‘Official’ or not, Pattaya tunnel is done, ready to open

[Rimmer]

‘Official’ or not, Pattaya tunnel is done, ready to open

PATTAYA:--After years of pain, Sukhumvit Road motorists likely will have something to cheer when the Central Road bypass tunnel likely will open for business, even though its “official” opening may be months away.

 

Sources inside Napa Construction, the general contractor leading work on the 800-million-baht tunnel, and the Department of Rural Roads say contractual issues may cause the official grand opening of the project to be delayed until the elevator-equipped Sukhumvit Road overpass near the Redemptorist Vocational School for Persons with Disabilities is done at year -end.

 

The tunnel itself, however, was declared 98 percent complete on May 6 and may start accepting vehicles by May 22, when Napa’s contract ends.

 

All structural work and the inside of the tunnel is now complete. All that remains to be done is installation of additional traffic signs, painting barriers, road surface adjustment on some parts of Sukhumvit Road, landscaping and adjustment of lights at the Central-Sukhumvit roads intersection.

 

However, unnamed sources inside Napa said they cannot guarantee the company will deliver the tunnel due to concerns over payment related to the pedestrian bridge.

 

The overpass, first proposed in 2013, repeatedly has been delayed, most significantly from a lawsuit brought by the nearby Pattaya Pawn Shop, which claimed criminals would stand there and case the shop for lucrative victims. The lawsuit was tossed out in October, but, by the, the money for the bridge was spent elsewhere.

 

In December, Pattaya secured new funds, but more delays ensued over utility pipes and wires that would need to be moved. Plans have been drafted to do so, but, again, there’s no money.

 

Read more: http://www.pattayamail.com/news/official-not-pattaya-tunnel-done-ready-open-173622

 

-- © Copyright Pattaya Mail 2017-05-12

[fforest1]

Alls I have to say is the poor long suffering people who live

on the dark side need this underpass to be open like yesterday..

Disabled bridge or no disabled bridge.....

 

There are huge numbers of people with a very disabled 

lifestyle...

 

[KhunBENQ]

Will it need article 44 to open a ready built tunnel?

[scorecard]

22 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

Will it need article 44 to open a ready built tunnel?

 

And the report mentions several items that should have been planned months to years back so that the whole thing is ready,

 

Plus funds spent on other items ....   Will it never end.

 

One item that irks me more and more is the apparent, broad based, lack of monitoring to quickly identify problems before they really happen and quickly get approvals and take remedial actions.  

 

Policies and processes to achieve this just don't seem to exist. Or is the overall problem the fact that nobody except the ultimate boss is allowed to comment / report / to give an order - just ignore obvious problems and wait for an instruction from way above.

 

 

[petermik]

I have read in another forum the work has been delayed because of problems relating to wheelchair access and the overpass bridge

[topt]

1 hour ago, petermik said:

I have read in another forum the work has been delayed because of problems relating to wheelchair access and the overpass bridge

That's basically what it says here as well........?

 

The bit I have never heard before is this lawsuit challenging the position of the bridge by a pawn shop?

[phantomfiddler]

3 hours ago, fforest1 said:

Alls I have to say is the poor long suffering people who live

on the dark side need this underpass to be open like yesterday..

Disabled bridge or no disabled bridge.....

 

There are huge numbers of people with a very disabled 

lifestyle...

 

From what I have heard, this structure is purely for the benefit of traffic travelling along Sukhumvit Highway and in no way will facilitate the dangerous transition from West Pattaya over to "The Dark Side". Could be wrong, in fact I usually am !

[BigSkip]

55 minutes ago, phantomfiddler said:

From what I have heard, this structure is purely for the benefit of traffic travelling along Sukhumvit Highway and in no way will facilitate the dangerous transition from West Pattaya over to "The Dark Side". Could be wrong, in fact I usually am !

no...............from what it looks like to me, I think your 100% correct. To make matters worse, a fly over would have completed the same task cheaper, quicker and more safe.  Security Concerns......What a nice place for a explosion with so many people concentrated in one spot.

Not to mention all the flooding problems this aquarium will have.......................

[thaibeachlovers]

23 minutes ago, BigSkip said:

no...............from what it looks like to me, I think your 100% correct. To make matters worse, a fly over would have completed the same task cheaper, quicker and more safe.  Security Concerns......What a nice place for a explosion with so many people concentrated in one spot.

Not to mention all the flooding problems this aquarium will have.......................

