various parts for drainage but the road never repaired. Now the rains are upon us expect bigger potholes.

"Multi tasking is certainly not in this company's makeup"

Talking about multi tasking, I believe this 'company' is tasked not only with the Chalong underpass construction but also responsible for the ongoing farce that is the Samkong underpass. Drove by earlier this a.m., on the southbound side three or four workers busy painting the median dividers with pretty black and white stripes, another couple of workers using paint brushes to clean the road surface.

My sympathy to you people in Chalong that's going to have to put up with the mess for the next 4 or 5 years (ignore any disruption (construction) schedule put forward by the contractors).

[stevenl]

I must say though that so far the disruptions have been far, far less than anticipated.

[LivinginKata]

I must say though that so far the disruptions have been far, far less than anticipated.

I would agree with that. Not been so bad .... so far ...

[bearpolar]

I must say though that so far the disruptions have been far, far less than anticipated.

I would agree with that. Not been so bad .... so far ...

Viset going north has gone from 7-15m wait time to 30 seconds.

The "construction" is helping traffic.

[JetsetBkk]

Isn't the graphic of the underpass really good? It is so life-like!

It's almost as if they took a picture of the road and then photo-shopped it to add in the underpass.

In fact it almost looks like what you see on Google Earth.

Ooh, hang on a minute...

[Tapster]

@JetsetBkk

I think your sarcasm is misplaced.

The Photoshopping isn't bad and the image gives a good representation of what we're going to get. It's the best I've seen so far.

[Old Croc]

As it is only going to have one lane each way, I would hope they separate the lanes with something other than a yellow painted line.