Austin Transportation & Roadways

[Armybrat 40,901]

2 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

To be fair, Texas was to a degree fucked by the old state law that required that all adjacent landowners be provided driveway access to state roads. As a result, that was a big driver for our frontage road system. It gave access without having driveways directly on highways. It created congestion because it allowed development directly on the frontage roads instead of arterials away from the highways. 

 

Thereby making the areas along our highways look like shitholes.

[Armybrat 40,901]

4 hours ago, Pasken said:

This. People would be shocked at how much we could improve traffic flow if we just focus on making highways and roads smarter instead of wider.

Trouble is the average driver isn’t getting any smarter.

[TKthunder2 4,997]

On 5/3/2021 at 7:17 AM, Pasken said:

This. People would be shocked at how much we could improve traffic flow if we just focus on making highways and roads smarter instead of wider.

Like not having 183 north bottle neck from 4 lanes to 3 lanes and back to 4 lanes again in a 4 mile stretch?

[Hagbard Celine 10,921]

On 5/1/2021 at 12:52 PM, JimmyJames said:

That ramp was a classic TXDOT aggy fuck up and I’m glad it’s finally being fixed.

Our state definitely has to lead the country in having to fix on and off ramp freeway fuckups by a mile. Numerous examples all over Austin and sometimes I wonder if it’s not deliberate. 

narrator: it's deliberate

[Hagbard Celine 10,921]

On 5/1/2021 at 1:03 PM, CooterBrown said:

Back my consulting days, I attended a transportation planning conference. During one presentation, the head of the Colorado DOT said to assure success in highway design, states should look at TxDOT’s lead and then do the opposite. Ripping TxDOT’s incompetence was a disturbingly common occurrence at those conferences.

there's an app for that

 

On 5/2/2021 at 7:55 PM, Paper_jam said:

When the Manor Expressway (toll portion of 290E) was being built, a contractor working from an outdated set of plans built a bunch of enormous support columns to the wrong height. Version control is a bitch sometimes.

[Hagbard Celine 10,921]

simple solution:

1. wheels, dana, cruz and the pub lege gets off their ass and go to pete and tell him they want to flip ownership/designations of I-35 and TX-130 / TX-45 South (from 183 to 35).

2. ban interstate truck traffic on "130" through Austin.

3. profit.

[Guest Lobo]

Proponents/Grifters of 130 in 2010:  We must build it from IH-35/45 to the south near Creedmoor to IH-35 to the north near Georgetown! 

Taxpayers in 2010:  Will it help alleviate semi-truck traffic from Austin to Round Rock?  Will help thru traffic navigate this congested stretch of Central Texas IH-35?  Will it make all roads involved safer and better maintained without any cost to the taxpayers?  

Proponents/Grifters in 2010:  Of course it will!  SH-130 will do all of that and so much more!

Taypayers in 2020: So it's been ten years, what has SH-130 helped with?  Trucks?  Traffic?  Commuting?  Safety?

Proponents/Grifters in 2020:  Well, a couple weekends a year it helps race fans get to a Formula 1 racetrack...whatever that is still.  And it'll help a handful of rich people get to their jobs at a Boring Company in SE Austin, who'll help build hyperloops that will render highways like 130 obsolete in a few years.  Pretty cool, huh?  

Edited May 4, 2021 by Lobo

[Armybrat 40,901]

Drive 130 between 71 & 45 in RR at rush hour (in non-pandemic times) for the answer to that question. There is a reason the third lane is being added as we type.

yeah the grift is there - see the almost ignored scandal of the 130 segment from 45 south to Seguin having to be rebuilt several years ago for tens of millions because the original contractor “cut corners”. Nobody went to jail over that one as far as I know.

[Pasken 1,309]

2 hours ago, Armybrat said:

Drive 130 between 71 & 45 in RR at rush hour (in non-pandemic times) for the answer to that question. There is a reason the third lane is being added as we type.

yeah the grift is there - see the almost ignored scandal of the 130 segment from 45 south to Seguin having to be rebuilt several years ago for tens of millions because the original contractor “cut corners”. Nobody went to jail over that one as far as I know.

Brat is right.  You may not like 130 and that's fine but it still serves a big community and will help bring desperately needed development to this part of town as development pops up around it.

