I’ve used the road a few times at various times of the day/week and so far I’ve found it quicker that it was before when the lights were in place and working, perhaps I’ve just been lucky. Is the intention to have filter lanes onto the main carriageways? I’ve yet to see a Thai driver (other than my missus) who can filter safely and it’ll most likely end up in tears. Traffic lights might work, they did something similar in Canning Town putting lights on the flyover to allow the filter lane to enter the carriageway but of course people take notice of red lights there. It’s going to be interesting.

I have found it much easier to come in to town from Nong Khai
since these works commenced. I have only once been delayed,
and that was caused by the constant lane changing of individuals
trying to get ahead of the pack. A small fortune could have been saved by
making the "racetrack system" in use at present, into a permanent structure.

However, they are missing appropriate signage and a lack of lane enforcement.

Land surrounding the works should have been compulsory appropriated, to ensure works vehicles have proper safe access and egress to/from the site.

It occurs to me that a roadsweeper(and I do mean the vehicle seen at work in Udon -really!, not a guy/lady with a broom ) might be employed nightly, in lieu of the truck pumping out water, which turns the whole area into a mudbath.
Coming towards Nong Khai, whilst appreciating some narrowing of the space available because of the barriers, there's so much muck on the pavement side lane(I use the term loosely) that it deters drivers from using it. In effect, what is initially 3 lanes becomes 2 1/2 and further out 2 becomes 1 1/2. Makes the bottleneck even tighter.
Similarly, again, understanding that building requires some 'bulges' in the barricades, just a little more thought on the positioning of these things, from a driver's point of view. Coming in, just where the traffic turns left to join the ring road, the two lanes for traffic going straight over are confronted with a barrier, which restricts the lanes to say 1 1/2. I THINK that barricade could be pushed back a couple of metres and traffic going across would flow a little more easily.
Has anyone noticed where the site office is?
Things are certainly taking shape. I wonder if the project is on schedule?

The roads around the works are indeed becoming very difficult to manoeuvre, large pits are forming, and as said above, mud and water everywhere. Avoid the area like the plague during peak hours. Travelling to airport tomorrow morning will see what happens then, an early start however. Overall, the project does seem to be moving along quite well.

Agree that much of the delay is simply down to very bad planning
Flattening of the mudbanks and laying a temp/cheap road surface outside the current lanes, could and should have been done BEFORE the main work was undertaken (on all 4 sides of the junction)

Having now provided a "U" turn for traffic from NK prior to the main junction, one has to ask where is the one for traffic in the opposite direction? Currently traffic from Tesco's that wants to go in the direction of Bobay/VIP/Global House/Big C has to go 2km the wrong way, U turn at Nong Samrong lights, 2 km back, left at NK road 2km up NK road to what was the 2nd U turn and is now the first,, U'turn and back 2km to turn left onto ringroad ....... a total of about 8km and 20 - 30 mins depending on traffic to travel what was about 500 metres

Wouldnt take a mastermind to be able to reinstate the Tesco U turn now they have got roads in both directions laid

stereolab wrote: ↑

September 21, 2018, 8:22 am

.... Travelling to airport tomorrow morning will see what happens then, an early start however. .....

IF coming from Nong Khai way, suggest you use Nong Samrong.

stattointhailand wrote: ↑

September 21, 2018, 8:42 am

.... Currently traffic from Tesco's that wants to go in the direction of Bobay/VIP/Global House/Big C.....

Again, I'd suggest avoiding the intersection altogether and certainly for all that messing about. From Tesco's going Nongbua way, take the first left, which would take you through to Nong Prajak, if you continued. But first left again, opposite big, smart house, takes you through passing temple to the main Udon Dutsadi Rd, near to the Library/Planetarium. Then road opposite Udon Christian School will take you via Nong Sim lake to the intersection near Global.

Made the mistake of getting caught up in these road / construction works this morning ..can only be described as a bomb site akin to the movie Battle of the Somme.

Have to deal with it a minimum of twice a day, every day. There's a back way we sometimes take through Ban Dong Wai that comes out near Bobay, but part of the road is a kidney buster that will knock your tooth fillings loose.
Reason# 12,347 to move out of Thailand.

runrunshaw wrote: ↑

September 21, 2018, 6:17 pm

Have to deal with it a minimum of twice a day, every day. There's a back way we sometimes take through Ban Dong Wai that comes out near Bobay, but part of the road is a kidney buster that will knock your tooth fillings loose.
Reason# 12,347 to move out of Thailand.

i feel for you .. once in 3 months was enough for me and my van .. my venture into the losy zone reminded me of the scene from Saving Private Ryan as Tom Hanks n Co moved in ..only .. it wasnt raining !!

We live just at the back of SB Furniture so have no alternative to taking this route at least twice a day.
I take the granddaughter to school in the morning and pick her up in the afternoon.
In the morning I aim to be out before 7.30am,so not too bad then,and pick her up from school around 3pm,again not too bad.
7.45am to 8.30am deffo a no-no.....same 5pm to 6pm....
Only another 3 years or so to go then it should be finished.

I travelled through the roadworks from NK at 0730 hrs this morning, sailed through all the way to the airport.

tamada wrote: ↑

September 22, 2018, 7:15 pm

pal52 wrote: ↑

September 22, 2018, 5:18 pm

stereolab wrote: ↑

September 22, 2018, 4:38 pm

I travelled through the roadworks from NK at 0730 hrs this morning, sailed through all the way to the airport.

Maybe that had something to do with being a Saturday.
No School buses / plus parents taking children to school or government workers going to work.

That early yes but on Saturday/Sunday it still turns to sh!t around 11 AM onwards, just like a week day but with the added bonus of Lao drivers who like to straddle lanes.

Tamada nailed it. Weekend mornings aren't bad, but later in the day it's a nightmare going that last couple of kilometers to the Ring Road from the direction of Nong Kai. Coming back the other way is no picnic, either, now that it's down to essentially one lane. Having a 4WD drive SUV helps, but I have to give thanks to the Thai sense of what constitutes a detour--it's been worth a barrel of laughs.

Yes, & Mr & Mrs Somchai who only go out on a weekend to see the bright lights of Udon & have no idea what to do or where to drive. At least the weekday commuters seems to have got a faint grasp of the situation having travelled it so many times

Drunk Monkey wrote: ↑

September 21, 2018, 1:51 pm

Made the mistake of getting caught up in these road / construction works this morning ..can only be described as a bomb site akin to the movie Battle of the Somme.

Agree, as went past/through it last week and its typical Thai.

Someone suggested bad planning, which is part of the problem, as Thai's rarely thing ahead. The most likely reason is that the Contractor just doesn't want to spend a cent on any form temporary works, be it the roadway around this construction site or even the way builds the overpass, so he does the absolute minimum outside and inside of his Site. You can also see it in his general organization/approach inside his Site, as well.

It’s not just a Thai mentality, its typical in much of Asia and the Middle East. Thai and other Asian Contractors don't have that construction mindset of "Spending some money to organize their construction sites first, in order to get a better result and more productivity", because their labor is arguably very cheap

Not to mention the fact that as an Outsider (i.e. the General Public), you mean S F A to them and their profit margin, so why should they bother to spend on anything the outside, when they can just inconvenience you for free =D> =D>

pipoz4444