Quote:
Originally Posted by OU812
That image is futuristically cool. Isn't something like this in Batman Begins?
Realistically the height could be cut in half though. But yeah it would be sort of interesting to have a full on monorail built out all across the city. Sort of like a fully above ground subway network. Even better, MAGLEV. Subways are so cavernous and depressing. I'd much prefer commuting while taking in scenic views.
I'm sure none of us will ever see this however. At least not in our lifetimes. Maybe our kids'?
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If you would invest in this then I think you would need to do mag lev to get your money's worth. The cost of elevated rail anywhere in Austin would just be astronomical and greatly limit what other work can be done in Austin. The cost of putting elevated rail down Lamar would be ridiculous and I can't see how you could reduce Lamar to 2 lanes even with the ability to occasionally use the train lane for left turns.
The city just has way too many roads that need a lot of work and are severely over capacity and need a massive redesign to improve mobility. Sure, you don't just want to do road work but you still have to do it. Also, south austin will have to get a lot of love the next time around. West Austin might be a little easier to deal with now that they are getting overpasses down 360.
I am not as much of a proponent of rail that I used to be although I would sill vote for it. I think smarter cars might be the future and also more efficient carpooling from ride sharing companies. Uber is definitely going in that direction but I could also see companies offering subscription services for unlimited rides in self driving cars.
I would feel stronger about expanding hard rail to outside areas of the city like the current rail line. It's much cheaper and you can get support from ares outside 183, Mopac and 71 which is why the last bond failed. People inside that area voted for it by a decent margin despite the route.
That would also make a big difference from Austin given the limited access to the west side. 71 and 183 are pretty far apart. It'll help a ton when the toll way expands from 35 to mopac but it will still get more congested. Expanding the red line down 4th street to 2nd and having that cross downtown, intersect at greyhound and move all the way past 360 might be worth the cost. Expanding it at its most eastern point could help deal with the increased development at 183 and eastward. A lot of nice apartments are going up. That to me would be a good 1st investment since there aren't the same plans on east-west work as there is north-south with 35 and 183 reconstruction. The tough thing there would be getting support from south austin. People talk about South Congress a lot but that just takes you to 35 next to Slaughter. Going down S. Lamar, Manchack all the way to slaughter would be great access for the south austin developments that don't drive all the cars in 1 direction. Plus, south lamar has exploded with density and the ability to do elevated rail there would make it possible to serve it. I mean, I get not expanding Barton Skyway over the green belt but it makes it very difficult to get anywhere. You have to go to downtown to take Casar, 5th or stay just south at the river and go to Zilker.
All that being said, I was still a huge supported of the last rail line and an opponent of going down Lamar. That was mostly due to the sprawl of Lamar and the fact that it's proven that there is a limit to how far people will walk for rail and the fact that the last line wouldn't have to close that much road area (if any) since there is a lot of space there. There was also so much room for building the same high density apartments you see on S. Lamar to drive future development and make for an efficient use of the rail. Plus, you would greatly increase cheaper space for retail/restaurants/bars because all of those complexes reserve the bottom floor for those businesses and it's so much cheaper than opening a brick and mordor.
Anyway, I know everyone disagrees with that. They need to get moving if they want to pass a bond in 2018 but 2020 might be more realistic. Cesar and Adler already started to warn everyone that billion dollar transportation bonds are in the future. Hopefully we can get some matching funds like we would have got in the last rail bond.