Also, anyone who says trucks don't take 130 don't ever drive on 130. You could ban trucks from 35 but you would have a lot of empathy HEBs, Targets, CVSes and just about every other commercial building considering they all require trucks to service loading docks.

[Hagbard Celine 10,921]

require mandatory gps transponders to use i35 from 130 in georgetown to 610 in san antonio

dps can't detect a transponder in your truck?  get pulled over, $10k fine

spotcheck for proof of manifest/deliveries in williamson, travis, hays or comal counties

75% of the trucks clogging i35 in downtown austin are hauling freight from mexico north of the red river or heading home from the same

those trucks belong on 130 and would improve the downtown situation by 20%

[UTexasFight 9,528]

1 hour ago, Hagbard Celine said:

 

75% of the trucks clogging i35 in downtown austin are hauling freight from mexico north of the red river or heading home from the same

 

No way.
Sure maybe they start and end in each spot, but they are also stopping in Austin/Round Rock along the way.

there is no way 3 out of 4th truck is just passing through Austin.

most studies show it’s the opposite. 3 out of 4 have business in Austin and ~20% are just passing through 

 

[Pasken 1,309]

[Godzillatron 292]

Brat is right.  You may not like 130 and that's fine but it still serves a big community and will help bring desperately needed development to this part of town as development pops up around it.
Also, anyone who says trucks don't take 130 don't ever drive on 130. You could ban trucks from 35 but you would have a lot of empathy HEBs, Targets, CVSes and just about every other commercial building considering they all require trucks to service loading docks.

Also, the rebuild was done by the contractor under warranty. Drove them to bankruptcy but didn’t spend public$

[Somnio 751]

What's with all these "facts" and "data"?!?

Outrage!  Boondoggle!  Highway Robbery!!!

That's how it's done guys.

[hayden_horn 11,365]

On 5/4/2021 at 12:45 PM, TKthunder2 said:

Like not having 183 north bottle neck from 4 lanes to 3 lanes and back to 4 lanes again in a 4 mile stretch?

or not being able to stay in a middle lane on mopac from 2222 to slaughter?

also, now that i live in manchaca, i take the 45 toll to mopac, which is a joke of a toll, it's the shortest toll road ever, but whatever. why are the "work zone" signs still up down on the southernmost of mopac and the 55 mph speed limit still in effect? they've been done forever. travis county sheriffs just sit down there trying to pick off 55+ drivers, and i'm tired of monitoring my speed in a clearly completed non-construction zone.

[Updawg 2,286]

Still growing the grass and there has been a work truck under lacrosse forever it seems. I rarely drive down there but the past few times I have nothing has changed

[Pasken 1,309]

1 hour ago, hayden_horn said:

or not being able to stay in a middle lane on mopac from 2222 to slaughter?

also, now that i live in manchaca, i take the 45 toll to mopac, which is a joke of a toll, it's the shortest toll road ever, but whatever. why are the "work zone" signs still up down on the southernmost of mopac and the 55 mph speed limit still in effect? they've been done forever. travis county sheriffs just sit down there trying to pick off 55+ drivers, and i'm tired of monitoring my speed in a clearly completed non-construction zone.

45SW is the shortest toll over? LOL. Not remotely true and it's only a dollar. Try counting the tolling booths along the new 183.

[gsoda3 3,281]

north mopac has a toll right before the interchange to 45, then literally before the you get off the ramp onto WB 45 there's another toll if you want to exit on to O'Connor.  it's maybe 3/4 of a mile between the tolls.

[Biff Tannen 45,730]

19 hours ago, UTexasFight said:

most studies show it’s the opposite. 3 out of 4 have business in Austin and ~20% are just passing through 

So why can't we force those 20% to use 130? 

[Redneck Mutha 8,007]

And 130 is only going to get worse as Amazon in Pflugerville and Tesla ramp up. 

Not to mention the potential for 10s of thousands of new home builds along that corridor. 

[Pasken 1,309]

32 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

So why can't we force those 20% to use 130? 

There are lots of trucks on 130.

Edited May 5, 2021 by Pasken

[Armybrat 40,901]

23 minutes ago, Pasken said:

There are lots of trucks on 130.

You are correct. Lots of them every time I’ve used it.

