Locals fume over misery caused by slow construction on congested Rama II Road

[webfact]

Locals fume over misery caused by slow construction on congested Rama II Road

By The Nation

 

Photo credit: BLT Bangkok

 

Locals in the Muang district of Samut Sakhon province have called on the government to speed up construction on the notoriously congested Rama II Road, which is a major gateway to the South, complaining that the construction seemed to go on forever.

 

Some 20 people gathered at the pedestrian bridge in front of Wat Phanthai Norasing in Tambon Phanthai Norasing, carrying banners calling on the government to pay attention to their grievances caused by the ongoing construction.

 

A leader of the group showed a copy of an open letter to the prime minister. The letter said locals living along Rama II Road have been suffering from serious congestion since the start of construction work to improve and expand the road.

 

The letter said the construction has been going on with no sign of completion, and the congestion caused by the construction also affected the country’s economy because Rama II Road is a major gateway to the South.

 

The Bt2.31-billion project aims to improve a 11.7-kilometre section of Rama II Road from the Bang Khunthian intersection to the Ekkachai intersection and expand the number of lanes from three to four in one direction and the frontage roads from two lanes to three lanes in both directions. Two bridges will also be expanded, an elevated U-turn is to be built and a new bridge is to be constructed over the southern railway.

 

Apichart Prairungruang, president of the Land Transport Federation of Thailand, said the construction is for just a 11-kilometre section of the road but work has been slow and has taken almost two years now.

 

Apichart said the delay affected transport and tourism so the people wanted to draw the government’s attention to the issue.

 

Krit Suriyapol, a representative of the local residents, said earlier it took him about 20 minutes to drive from home to work but now it takes about an hour.

 

Lt-Colonel Wutthichai Thaweekanchanawat, traffic inspector of Muang Samut Sakhon Police Station, said police were monitoring the traffic situation on the road throughout the day and were trying their best to alleviate the congestion. But the construction work limited police’s capacity to tackle traffic congestion, especially from Bangkok’s Samae Dam district to Samut Sakhon province’s Muang district.

 

He said the construction work at the flyover over the railway in the Khok Krabua area caused a bottleneck that caused long lines of vehicles.

 

He said his police station was coordinating with the Samae Dam Police Station to try to minimise the congestion.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30373178

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2019-07-18

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[ChrisY1]

These works are an ongoing nightmare.....each time I travel this road section from Cha Am, it is just a slow moving carpark......now for more than 2 years!

No-one ever seems to be working except for the occasional excavator, truck and a couple of workers...2 kms along the road will maybe find another small crew doing little.

Someone has made a motza out of the budget and install skeleton crews and make very little progress.

[sammieuk1]

Sometimes funds need to be diverted from infrastructure projects and probably offshore for future safe guarding slowing progress a bit all perfectly normal????  

[rkidlad]

My missus' parents live around this area. Been going to see them for over 10 years and there's always been roadworks and awful traffic. 

[VocalNeal]

45 minutes ago, ChrisY1 said:

2 kms along the road will maybe find another small crew doing little.

I was in a traffic queue once on the Chonburi Motorway. I jokingly said it was probably caused by two guys with paint brushes painting the centre reservation concrete barrier white. 

 

I was wrong there were five guys  

[300sd]

Yes a huge amount of stupidity involved in this construction. (the normal amount). They could have built a new bridge before starting this whole project and redirected traffic, with a little forethought, around it properly somehow until it was finished instead of starting this from one end to the other at the same time. 

 

But not here: start up the whole project at once and we don't care how long it takes....And I have to say those people protesting, must only be a small number that are pissed off with this. It's an absolute nightmare for travelers when the traffic is minimal.

 

I definitely do not "understand"

[Cadbury]

1 hour ago, ChrisY1 said:

These works are an ongoing nightmare.....each time I travel this road section from Cha Am, it is just a slow moving carpark......now for more than 2 years!

No-one ever seems to be working except for the occasional excavator, truck and a couple of workers...2 kms along the road will maybe find another small crew doing little.

Someone has made a motza out of the budget and install skeleton crews and make very little progress.

Fairly predictable the budget for the works have been pillaged leaving only a spoonful of funds to keep up appearances.

[Thingamabob]

No experience of Rama 2 in recent times. We have our own nightmare issues in and around Ratchayothin. Billions spent but still chaotic.

[Galactus]

same along Charan Sanitwong Road!

They are trying to build an underpass for almost ten years! an underpass less than a km!!

and no one is doing nothing about this! locals protested things some years ago but that is it.

lots of shops and business are affected there. waiting and waiting.

traffic, congestion, pollution...

 

and construction of blue line MRT is going on for ten years along the same road too.

[RichardColeman]

19 hours ago, webfact said:

The letter said locals living along Rama II Road have been suffering from serious congestion since the start of construction work to improve and expand the road.

Smart ones would have set up stalls next to the slowly moving traffic !

[Almer]

3 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Smart ones would have set up stalls next to the slowly moving traffic !

Mrs get your bag your off to work darling