AUSTIN | Transportation Updates

[jngreenlee]

Originally Posted by Novacek

I think Meredith must be an attention whore, just trying to get press. Why in the world would you buy a many-multi-million dollar piece of equipment, then let it sit around for 10-20 years (or much more) requiring maintenance and depreciating all the time? Then by the time a "subway" is actually approved, technology has moved on and the new boring machines are much better and/or cheaper.

Interesting story - Seattle's boring machine for hwy 99 is stuck and undergoing a massive project to recover it:

• Video Link

http://seattletimes.com/html/localne...acranexml.html

[AusTxDevelopment]

Texas Monthly
Elon Musk Wants to Build His Hyperloop Test Track in Texas
http://www.texasmonthly.com/daily-po...st-track-texas

“In order to kind of help things along, we’re going to create a Hyperloop test track,” Musk told Texas Tribune CEO and Editor-in-Chief Evan Smith during an interview at the Texas Transportation Forum, an annual conference hosted by the Texas Department of Transportation. “Something that’s maybe on the order of a five-mile loop.” […]

During Thursday’s interview, Musk said the facility would be privately funded and not require the kind of incentives that his private space firm, SpaceX, received to develop a test facility in Texas.

“We’re not asking for any money from the state,” Musk said.

[austlar1]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

Have you been to San Francisco? The cut and cap portion their is more hilly than anything in Austin.

Ahem, I completely agree with you regarding SF's cut and cap tunnel, but I do believe you meant to say that "the cut and cap portion there is more hilly than anything in Austin." Maybe you were just testing to see whether anybody would notice?

[Spaceman]

It appears that shea and ekhardt have managed to delay Texas45...Obviously the voters have no say on this. They voted for it but sos controls this part of the Austin area.

[electricron]

Originally Posted by Novacek

Okay, found one (not sure if this is the one I saw before).

http:/to/www.austintexas.gov/departm...140522-reg.htm

The "Project Connect Central Corridor Update." (direct link doesn't seem to work).

Page 30.

It has a profile of the tunnel options they looked at. They don't go into if they were planning cut and cover or not (presumably not with the section under the lake?). But it appears that once you get up to 17th, it's about at the same altitude as Cesar Chavez.

Agenda Item #60 of 79 on your link, it took me a while to find it. While that drawing shows the tunnel options, it didn't provide the depth in measurable units. Considering all the tunneling options included going under the lake, I'm certain they didn't consider cut and cover there.


Another interesting data point was projected ridership, with the much cheaper BRT almost the same as light rail over the same alignment.

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by austlar1

Ahem, I completely agree with you regarding SF's cut and cap tunnel, but I do believe you meant to say that "the cut and cap portion there is more hilly than anything in Austin." Maybe you were just testing to see whether anybody would notice?

there*

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by electricron

Another interesting data point was projected ridership, with the much cheaper BRT almost the same as light rail over the same alignment.

If I recall, the BRT being measured there wasn't really "much cheaper". To get those ridership numbers, it was full gold-class BRT (fully dedicated busway lanes, boarding infrastructure at stations, etc.) with capital costs 50-60% of rail and similar operating costs (to maintain 4 minute headways).

[ivanwolf]

Did anyone realize that the Mopac Toll lane will only have two ways on and two ways off of the 11mi length. The on/offs are Parmer Ln, Far West, Caesar Chavez. That is not much.

I am not sure how helpful that is unless you do the whole thing.

and I remember they said CapMetro is going to use it for the Express Buses? But those buses from 183 go down and get off at 38th so they will not use the express lane unless their is a new or altered route. Anyone have info on that?

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by ivanwolf

Did anyone realize that the Mopac Toll lane will only have two ways on and two ways off of the 11mi length. The on/offs are Parmer Ln, Far West, Caesar Chavez. That is not much.

I am not sure how helpful that is unless you do the whole thing.

That's sort of the point. They're express lanes. If/when they add the same to I35, it'll be the same (very limited on/off ramps).

It's people doing the whole thing(or at least half of it) that are the problem/most of the traffic.

Originally Posted by ivanwolf

and I remember they said CapMetro is going to use it for the Express Buses? But those buses from 183 go down and get off at 38th so they will not use the express lane unless their is a new or altered route. Anyone have info on that?

I imagine they'll completely revamp the routes. Some will probably go direct all the way downtown, some will probably take the express lanes until Far West, exit far west and continue on either surface streets or normal mopac lanes to be able to hit campus.