A flyover would indeed have been better, but most of us know why an underpass was built. The benefits will be far in excess of a simple overpass that could have been built at a fraction of the cost. 

[alocacoc]

Not sure if it will open ever. So far I know, the automatic car parking building is still closed. I wouldn't hold my breath.

[klauskunkel]

6 hours ago, Rimmer said:

After years of pain, Sukhumvit Road motorists likely will have something to cheer when the Central Road bypass tunnel likely will open for business, even though its “official” opening may be months away.

likely, likely, may be - sounds like a weather forecast

[ross163103]

7 hours ago, Rimmer said:

However, unnamed sources inside Napa said they cannot guarantee the company will deliver the tunnel due to concerns over payment related to the pedestrian bridge.

Wooohoooo........how long will they drag this out?! Thought it was a great idea years ago buying on the darkside, now, not so sure with this fiasco and also the Siam Country Club circus going on!

[just.a.thought]

Will the sidewalks leading to the elevator also be made wheelchair friendly?

[mikebell]

This whole scheme was merely an excuse for a number of people to get unusually rich and to hell with the misery caused to millions of motorists and the financial ruin to hundreds of business people locally.

[gmac]

1 hour ago, mikebell said:

This whole scheme was merely an excuse for a number of people to get unusually rich and to hell with the misery caused to millions of motorists and the financial ruin to hundreds of business people locally.

Even that excuse wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that it's not a number of people getting unusually rich, it's the already unusually rich people getting even more unusually rich!

[Langsuan Man]

15 hours ago, ross163103 said:

Wooohoooo........how long will they drag this out?! Thought it was a great idea years ago buying on the darkside, now, not so sure with this fiasco and also the Siam Country Club circus going on!

Don't forget the chaos when they do the same silly thing at Nua and Thai intersections

[topt]

5 minutes ago, Langsuan Man said:

Don't forget the chaos when they do the same silly thing at Nua and Thai intersections

We have had this before - I thought it was Tai and Thrappassit - never seen anything about one at Nua? 

[Langsuan Man]

31 minutes ago, topt said:

We have had this before - I thought it was Tai and Thrappassit - never seen anything about one at Nua? 

I may be incorrect, just knew it was a total of three, thanks for the correction 

[JSixpack]

5 hours ago, mikebell said:

This whole scheme was merely an excuse for a number of people to get unusually rich and to hell with the misery caused to millions of motorists and the financial ruin to hundreds of business people locally.

 

Or maybe an excuse for ignorant class warfare on TVF. Actually millions of motorists and hundreds of business people will benefit from improved traffic conditions owing to the tunnel. (Note if it were a flyover as mandated by the TVF Central Planning Bureau, there'd be no such assertion.) It's merely one more piece in the improvement of Pattaya's infrastructure, another rather belated attempt to keep up w/ all the development. At the same time it'll contribute to more development, so helping bring financial success to hundreds of business people locally current and future. This, despite the nonsense promulgated by our many believers in the old Pattaya Perpetual Death Spiral and the Golden Egg Layers Theory Of Thai Economics. And of course we'll have posters denying the traffic has improved (though it's a greater volume) just as we have posters denying that anyone uses the Promenade or swims in the Bay.

 

WinnieTheKhwai, who has more sense than most, is one of the few who by time of the Promenade had it right and even half-predicted The Tunnel, such a rich source of sneers & doomsayin':

 

I think it dawned on them [City Hall] pretty late that Pattaya was going to be a BIG city. One of the biggest in the country, after Bangkok. . . . Currently Pattaya is probably up there in the top 3 of biggest cities outside of Bangkok. (Subject to what anyone would want to define as being 'Pattaya' . . .) [speaking of tunnels in Chiang Mai] That needs to happen in Pattaya too; all major intersections on Sukhumvit need tunnels and/or flyovers.

WinnieTheKhwai, on 19 Apr 2013 - 06:21

 

 

 

[topt]

1 hour ago, JSixpack said:

Actually millions of motorists and hundreds of business people will benefit from improved traffic conditions owing to the tunnel. (Note if it were a flyover as mandated by the TVF Central Planning Bureau, there'd be no such assertion.)

Sorry JSixpack but unless I have read it wrong you are saying the tunnel will bring all these benefits but a flyover wouldn't? If both improved the traffic flow/conditions why the difference?