[Armybrat 40,901]

17 hours ago, Godzillatron said:

Also, the rebuild was done by the contractor under warranty. Drove them to bankruptcy but didn’t spend public$

That is good to know.

[Guest Lobo]

I'm picturing you two (Pasken & Armybrat) in the back of the car like my two daughters on a highway, "Look a truck!"  "Truck"   "I see a truck!"  "Another one truck!"   "Yes everybody, there are trucks.  This is a highway.  There's going to be lots and lots of trucks."  

 

Edited May 5, 2021 by Lobo

[Armybrat 40,901]

Nah, I really just read the Burma Shave signs.

[PantsTent 2,002]

2 hours ago, hayden_horn said:

or not being able to stay in a middle lane on mopac from 2222 to slaughter?

also, now that i live in manchaca, i take the 45 toll to mopac, which is a joke of a toll, it's the shortest toll road ever, but whatever. why are the "work zone" signs still up down on the southernmost of mopac and the 55 mph speed limit still in effect? they've been done forever. travis county sheriffs just sit down there trying to pick off 55+ drivers, and i'm tired of monitoring my speed in a clearly completed non-construction zone.

They were still dicking around in the median and sides not too long ago but yeah, it seems done to me and I am ready for the 55mph signs to be ditched.

[hayden_horn 11,365]

1 hour ago, Pasken said:

45SW is the shortest toll over? LOL. Not remotely true and it's only a dollar. Try counting the tolling booths along the new 183.

it's 3.6 miles. tell me which toll road in central texas is shorter.

https://www.mobilityauthority.com/pay-your-toll/roads/map

[LebongJames 1,813]

8 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

it's 3.6 miles. tell me which toll road in central texas is shorter.

https://www.mobilityauthority.com/pay-your-toll/roads/map

Ya I’m going to have to agree with Hayden here.

[LebongJames 1,813]

Although there is a very short toll lane on 71 going past the airport.

[Samson's Wig 3,194]

Anyone know when they're going to start tearing up 360 to build the overpasses?  TxDot site doesn't say shit (at not that I can find).  Was supposed to start last year.

I just want to know when I need to start adding an extra 45 min each way before I go anywhere.

[elfenix 34,332]

or not being able to stay in a middle lane on mopac from 2222 to slaughter?
also, now that i live in manchaca, i take the 45 toll to mopac, which is a joke of a toll, it's the shortest toll road ever, but whatever. why are the "work zone" signs still up down on the southernmost of mopac and the 55 mph speed limit still in effect? they've been done forever. travis county sheriffs just sit down there trying to pick off 55+ drivers, and i'm tired of monitoring my speed in a clearly completed non-construction zone.

Fort Bend County tolls individual overpasses on 99.

[Pasken 1,309]

1 hour ago, Samson's Wig said:

Anyone know when they're going to start tearing up 360 to build the overpasses?  TxDot site doesn't say shit (at not that I can find).  Was supposed to start last year.

I just want to know when I need to start adding an extra 45 min each way before I go anywhere.

I believe at least some of those were part of a shit ton of projects that were delayed indefinitely by CAMPO to fund 35 reconstruction with managed lanes instead of toll lanes. 

Edited May 5, 2021 by Pasken

[Pasken 1,309]

 

 

3 hours ago, hayden_horn said:

it's 3.6 miles. tell me which toll road in central texas is shorter.

https://www.mobilityauthority.com/pay-your-toll/roads/map

Huh, seems longer than that but you're right. I take it back. 

Edited May 5, 2021 by Pasken

[Somnio 751]

59 minutes ago, Pasken said:

I believe at least some of those were part of a shit ton of projects that were delayed indefinitely by CAMPO to fund 35 reconstruction with managed lanes instead of toll lanes. 

Incorrect.  No 360 work was delayed to fund I-35.

http://loop360project.com/index.htm

[Orange&White 5,539]

17 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

So why can't we force those 20% to use 130? 

If I remember correctly it is because of a federal law that prohibits forced use of a toll road. Interstate Commerce Act, maybe?

[CooterBrown 18,027]

18 hours ago, gsoda3 said:

north mopac has a toll right before the interchange to 45, then literally before the you get off the ramp onto WB 45 there's another toll if you want to exit on to O'Connor.  it's maybe 3/4 of a mile between the tolls.