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by Novacek

I imagine they'll completely revamp the routes. Some will probably go direct all the way downtown, some will probably take the express lanes until Far West, exit far west and continue on either surface streets or normal mopac lanes to be able to hit campus.

Or I suppose they could actually go down all the way, hit downtown first, and then go North to hit campus. Could still end up being a time savings (especially if they use the transit priority lanes to do it).

[StoOgE]

The New Jersey Turnpike in Northern New Jersey is a dream scenario for express lanes.

They are effectively an inner highway and every 10 miles or so there is an entrance/exit that allows you to move from the express highway to the local highway and it tells you which local exits will be coming up during that span.

So your traffic flow is

Enter highway -> Enter Express Highway at next entrance -> Stay on express highway for however long -> Take last exit back to local highway -> Stay on local highway until your exit

They also bar large vehicles from the express highway which makes it extra zippy. I was driving back Sunday night and is shaved about 20 minutes off of my drive because you avoid all of the Newark Airport traffic.

I think that's probably ideal and makes getting through downtown relatively speedy. Even in heavy traffic since no one is exiting or trying to make it across 4 lanes of traffic it moves pretty fast.

The idea is that you need to get off of the express highway well before major traffic zones.

So you would need to leave the express highway around Far West if you wanted to go downtown to ensure that the express highway doesn't get clogged up with downtown traffic.

The point is that downtown traffic shouldn't be on the express lanes anywhere near downtown or the purpose is effectively defeated.

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by StoOgE

The point is that downtown traffic shouldn't be on the express lanes anywhere near downtown or the purpose is effectively defeated.

What purpose?

The entire purpose of the Mopac express lanes is to get people _to_ downtown, not past downtown.

Originally Posted by StoOgE

to ensure that the express highway doesn't get clogged up with downtown traffic.

How would it get clogged up? You don't let (via price controls) too many cars into the lane so that it doesn't get clogged.

[KevinFromTexas]

He's right, though. The thing that kills the efficiency of Mopac and I-35 are the entrance and exit ramps. Highways are best when the traffic flows freely and don't have anything that impedes them - like entrance/exit ramps or traffic lights. We went to my sister's last night in Del Valle. The traffic on 71 was busy past the airport, which is odd because it shouldn't be. There isn't anything past the airport to really cause congestion. There's a light down there at FM 973, which didn't help the traffic. The real reason it was slowing down and backing up was three cars were pulled off the highway. One of them had broken down. After that, the traffic picked up and flowed freely again. It's those little things slow down the traffic flow.

[Tech House]

Originally Posted by Novacek

The entire purpose of the Mopac express lanes is to get people _to_ downtown, not past downtown.

What you say is true, and consistent with the idea of keeping local downtown traffic off the express lane. So, you use the express lane to get downtown from the suburbs, but you don't use it to go from 45th to Enfield (for example.) As Kevin said, the on-and-offramps are a major contributor to traffic problems, and express lanes are effectively shielded from that effect of frequent merging and lane-changing.

One thing that happens a lot more on Texas freeways than out west is "vanishing lane syndrome" (to coin a phrase on-the-spot.) It takes quite a number of trips on a particular stretch of freeway to know which lane you need to be in to get where you need to go. 183 between Mopac and Anderson Mill is a case in point --- and with so many noobs always driving that stretch of road, there are a lot of instances of people suddenly having to change lanes or merge, which bollockses things up mightily.

[StoOgE]

I can't think of another major highway that I've driven on that has as many entrances and exits as I-35 does downtown.

If when they bury I-35 one of the most important things is going to be moving local traffic onto the frontage road and make the frontage roads better for that task.

I've long been a proponent of I35 having an entrance exit at Riverside and then again at MLK. The rest of the traffic can go local downtown to allow the freeway to continue moving.

I-35 needs half as many access points as it does. Between Ben White and the river I think there are 4 entrances and exits. Two of which are for relatively minor roads.

[The ATX]

51st St at I-35 looks like it could get confusing.


Mobility 35: http://mobility35openhouse.com/default.aspx

[wwmiv]

That actually looks sooooo much easier to navigate. I'm 100 percent in support of that change.

[Tech House]

I like it too. That intersection is confusing to me in its present condition, and this looks much easier to navigate.

[cvalkan]

Although I'm a little unclear on what impact this might have on the portion of I-35 southbound between 51st and Airport, which can be a little troublesome at times, I give the proposed circle to eliminate the light a big thumbs up. I hate that intersection and that looks like a big improvement.

[DoubleC]

*snip* (I may have misread the schematic wrong)

This should also relieve some of that nasty traffic from 290 since you've got 2 highways in one merging at this section of the highway.