I won't disagree with that, Buck, although the geography is one of the reasons we moved here 38 years ago (hills! lakes! vistas!), but I get your point. The options for building highways, etc., are very limited by that geography and the environment is fragile to the NW, W, and SW both in and outside of the city, as you're no doubt aware. What has me ticked off is the poor planning for this project. Argh!
Traffic is the reason for construction. Of course construction makes traffic worse. I don't see how traffic prior to construction is relevant to construction almost being complete after 7 years of this. If people were saying construction would be almost complete 6 years ago, those people are idiots. Once 290 is done, traffic should go down temporarily (construction isn't to eliminate traffic, but to keep status quo - people will still commute long distances, buy houses in suburbs, and b**** about traffic on the internet).
Roads are always being built and the traffic never improves. The politicians must all be receiving kick-backs from the contractors who've been awarded the road projects.
https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/media-center/local-news/houston/005-2018.html HOUSTON – TxDOT's construction on the I-610/West Loop dedicated bus lanes between the Northwest Transit Center and Post Oak Boulevard is set to begin April 6. Multiple long-term lane closures are needed to facilitate the first phase of construction on the project. Effective Friday, April 6, at 9 p.m., the following closures are scheduled to begin: I-610 southbound exit ramp to Post Oak Boulevard will be closed. Detour by taking the San Felipe exit, turn right on San Felipe and then right or left on Post Oak Boulevard. Alternatively, take the San Felipe exit to southbound frontage road and U-turn at San Felipe north, then U-turn again onto the northbound frontage road to Post Oak Boulevard intersection. I-610 southbound auxiliary lanes between the Woodway/Memorial Drive exit and the Post Oak Boulevard exit will be closed. Four I-610 mainlanes and one frontage road lane will remain open at this location. The inside lane of the I-610 southbound frontage road from Woodway Drive to Post Oak Boulevard will be closed. These three closures will be in effect from 9 p.m., Friday, April 6, until the end of this first phase of construction, which is anticipated to be complete within eight months. During this initial phase, Williams Brothers Construction will be working from south to north. The closures are necessary to allow for equipment, material delivery, workers, and overhead formwork construction to operate safely. The contractor will use the ability to remove a section of the I-610 bridge deck at Post Oak Boulevard, which was designed to facilitate a future portal for transit vehicles to be able to access the middle of Post Oak Boulevard from the center of I-610. The bridge for the elevated bus lanes will cross over the I-610 southbound mainlanes and continue on the southbound side of I-610 until it flattens out at ground level at North Post Oak Lane.
I thought they finished all the road construction in Houston about a decade ago -- why mess with perfection?
Regarding Austin traffic, one idea that gets floated around a lot is to give truckers free tolls on 130/45. That gets most of them off I-35 since that's their only route from Mexico to the north. It opens I-35 to Austin commuters, relieving traffic off Mopac and 183 since the only highways go the same direction. Sounds like a good idea to me.
It also sounds good to me. Just so long as it stays east of I-35, I like the idea. I've been wondering how to promote truck traffic on that route and considered discounts, but free is more likely to work. That, and prohibiting them from transversing I-35 through central Austin, which is how Mopac is operated. No Semi's are allowed except on rare occasions when they have approval. That's my understanding and you rarely see them there. Most trucks, in fact, are rentals of the smaller variety. They probably aren't supposed to use Mopac either, but aren't aware of it. So make I-30 free to commercial truckers and prohibit the same truckers from going through Austin on I-35, unless Austin is the destination (and if there is a way around that, even better). I think it would help a lot. I also doubt that it will happen. Some obscure Federal law we aren't aware of will probably keep it from happening. That, and money. Someone, somehow, will have to pay those tolls for I-30. Logic would say it should be a state/federal subsidy, in my opinion. Logic is usually the first thing tossed in the dumpster, in my experience. Hey, nice to see some interest.
Truckers also tear up roads at a far faster rate, so even if this were to occur, you're looking at doubling the amount of times those roads would have to be reconstructed.
Perhaps, but that was a large part of why they were built in the first place. That was going to happen regardless. The real problem I-30 has is lack of traffic. Far too many trucks are still taking I-35, instead of the alternative built with truck traffic in mind. Result? Clogged I-35 and I-30 too empty to be economically viable. Boosting truck traffic is, or should be, a priority. Otherwise, I-30 was a colossal waste of investment money and tax dollars. In my opinion.
Why are truckers allowed on the road during rush hour? They take up a ton of space, scare these idiotic drivers, drive slow, hard to merge they are in the wrong lanes...
The BEST is when I am coming FROM work, back into the loop via 290, and that HOV outbound to the suburbs that is situated opposite of me is at a COMPLETE STANDSTILL -- all because 1 car broke down. Everyone is just sitting there with their cars off (hundreds of people). Some are taking naps. Man, the looks on those driver's faces. Lulz on anyone who has ever been stuck in that mess. It happens at least 6 times a year. And I'm cool with any anti-trucker stuff. They shouldn't be allowed to vote or smile or anything.
The reality is that they pay the same gasoline taxes that you and I do. The focus on trucks just misses the larger issue with Austin. The road network (even without trucks) hasn't kept up with population growth. I lived in Austin when Dell was the only tech company around and even then it was plainly obvious the I35 and Mopac weren't enough. And as long as mass transit is basically useless in Austin, nothing will change. You'll never build enough roads and highways to keep up without viable mass transit solutions. What would be a nice start is introducing the concept of the expanded shoulder on the highways that are usable by mass transit. We have this concept in the Twin Cities. Most highways already have it with a few lagging behind but basically there is a dedicated lane/expanded shoulder that buses can use. Combine that with significantly more express routes (including routes that actually go into neighborhoods) and you see significantly more public transit use for daily commutes. Of course solutions like that require transit revenue and thats the core issue. There's no money in Austin or Texas for anything beyond basic maintenance of the existing transportation system. TexDOT is in a permanent budget shortfall and local governments are struggling just to figure out how to keep schools open. The whole thing is a mess.