Expressway to trial reversible lane system
The Expressway Authority of Thailand (EXAT) will trial a reversible lane system on one of its expressways to try to reduce congestion during rush hours early next year.
Ekkarin Luangwilai, chief of the experiment department for quality and standards development in EXAT’s research and traffic engineering development division, said the test would be carried out on the Chalong Raj expressway from Ram Indra to Arj Narong.
The experiment will start in February and will last a month before the results are assessed.
He said the Chalong Raj expressway is suitable for the test because the rush hours in the morning saw congested traffic on the inbound expressway while the traffic was light in the opposite direction. The situation is reversed in the evening.
He said at the peak of rush hours, the traffic was congested for about three hours.
Ekkarin said if the system is proved successful, it may be applied to other routes that have a similar situation of unequal traffic during rush hours.
EXAT is now removing the road island on the Chalong Raj expressway for the experiment, he added.
Meanwhile, Theprit Ratanapanyakorn, chief of the division, advised motorists to download the EXAT Traffic Version 3 app, which reports traffic conditions on expressways in real time.