Pattaya
officials plan to create a U-turn lane just past the end of the highway to
relieve congestion on Sukhumvit Road caused by the northbound intersection
under the Highway 7 overpass in North Pattaya being closed.
Phasakorn Channgam
With the intersection under the Highway 7 overpass in
North Pattaya closed for the foreseeable future, Pattaya officials plan to
create a U-turn lane to relieve congestion on Sukhumvit Road at the entrance
to Siam Country Club intersection near Central Pattaya Road.
Anuwat Thongkham, head of the city’s traffic engineering
department, said that the intersection on Highway 3 (Sukhumvit Road) comes
under the jurisdiction of the Highways Department. “We are waiting for their
budget to be approved so that they can integrate their automated traffic
control system with those of the city.”
“Without proper signals, city officials have kept the
junction closed for safety reasons,” he said.
That, however, has created tremendous traffic backups as
drivers exit the highway onto Sukhumvit and have no way to reach
neighborhoods north other than to turn around at the intersection just
before Central Pattaya Road.
Anuwat said the new plan is to put in a U-turn on
Sukhumvit Road just past the end of the highway until the city gets around
to releasing funds for the traffic lights.
