Sukhumvit Pattaya tunnel construction has begun

If you are staying in Pattaya you may have already noticed it, otherwise you will definitely have to deal with it in the future. On Sukhumvit Road in Pattaya, the first works have started leading to a traffic tunnel that should relieve the busy traffic on that road.

It will be a four-lane tunnel stretching 1900 meters from Pornprapanimit Road to Nakorn Chai Air Transportation Center (roughly speaking, from Siam Country Road to the King Power building).

Surprising

For me it was a surprise. Of course I know that Sukhumvit in Pattaya is a terribly busy and therefore traffic-hazardous road that should be addressed at some point. I did not know that a tunnel was an option, but I immediately admit that I have not closely followed the local news about it. Yes, occasionally the possibility was discussed, but it remained with postponement and further studies. You soon lose interest that way.

I once looked back in the press and was able to determine that plans had already been in existence for about ten years. Many meetings of authorities were arranged and “hearings” were also held where the public sector could raise objections or come up with new ideas. But I soon got the idea that the decision for the tunnel had already been made and that all kinds of objections and alternatives were sympathetically heard before disappearing into the trash. A newspaper article stated that the tunnel plan was voted “democratically”.

It was not made clear who the voters were and what they could vote for. To be honest, I got an unkind thought that maybe personal and/or company interests have prevailed.

Opening ceremony

On October 17, 2014, the time had come. A festive, yet official ceremony was held at Pattaya City Hall to mark the start of the project. The deputy mayor chaired the meeting, which was attended by all kinds of leaders from the municipality, province, state, police and executive contractors. “The purpose of the tunnel is to reduce the ever-increasing traffic congestion on Sukhumvit Pattaya,” said the deputy mayor. Good plan, isn't it? He further stated that the budget for this project was 837.441.000 Baht and that the project was expected to be completed in 810 working days. The first shovel would go into the ground on November 15, 2014.

Issues

Judging by these figures, you could say that a lot of preparation has been done, but the first problem soon arose. An alert official had noticed that November 15 might not have been such a good idea because of the imminent traffic congestion for the holidays. Kudos to him, the initial work was postponed to mid-February 2015.

That's where we are now. We have only been on the road for a few weeks and the problems, objections and protests are almost escalating. I will mention a few, but mind you, this is just the beginning.

Traffic on Sukhumvit Road

At the location of the tunnel, Sukhumvit Road has been reduced from four lanes in each direction to three lanes. The intersection with Pattaya Klang is closed as well as the intersection with Siam Country Road. Side roads to and from East Pattaya only have one-way traffic. The narrowing of the road and the closure of certain roads have already resulted in quite a few accidents, fortunately none fatal as far as I know. Traffic is warned, apparently not in time, or at least the road users react badly to it.

Shortcuts

You can already see that the consequences of the work have not been sufficiently thought through. One-way traffic, closures and diversions of the major roads mean that many other streets, including the narrower ones, are now used as shortcuts. Soi Arunothai and 3rd Road, for example, already had heavy traffic, now it regularly jams. The signage for the detours is often there, but is hardly visible to motorists or at least only at the last moment. I myself have seen a few times that people ignore directions, turn left where that is not allowed and is not possible and then the steering wheel is suddenly turned to choose a different direction.

Middle class

Shops in the streets of East Pattaya up to the railway will have fewer customers due to the reduced traffic, which soon became noticeable. The shops in Pattaya Klang will also be hit, as they are difficult to reach for residents of the "dark side". A regular visitor reported on an English-language forum that it has now become very quiet in Foodland. Big C Extra will also notice it, but it has the advantage that customers have an alternative with Big C Pattaya South. Another reader noted that the traffic chaos of the next few years would be a good opportunity for a large supermarket chain to think about opening a branch in East Pattaya.

Why a tunnel?

The decision was thus made to build a road tunnel, which was criticized from the start. It would be much better if there were a long flyover. An important point in the objections is the possible flooding in the tunnel. It is precisely on this stretch of Sukhumvit that the road is regularly flooded during the rainy season. However, a (senior) official of the municipality has stated that sufficient measures have been taken in the design of the tunnel and that a flood is "impossible". A cynic wondered whether the civil servant would still be employed if a flood did occur in the tunnel in a few years' time. I read somewhere that there is also a U-turn in the tunnel, but that seems to me, especially for Thailand, asking for trouble.

Alternatives

Were there no alternatives, apart from the fly-over, available? Well, sure. I'm obviously not a traffic expert, but I do start with my own idea. Coming from East Pattaya I sometimes take the road parallel to the railway line to avoid Sukhumvit. That is a two-lane road on both sides of the railway line that has already become quite familiar to road users. Expand that road, because the intersections with the various level crossings must be improved and, moreover, there must be a good connection on the south side with Sukhumvit.

Someone suggested that a tunnel on Sukhumvit would not be necessary at all if tunnels were added from Pattaya Klang and Pattaya South under Sukhumvit Road to East Pattaya. Good idea, but the problem there is that a straight tunnel to East Pattaya is not possible from both streets because of the housing on the other side.

Pattaya Progress Association

In the period when the tunnel plan was still a plan and was being thought about a lot, a group of people – presumably all foreigners – emerged who called themselves the Pattaya Progress Association. That group contributed ideas to tackle the problem of Sukhumvit Road in Pattaya and came up with a detailed report. Several variants were explained in a presentation in October 2009 during an Expats Club meeting. I have read the description of the alternatives, the PPA Bypass and the Maprachan Highway and the accompanying sketches also make a lot clear. I am not going to explain that further here because it is of little use after the tunnel decision. If you are interested check out this link: www.pattayaprogress.org/roads/tunnels-under-sukhumvit

I have tried to contact this PPA but have been unsuccessful. I have the impression that the club has fallen apart after the disappointment about the tunnel decision.

Finally

At the beginning of this story, I quoted the deputy mayor as saying that the purpose of the road tunnel was to ease traffic on Sukhumvit. To achieve that goal, however, Pattaya will have to count on an increase in traffic problems for a number of years. Good for tourism? I do not think so!

You should remember the mentioned budget of over 837 million Baht, that will be much higher, I assure you. The time frame of 810 days (= 27 months) will also be amply exceeded. Just count on a year or six.

My conclusion is that it is a disastrous decision in many ways. It will not do the tourists and the population of the city of Pattaya (except for a few!) any good. And whether it will indeed solve the traffic problems of Pattaya and the surrounding area after all these years is highly questionable.