The best one is on 183.  You have to go 50 yards past the toll to exit Lakeline Blvd. 

[CooterBrown 18,027]

11 minutes ago, Orange&White said:

If I remember correctly it is because of a federal law that prohibits forced use of a toll road. Interstate Commerce Act, maybe?

Install a 24/7 weigh station for through travel trucks just outside of the 35/130 intersection.  Every through truck would take the toll road in order to avoid wasted time at that weigh station.

 

 

Edited May 6, 2021 by CooterBrown

[Armybrat 40,901]

1 hour ago, Orange&White said:

If I remember correctly it is because of a federal law that prohibits forced use of a toll road. Interstate Commerce Act, maybe?

That’s why the bypass lanes were added at Parmer/620 when 45 was built.

[DanRydell 799]

23 hours ago, hayden_horn said:

or not being able to stay in a middle lane on mopac from 2222 to slaughter?

also, now that i live in manchaca, i take the 45 toll to mopac, which is a joke of a toll, it's the shortest toll road ever, but whatever. why are the "work zone" signs still up down on the southernmost of mopac and the 55 mph speed limit still in effect? they've been done forever. travis county sheriffs just sit down there trying to pick off 55+ drivers, and i'm tired of monitoring my speed in a clearly completed non-construction zone.

That lane reduction right after William Cannon is maddening. They don't even need to build an extra lane, they just need to re-stripe so there isn't a 25-foot shoulder on the left side.

[Updawg 2,286]

That lane reduction right after William Cannon is maddening. They don't even need to build an extra lane, they just need to re-stripe so there isn't a 25-foot shoulder on the left side.

They are saving that to be a toll lane

[Steel Shank 9,430]

22 hours ago, Redneck Mutha said:

And 130 is only going to get worse as Amazon in Pflugerville and Tesla ramp up. 

Not to mention the potential for 10s of thousands of new home builds along that corridor. 

I read yesterday where the Bastrop CAD reported undeveloped land values increased 53% 2020-2021. East is about to explode.

[Pasken 1,309]

17 minutes ago, Steel Shank said:

I read yesterday where the Bastrop CAD reported undeveloped land values increased 53% 2020-2021. East is about to explode.

CTRMA is moving ahead on extending the 290 Expressway to Elgin. 

[clapclapclap 9,000]

So 290 tollway expansion east to the west side junction with 95, or through Elgin to east of town, or a bypass to the east?

I've never been able to find the plan for either bypassing or upgrading through Elgin.  Is there a plan?  Doesn't help that the TXDOT Austin District's Project Tracker won't load today.  Perhaps because the link says Bryan District?

https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/district/austin.html

http://apps.dot.state.tx.us/apps-cq/project_tracker/?DISTRICT_NAME=Bryan

 

Edited May 6, 2021 by clapclapclap

[Biff Tannen 45,730]

5 hours ago, Updawg said:

They are saving that to be a toll lane

YEP

[Pasken 1,309]

56 minutes ago, clapclapclap said:

So 290 tollway expansion east to the west side junction with 95, or through Elgin to east of town, or a bypass to the east?

I've never been able to find the plan for either bypassing or upgrading through Elgin.  Is there a plan?  Doesn't help that the TXDOT Austin District's Project Tracker won't load today.  Perhaps because the link says Bryan District?

https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/district/austin.html

http://apps.dot.state.tx.us/apps-cq/project_tracker/?DISTRICT_NAME=Bryan

 

They are working on the engineering. I've only seen it discussed in slides in the CTRMA board meetings online. It's still really early. 

[Guest Lobo]

Do you work for them?

[Biff Tannen 45,730]

1 hour ago, Lobo said:

Do you work for them?

Hasn't that been established by now?

[Pasken 1,309]

55 minutes ago, Lobo said:

Do you work for them?

No. I have the internet. 

[Guest Lobo]

Should be on the internet whilst speeding along all these corridors measuring distances between toll booths?  Fucking psychopath!

[Armybrat 40,901]

13 hours ago, Lobo said:

Should be on the internet whilst speeding along all these corridors measuring distances between toll booths?  Fucking psychopath!

Should have used the Smoot measurement method anyway.