They are at it again

[MM 6,562]

Just before Halloween, the city fathers' left hand promoted the "Pattaya Halloween Festival" from Oct 29-31, and the city fathers' right hand started tearing up 2nd road south of Pattaya Tai, causing it to be one way going south to north.

 

The effect of this was that you could only go north on 2nd Road, but to go back south (to Jomtien or Pratumnak Hill), you had to go up to 3rd Road to head south. Traffic was a nightmare, more so than usual...just as the town was heading into peak season.

 

This road work lasted until around New Years Day, approximately 8 weeks.

 

Then, we had a week of lovely two way traffic on the new concrete slab roads, with the hope that no more potholes would be developing at the first rains as before.

 

And, now, here we are about a week into happiness, and they have started again.

 

They have torn up the southern intersection at Pattaya Tai and 2nd Road again, torn up the entry to Thappraya after passing under the 3rd road underpass, and strung rope down the middle of 2nd Road to make it impossible to make a right turn (going south) into Soi 14, 15, and Diamond.

 

The good news is that this will impede the traffic coming from Jomtien and Pratumnak Hill, thus reducing the number of Russians in town while the road works continue.

 

I'm going to try including a google map to show this...here it is http://goo.gl/maps/o24i

 

It sure would be nice if they would plan these projects around low season.

[glynbuk 29]

crazy stuff,

[Bushcraft 2,579]

Thanks MM, I was going to post about this myself, having taken a huge detour trying to get home from Soi 8 to Jomtien tonight.

It truly makes the mind boggle that people on presumably not insubstantial salaries, in senior positions, can time major roadworks to coincide with easily the busiest time of the entire year in a tourist resort.

We've just had the slowest low season in living memory, the problems with the road surfaces were perfectly apparent for months if not years, and these goombahs decide to wait until the major influx of visitors arrives rather than fix things when the inconvenience is minimised. I really wonder who is responsible for the final decision-making, what connections they have to avoid their heads being on a block (as they surely will avoid it .. mai bpen rai etc.), and with what qualifications they obtained the power to seriously inconvenience tens of thousands of people in the first place.

Lessing had it right: "Even the gods fight in vain against stupidity".

[captcraig2 120]

I guess it's a good thing that at least they're making some repairs, unlike in Korat where they just let the holes in the road swallow your car!

[jacko 8,813]

I was pondering similar madness only the other day as traffic bottle-necked due to resurfacing on Sukhumvit between Sattahip and Bang Saray. Why were they doing this at rush-hour?

 

Also the resurfacing of Sukhumvit last year, heading South before arriving at Tai, has been negated by the burying of huge concrete pipes. Thrappaya remains incomplete, and the incomplete horror continues past immigration onto Jomtiem second 'Rd'.

 

There is just too much traffic this time of year for these disasters....

 

Perhaps the rainy or hot season isn't suitable either though, but detour planning and alternatives is poor. Nor does the driving methods of LOS improve the situation as keeping junctions clear isn't part of the driving mentality.

 

Oh well LA isn't great driving either......

Edited January 8, 2011 by jacko

[Idefix 2,275]

It truly makes the mind boggle that people // can time major roadworks

to coincide with easily the busiest time of the entire year in a tourist resort.

There is just too much traffic this time of year for these disasters....

Hi,

A representative of the City Hall explained on TV in December that they always choose this period of the year for this kind of big street-building because they cannot do it when there is too much or too strong rain, and December-January is statistically a nearly-no-rain period.

[GlynRhedyn 32]

I saw them starting work on the bottom section of Pattaya Tai last week by hitting the concrete surface with normal claw hammers. I had a chuckle thinking that will take you weeks. For the sake of you guys still there I hope to be proved wrong.

Glyn.