A Pattaya city councilman says that efforts to improve traffic at the Dolphin Roundabout has had the opposite result and suggested the traffic circle should either be fully reopened or a proper signal installed.
Sanit Boonmachai told the council at its Feb. 12 meeting that the ad-hoc alteration to the roundabout last year – which saw concrete flower basins used to block lanes and prevent vehicles from circumnavigating the circle, has been an utter failure, with even more congestion created.
Pattaya city councilman, Sanit Boonmachai (inset) is lobbying to fully reopen the traffic circle at the Dolphin Roundabout, or install a fully functional traffic light to improve traffic there.
Cars coming from Naklua cannot go around the circle to go to Beach Road and instead must continue 400 meters to the intersection near Big C and turn there.
Also, vehicles coming from Second Road meet up with cars coming from North Road with everyone having to reduce speed to go around the partial circle to the right in order to head to Naklua Road or turn left at the Dusit Thani Hotel.
Sanit maintained that if the circle was operated as designed, or a traffic light put in, it would smooth out traffic because vehicles from Naklua could proceed right around the circle and head to Pattaya Beach instead of making a U-turn at the Big C junction.
He proposed a meeting with relevant agencies for the next council session.
Drivers and pedestrians interviewed around the circle said they would like city hall to sort out the traffic circle properly, including fixing a long-broken pedestrian crossing signal, which only blinks yellow and has a long distance between the crossing and the button to activate the light.
