CHALONG CIRCLE has always triggered traffic jams at morning and evening peak hours. From Thursday, a new-look traffic lights intersection should be in place for Phuket commuters to test.
According to the experts, the circle has to go - even though some road users claim circles are superior traffic flow movers to intersection lights.
In place of the circle and its central statuary, according to details revealed today, will come a 300,000 baht set of lights, and a reduction in the inward flow of traffic.
So the five-star circle becomes four and a half stars, with the road from the pier being reduced to a left-turn only.
Drivers coming out from the pier will have to turn towards Rawai, then make a u-turn back to the intersection.
This option, already in place on an experimental basis, is now set to live on.
The inward route to Chalong Pier will still be from the intersection, although there was talk of attempting to make the route to the pier a one-way loop.
Suriya Juvatee, Deputy Engineer at the Highways Department, told the Vice-Governor's regular media briefing today that no parking would be allowed within 50 metres of the new intersection.
New signage should help first-time users to negotiate the new lights.
One benefit, Khun Suriya said, is that the automated lights will free police to do other work - something close to the hearts of Rawai expats alarmed by crime rates.
Will the traffic circle at the famous Heroine's Monument be next? Khun Suriya says the planned road widening there will add to the traffic ''halo'' and smooth the flow for now.
But the Heroine Sisters could eventually be lifted up, above the traffic, to improve flow there, too . . . at a cost of 50 million baht.
It would certainly become essential to shift the sisters in one direction or another if the Governor achieves his aim of winning a speedy light-rail service between the airport and Phuket City.
According to the experts, the circle has to go - even though some road users claim circles are superior traffic flow movers to intersection lights.
In place of the circle and its central statuary, according to details revealed today, will come a 300,000 baht set of lights, and a reduction in the inward flow of traffic.
So the five-star circle becomes four and a half stars, with the road from the pier being reduced to a left-turn only.
Drivers coming out from the pier will have to turn towards Rawai, then make a u-turn back to the intersection.
This option, already in place on an experimental basis, is now set to live on.
The inward route to Chalong Pier will still be from the intersection, although there was talk of attempting to make the route to the pier a one-way loop.
Suriya Juvatee, Deputy Engineer at the Highways Department, told the Vice-Governor's regular media briefing today that no parking would be allowed within 50 metres of the new intersection.
New signage should help first-time users to negotiate the new lights.
One benefit, Khun Suriya said, is that the automated lights will free police to do other work - something close to the hearts of Rawai expats alarmed by crime rates.
Will the traffic circle at the famous Heroine's Monument be next? Khun Suriya says the planned road widening there will add to the traffic ''halo'' and smooth the flow for now.
But the Heroine Sisters could eventually be lifted up, above the traffic, to improve flow there, too . . . at a cost of 50 million baht.
It would certainly become essential to shift the sisters in one direction or another if the Governor achieves his aim of winning a speedy light-rail service between the airport and Phuket City.
