New year’s travel surge causes traffic on Nakhon Ratchasima bypass
As the New Year celebration kicks off, citizens embark on a journey back to their hometowns in the Northeast region of Thailand. This has resulted in heavy traffic congestion on the bypass road around Nakhon Ratchasima, extending over one kilometre. However, the M6 Motorway has effectively alleviated inner city traffic.
Around 8am, the continuous stream of people travelling back to their Northeastern hometowns caused severe congestion on the bypass road around Nakhon Ratchasima. Despite the heavy traffic, vehicles were moving slowly due to the massive number of people travelling. This bypass road had to accommodate vehicles coming from the eastern region heading towards Khon Kaen on road 304. People started to return to their hometowns and tourists crowded the Asia route, the path leading north, causing dense traffic.
Vehicles coming from Mittraphap Road mixed with those from the M6 Motorway, resulting in a large volume of traffic in the area. Along with vehicles exiting from the roadside petrol stations, it led to an accumulation of traffic. At the same time, at the M6 Motorway exit point, there was a relatively small number of vehicles using the M6 Motorway. This was after its opening on December 27 at around 7pm.
One of the reasons was that some of the people travelling back to the Northeast region chose to use the motorway exits at different levels in Sikhiu and the motorway exit in Kham Thale So district. They used these routes to return to Chaiyaphum, Khon Kaen, and other provinces in the Northeast region. However, after the opening, it has become an option for people travelling during the festival. It also effectively reduced the impact of traffic congestion during the festival.