[JSixpack]

15 minutes ago, topt said:

Sorry JSixpack but unless I have read it wrong you are saying the tunnel will bring all these benefits but a flyover wouldn't? If both improved the traffic flow/conditions why the difference?

 

'Twas too late to edit that before I noticed it wasn't so clear. Both tunnel & flyover would be beneficial. Point I was trying to make was that if it were a flyover, as recommended so often by the Bureau, then that would quite OK. No sneers, just gripes.

 

But tunnel, not flyover, is something to which so many experts just haven't been able to reconcile themselves and so will remain in denial about any possible benefit. (Slightly reminds me of the countless excuses to dump on the new ferry service.) In fact though a tunnel is just much nicer than another flyover (we have enough of those around for vehicles to fall off of) and fits in with the effort (if sometimes laughable) of trying to spruce up the image here. Supposedly a flyover would have been faster and not tied up traffic but that wasn't the case w/ the Laemchabang flyover.

 

My apologies for the confusion.

[topt]

5 minutes ago, JSixpack said:

 

'Twas too late to edit that before I noticed it wasn't so clear. Both tunnel & flyover would be beneficial. Point I was trying to make was that if it were a flyover, as recommended so often by the Bureau, then that would quite OK. No sneers, just gripes.

 

But tunnel, not flyover, is something to which so many experts just haven't been able to reconcile themselves and so will remain in denial about any possible benefit. (Slightly reminds me of the countless excuses to dump on the new ferry service.) In fact though a tunnel is just much nicer than another flyover (we have enough of those around for vehicles to fall off of) and fits in with the effort (if sometimes laughable) of trying to spruce up the image here. Supposedly a flyover would have been faster and not tied up traffic but that wasn't the case w/ the Laemchabang flyover.

 

My apologies for the confusion.

No problem - thanks.

[Banana7]

The Pattay Klang tunnel has been so successful that now there are plans for 2 new tunnels along Sukhumvit! One at Pattaya Tai and the other at Pattaya Nua. Are you ready for another 5 years of traffic chaos?

[BigSkip]

5 hours ago, Banana7 said:

The Pattay Klang tunnel has been so successful that now there are plans for 2 new tunnels along Sukhumvit! One at Pattaya Tai and the other at Pattaya Nua. Are you ready for another 5 years of traffic chaos?

I hope thats B.S. / Early April Fools....................

[guzzi850m2]

May start accepting vehicles by May 22, so there is light at the end of the tunnel after all.

 

Thank Buddha for that, our son changed school last month so we pass the tunnel every day in the truck, 2 times, drop off & pick-up. 

 

This have been going on for a very long time now but I guess they had to do something, hope it will work as planned.

[topt]

7 hours ago, Banana7 said:

The Pattay Klang tunnel has been so successful that now there are plans for 2 new tunnels along Sukhumvit! One at Pattaya Tai and the other at Pattaya Nua. Are you ready for another 5 years of traffic chaos?

 

1 hour ago, BigSkip said:

I hope thats B.S. / Early April Fools....................

See posts #17 and #18 - was always the original intent for 3 tunnels.

[Basil B]

Let just hope the have installed the pumps the right way round... 

[thaibeachlovers]

On 5/13/2017 at 2:02 PM, JSixpack said:

 

Or maybe an excuse for ignorant class warfare on TVF. Actually millions of motorists and hundreds of business people will benefit from improved traffic conditions owing to the tunnel. (Note if it were a flyover as mandated by the TVF Central Planning Bureau, there'd be no such assertion.) It's merely one more piece in the improvement of Pattaya's infrastructure, another rather belated attempt to keep up w/ all the development. At the same time it'll contribute to more development, so helping bring financial success to hundreds of business people locally current and future. This, despite the nonsense promulgated by our many believers in the old Pattaya Perpetual Death Spiral and the Golden Egg Layers Theory Of Thai Economics. And of course we'll have posters denying the traffic has improved (though it's a greater volume) just as we have posters denying that anyone uses the Promenade or swims in the Bay.

 

WinnieTheKhwai, who has more sense than most, is one of the few who by time of the Promenade had it right and even half-predicted The Tunnel, such a rich source of sneers & doomsayin':

 

I think it dawned on them [City Hall] pretty late that Pattaya was going to be a BIG city. One of the biggest in the country, after Bangkok. . . . Currently Pattaya is probably up there in the top 3 of biggest cities outside of Bangkok. (Subject to what anyone would want to define as being 'Pattaya' . . .) [speaking of tunnels in Chiang Mai] That needs to happen in Pattaya too; all major intersections on Sukhumvit need tunnels and/or flyovers.

