COPS BATTLE TRAFFIC CHAOS ON LAT PHRAO

>> Police are devising a solution to the traffic chaos on Lat Phrao Road caused by the Lat Phrao-Samrong Yellow Line electric train construction which left the rush hour traffic in the area paralysed on Friday evening.

Vehicles on Lat Phrao Road were bumper to bumper for hours in the evening traffic.

Traffic police are drawing up a plan to fight the heavy congestion which is expected to return tomorrow.

The plan will address short and the longer term solutions as the train line construction will last three and a half years, said deputy city police chief Chiraphat Phumchit.

The electric train project has created a two-kilometre bottleneck as the train construction takes away one lane each from the outbound and inbound traffic.

Police have to come up with up with traffic diversions to make way for the work. The diversions worsen traffic on a street already known for its traffic jams. They will affect a 9km stretch.

The bottleneck which starts from Chokechai 4 Road spreads the traffic havoc to the adjacent Chatuchak area, the outbound lanes of the Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, the Din Daeng expressway toll booth as well as the Rama IX, Phetchaburi and Asok areas.

The Friday paralysis saw tailbacks extending from Lat Phrao in the north of Bangkok all the way to the threshold of the city centre, Pol Maj Gen Chiraphat said.

This is a serious issue that must be jointly solved by police and state agencies. The motorists must also get in on the act, he said.

The 30-km Yellow Line project costing 51.9 billion baht is due to finish in 2021.

It will connect Lat Phrao and Samrong in Samut Prakan.

The Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA), which operates the Yellow Line project, said the construction will occupy two lanes of Lat Phrao Road.

The two lanes to be closed to traffic run from the Chokechai 4 intersection to the Ratchada-Lat Phrao intersection; and Lat Phrao Soi 43 to Lat Phrao market at Saphan 2.

Motorists are warned to use alternative roads for the duration of the project. Metropolitan Police Bureau deputy commissioner Chiraphat Bhumichitr has urged motorists to avoid the road altogether if they can.

For the outbound traffic, the options are the Lat Phrao Sois 35 and 41 as well as the Chokechai 4 Road leading them to Ratchadaphisek Soi 30, 32 (Aphaphirom) and 36 (Suea Yai Uthit).

For the inbound direction, motorists should take Lat Phrao Sois 64 and 80 as shortcuts to Ratchadaphisek Soi 18 and an area near the Ratchada-Sutthisan intersection.