Pattaya's Sukhumvit Tunnel - southbound lane opens, but only temporarily

[Gaybutton]

The tunnel, in my opinion a true boondoggle if I ever saw one, opened its southbound lane, but only for a few hours while a large road sign was being put into place. It was open for about 5 hours.

According to the article below, the tunnel is scheduled for completion and opening at some point in February, 2017. I also just read another article that says the tunnel will open in April (see: http://pattayadailynews.com/huge-traffi ... ya-tunnel/ ). Your guess is as good as mine.

The purported purpose of the tunnel is to relieve traffic congestion. We'll know soon enough if that actually works, but I'm not holding my breath. I hope I'm wrong, but I have a feeling the tunnel is going to cause, rather than cure, more traffic problems than were ever there in the first place. So far, during the construction, it has done precisely that.
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Enter at Your Own Risk

By Danny Boy

December 6, 2016

Due to ongoing roadwork and traffic problems regarding the new underpass on Sukhumvit Road, the authorities have opened one side of the underpass for those who were brave enough.

Anyone travelling from Bangkok towards Pattaya will now have the choice to use the underpass, if they wish. This will only be temporary however, as the road is still basically a dirt track, and still looks like it’s a long way away from completion. It’s very narrow too, and traffic speed was kept pretty low, averaging 20-30 km/hour.

As mentioned in a previous article, February next year has been earmarked for completion. Whether this happens or not is yet to be seen. There still seems like an awful lot of work to be done, but hopefully it gets done sooner rather than later because the traffic in getting worse, the longer it drags on.

Story and photos: http://pattayaone.news/en/enter-at-your-own-risk/

[Undaunted]

I noticed this when in a taxi from BKK last week, most of the new lighting is done and if you look closely a large amount of work is finished but what will it accomplish and how long before they dig up parts because of drainage issues?

[Gaybutton]

how long before they dig up parts because of drainage issues?

My guess - right after the first heavy rain . . .

[lvdkeyes]

Such negativity. Give it a chance.

[Gaybutton]

Such negativity. Give it a chance.

Having had to deal with it and the traffic problems every day, by virtue of living on "The Dark Side," along with the way 'improvements' usually work out in Pattaya, and along with the fact that Bangkok didn't want the tunnel to be constructed in the first place, but the Mayor of Pattaya went through with it anyway - causing me to think the whole thing is much more for somebody's brother-in-law to make big bucks rather than anyone thinking it will actually solve traffic problems - I remain very negative until it proves itself. I hope it does, but I doubt it.

There is no choice about giving it a chance. If I'm wrong, I'll be happy to eat my words once it opens. If nothing else, I hope they at least will restore the intersection at Soi Siam Country Club, so us "Darksiders" will no longer have to go way out of our way to go northbound on Sukhumvit. Restoration of that intersection will be something I'll believe once I see it. At the moment, if I simply want to go home from Pattaya Klang, I have to go all the way to Pattaya Nua to make a U-turn and backtrack.

Also, the tunnel's location is where there never was a serious traffic problem to start with. If anything, it should have been a bypass from Pattaya Tai to Thepprasit - and it should have been a bridge, not a tunnel.

It's going to be difficult to get me, and most people I know, including Thais, who live on "The Dark Side" to be anything other than negative about it.

[Up2u]

The article in the first post (Pattaya One) said February of next year which I interpreted as February of 2017. I cornered a Pattaya Mail reporter this morning and he said February of 2018, not 2017. I am on Sukumvit regularly and you can see the great progress they have made but there is still a lot of work to do. The reporter said they might temporarily open the tunnel for Songkran to help with traffic but they are on schedule and hopefully we will have a permanent early completion.

[Gaybutton]

I cornered a Pattaya Mail reporter this morning and he said February of 2018, not 2017.

Maybe he is wrong. I can't imagine it opening by some point in February 2017, but based on the progress I'm seeing, I don't know why he thinks it will be another year.

We'll see. I wish they'd get the damned thing open already. I'd like to see if it really does anything significant to relieve Sukhumvit's traffic congestion, especially during holidays when traffic is at its heaviest, but for some strange reason I think I already know the answer to that.

[Gaybutton]

Rain causes Pattaya Floods again but New Tunnel Passes with Flying Colours

By Danny Boy

February 25, 2017

More rain meant more flooding in Pattaya but the new tunnel managed to stay problem free

Many people have been waiting for the day when a downpour in Pattaya would cause chaos to the new underpass, turning it into some sort of man made river. So it was a pleasant surprise to everyone yesterday when many places across Pattaya suffered mini floods, including Sukhumvit Road, yet the new underpass remained problem free.

Workers on the underpass simply carried on as normal, as mayhem was being caused by the rain in other parts of Pattaya nearby.

The wost affected areas were the Sukhumvit Road/South Pattaya area, where water levels rose to around 1/2 a meter in some parts causing traffic to come to a standstill.

Other areas that were affected included Beach Road and Second Road respectively.

One Mitsubishi car got stuck on the central reservation when the driver tried to cross the road to the less flooded other side not realizing that there was a raised portion under the floodwaters.

It doesn’t take much to cause floods in Pattaya these days with the heavy rain lasting approximately 1 hour, from around 3pm until 4pm, yet it was still more than an enough to cause a few problems for the locals.

Story and photos: http://pattayaone.news/en/new-tunnel-passes-flying/

[lvdkeyes]

What do all the naysayer have to say now?