WinnieTheKhwai, on 19 Apr 2013 - 06:21

 

 

 

NB, he does include flyovers in that prediction.

 

I guess you are OK with the years of chaos on Sukhumvit caused by the incompetent company that built it ( there was never any excuse for the chaos they caused, other than they don't give a monkey's for road users ), and the more years of chaos to come with the next 2 tunnels. Just as long as the cars can move faster.

You appear to have a love affair with cars, whereas I'd take steps to ban the sodding things on most Pattaya roads. That'd solve the traffic jams.

[JSixpack]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

NB, he does include flyovers in that prediction.

 

And that was prescient as well but you see not as much so as the tunnel, which was in fact the solution chosen. Even the dullest of our TVF Traffic Engineers can, if pressed hard to consider the particular problem, come up w/ flyover, as that's all they really know. As I noted earlier, Both tunnel & flyover would be beneficial.

 

Quote

I guess you are OK with the years of chaos on Sukhumvit caused by the incompetent company that built it ( there was never any excuse for the chaos they caused, other than they don't give a monkey's for road users ), and the more years of chaos to come with the next 2 tunnels. Just as long as the cars can move faster.

 

Road construction inevitably causes traffic jams & inconvenience. GIYF. Not needing the comfort of daily whinging, no, I won't be whinging about the inevitable. Our ace TVF Traffic Engineers don't know all the variables so they can't judge the competence of the company. The fact that they unanimously predicted flooding, not even considering the lay of the land, merely suggests that it's more our ace Traffic Engineers who are incompetent and lack credibility. Our ace Road Construction Engineers all sneered about the repaving of Pattaya Thai and also 2nd Rd. Doing it all wrong, gon' wash away first rainfall. Yeah, yeah.

 

Hand wringing about road users is simply phony as you yourself just walk around Central Pattaya. 

 

Quote

You appear to have a love affair with cars, whereas I'd take steps to ban the sodding things on most Pattaya roads. That'd solve the traffic jams.

 

Dreams & fantasies won't improve the traffic situation. You see, it's not all about you. I'm happy if economic growth improves the lot of Thais who otherwise wouldn't have had the chance. All those new jobs created at CentralFestival, Harbor, and soon Terminal 21 (to mention the most obvious)--yeah, I think that's a good thing.

[thaibeachlovers]

3 hours ago, JSixpack said:

 

And that was prescient as well but you see not as much so as the tunnel, which was in fact the solution chosen. Even the dullest of our TVF Traffic Engineers can, if pressed hard to consider the particular problem, come up w/ flyover, as that's all they really know. As I noted earlier, Both tunnel & flyover would be beneficial.

 

 

Road construction inevitably causes traffic jams & inconvenience. GIYF. Not needing the comfort of daily whinging, no, I won't be whinging about the inevitable. Our ace TVF Traffic Engineers don't know all the variables so they can't judge the competence of the company. The fact that they unanimously predicted flooding, not even considering the lay of the land, merely suggests that it's more our ace Traffic Engineers who are incompetent and lack credibility. Our ace Road Construction Engineers all sneered about the repaving of Pattaya Thai and also 2nd Rd. Doing it all wrong, gon' wash away first rainfall. Yeah, yeah.

 

Hand wringing about road users is simply phony as you yourself just walk around Central Pattaya. 

 

 

Dreams & fantasies won't improve the traffic situation. You see, it's not all about you. I'm happy if economic growth improves the lot of Thais who otherwise wouldn't have had the chance. All those new jobs created at CentralFestival, Harbor, and soon Terminal 21 (to mention the most obvious)--yeah, I think that's a good thing.

Road construction inevitably causes traffic jams & inconvenience. 

 

Yes indeed they do, but people that gave a monkey's would have restored the pavement so people could actually use it without leaving it a big mess for ages, and there was no excuse for not restoring the road link at the top of Central Rd. to the far side of Sukhumvit as soon as possible instead of leaving it blocked for what I understand to be years.

You are very quick to give a pass to incompetent, uncaring companies, so long as the almighty motor car gets to drive faster. After all, In LOS only the serfs have to walk, so they are not worthy of consideration.

 

Hand wringing about road users is simply phony as you yourself just walk around Central Pattaya. 

And you know that because you are following me?