To alleviate Sukhumvit tunnel congestion
Pattaya Deputy Mayor
Ronakit Ekasingh has his hands full trying to come up with agreeable
solutions to the impending traffic nightmare expected to unfold once
construction begins on the Sukhumvit bypass-tunnel.
Urasin Khantaraphan
The Highway Police have proposed drastically changing the way
traffic flows through East Pattaya in order to mitigate the expected
traffic nightmare that will unfold once construction begins on a
bypass-tunnel under Sukhumvit Road.
Pattaya Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh chaired the Nov. 19 meeting with
representatives from the Pattaya, Banglamung, Nongprue and Huay Yai
police stations, plus Highway Police and Department of Transport
officials.
The project is expected to break ground in January and take nearly three
years. To begin, one lane on each side of Sukhumvit will be closed for
1.9 kilometers.
The Highway Police suggested running more traffic down the
railway-parallel road and turning four sois - Siam Country Club,
Nernplabwan, Khao Noi and Khao Talo - into one way thoroughfares.
Traffic would be allowed to turn off of Sukhumvit onto Siam Country Club
and Nernplabwan and head toward the railway road. Sois Khao Noi and Khao
Talo would run the opposite direction, with traffic running from the
railway to Sukhumvit.
Community members debated the idea for three hours, with most local
officials opposing the idea as confusing.
Pattaya City Councilman Sanit Boonmachai said the one-way idea seemed
excessive and that properly regulating parking on both Sukhumvit and the
railway road would be enough to offset construction-related congestion.
He noted illegal parking also was rampant on the four sois proposed for
one-way traffic.
“If traffic police can just regulate parking on Sukhumvit Road while the
road is under construction, then we don’t have to change the four sois,
which are extremely busy already,” he said. “That would make locals in
the area happy and let them use the roads as they normally do. We also
wouldn’t have to use as many traffic police officers to control traffic
and we don’t have to spend a huge budget to re-do road painting and put
up one-way signs.
“It would be much easier to prevent people from parking on Sukhumvit
Road as well as in the four sois concerned and we won’t have to go
through all the hassle to confuse people,” Sanit said.
Ronakit disagreed with the suggestion that changing traffic flow was
confusing and said authorities will meet again before making a decision.
