The Dolphin Roundabout will
soon have traffic lights to control the intersection.
Phasakorn Channgam
With congestion and accidents proving that courtesy and yielding
hasn’t worked, Pattaya’s Dolphin Roundabout will soon get traffic lights to
try and bring order to the chaotic North Pattaya circle.
The Pattaya City Council Nov. 21 approved the study, design and installation
of signals at the roundabout as the final phase of a larger plan to improve
North Pattaya traffic.
Roundabouts, by design, inherently should be able to control traffic flow
without the needs of lights. But the system depends on drivers’ willingness
to yield to others and respect traffic laws. That clearly hasn’t worked in
Pattaya.
In addition, traffic police have undermined the roundabout’s effectiveness
by blocking off lanes and diverting traffic, instead of letting cars flow
around the circle as designed.
Councilman Sanit Boonmachai claimed police have tried to “fix” the
congestion around the traffic circle with their metal fences and barriers.
But, in the same breath, he acknowledged things have only gotten worse.
“The barriers cause cars coming from Naklua Road to not be able to head to
the beach through the roundabout, instead heading straight to North Road and
making a U-turn in front of the Fairtex Hotel to head to Beach Road,” he
said. “This is quite a hassle, as there are no signs or symbols indicating
the direction to the beach and, at the U-turn point, there is an
accumulation of cars heading to the beach causing more traffic and
accidents.”
So, rather than have police change tactics, city officials plan to spend
more money to install lights where no were originally thought necessary.
