The
exit to Highway No. 7 at kilometer market 121-122 often has drivers
turning in the wrong direction.
Phasakorn Channgam
The government’s puzzling failure to add on- and
off-ramps to both sides of the Highway 7 extension continues to wreak
havoc with traffic as motorists drive the wrong way and police can only
issue tickets.
Since its opening last year, the highway has had only
one off-ramp at kilometer market 121-122. Drivers are faced with either
making dangerous turns across traffic to reach it or drive the wrong way
down the on-ramp to get off. Likewise, many lazy drivers simply drive
the wrong way up the off-ramp rather than go far down Sukhumvit Road to
make a U-turn and access the solitary on-ramp.
The result has been a flurry of accidents and
tickets, with no indication the Chonburi Highway Department plans to do
anything about it.
Capt. Siriwut Padwichit, a deputy traffic inspector
with the Banglamung Police Station, said officers regularly monitor the
Highway 7 overpass and give tickets of 400-1,000 baht if they find
people making illegal turns or driving against opposing traffic.
“We’ve been asked why we haven’t blocked off some
areas for U-turns, but the highway is under the jurisdiction of the
Chonburi Department of Highways, so it’s up to them to regulate this,”
Siriwut said.
Until proper on- and off-ramps are built, all the
police can do is write tickets and ask drivers to follow the law.
