AUSTIN | Transportation Updates

[austlar1]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

"Consider"? That's a bit of a lurch. It's more of "when are we going to build" than a "will this be tolled". Also, the whiners who say they can't get out of their neighborhood without having to pay a toll are ridiculous. If this is built, full access roads will be built to accompany it as are shown on the schematic maps that will allow them the same level (actually better, but that's beside the point) of access that they have now. They're morons. Furthermore, wherever there were overpasses with untolled "freeway" lanes such as the intersection with MLK, there will continue to be an untolled underpass lane like they did at Parmer on 45. They seriously don't understand the way these things work. Not only are we getting an upgrade to infrastructure that everyone will be able to use for free, but we are also getting new and better infrastructure.

Well, speaking as somebody who actually lives in Austin and is very familiar with that stretch of road, I can tell you that it is used by thousands of commuters every day who do not need to have a toll piled on them in order to access their jobs in NE or N Central Austin. It is bullshit and could not happen in any other part of Austin because the local residents would raise holy hell. The local residents along this route are mostly lower middle class or poor and their input is not being sought regarding this matter. The local residents depend on this road to get around. The through commuters, who are mostly working stiffs, have used this road for years and will now have to pay a toll or spend long periods of time waiting at lights along the projected route. The road needs to be FREE between the airport and 290 and it needs to be upgraded soon. This stretch of road only incidentally serves Bergstrom. Ninety five percent or more of the traffic on this road is non airport related, and there is a LOT of traffic on this sorry stretch of divided highway. Calling this road "The Bergstrom Expressway" is just a marketing tool designed to obscure the fact that this major roadway is used for many purposes. BTW, could you please refrain from calling those who might disagree with your opinions "morons".

[austlar1]

It wasn't too long ago that the toll road enthusiasts planned to have Ben WHite from IH35 to the airport as a toll road. Prior to that the section of Mopac running south of Ben White and past William Cannon was slated to be tolled. This never happened because the constituents for these improved roadways had the political clout to prevent it from happening. 183 can be built without tolls. It may take a bit longer to do it, but it can and should be done. This is a major connector road in central Austin. It is about the same distance from IH35 on the eastside as Mopac is on the westside. They might put a toll lane on Mopac, but nobody is talking about making all of Mopac between Ben White and 183 a toll road. The same should apply to this stretch of 183.

[Jdawgboy]

I agree with Austlar1, its a bad move to toll that stretch of road, it is not right or fair for the population that lives along that road who would be disenfranchised if they tolled that stretch. This is my biggiest rebuttal argument to everybody that is against raising taxes especially the gas tax. Either way you will pay for the damn road but Id rather pay through taxes than to have to drive on a road that has cameras flashing my license plate, my car, and my face every couple of miles and sending me bills in the mail if i do not have a txtag.

If the Republicans want to toll everything then let them toll the roads in Southwest Austin and more roads in Williamson Country.

[BevoLJ]

Either allow them to raise the gas tax = to inflation or toll all new highway improvements, IMO. Either way they need to find ways to pay for these things rather than just leaving them as more and more debt we owe. In GOP Texas taxes are out of the question (especially on oil! lol!). So tolls it is.

@ electricron - Thanks!

[nixcity]

I would like to see that stretch of 183 receive a similar treatment as to what Mopac is now. Please no access roads, just a true freeway, there are only like 4 or 5 lights more to work around and thats it.

[austlar1]

The link below is a map of area highways with traffic counts at various points alone the routes involved. Just enlarge the map to be able to see the counts. Very interesting stuff. Highland Mall vicinity is clearly the vehicle transportation nexus for the Austin area.

http://www.campotexas.org/pdfs/Traff...%20website.pdf

[thekig]

I got hit by a toll recently. I made a wrong turn and got stock on the toll road. Since I didn't have cash in my car I got the letter in the mail. The amount wasn't so annoying the time it took to pay was. I called to pay on the phone a few times (they were always closed). The number on my ticket wasn't in the system. Anyway tolls seem to be a really inefficient way to tax people. Gas taxes are much easier.

[KevinFromTexas]

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/t...edicab-/nSZYT/

Posted: 6:32 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012
Austin City Council may extend ban on new pedicab permits

By Ben Wear
American-Statesman Staff

More than 500 pedicabs can legally ply Austin’s streets, and the City Council might decide today that’s enough. At least, for now.

Last spring, the council imposed a six-month moratorium on granting permits, but unwittingly triggered a rush of permit applications. The council voted on the permit shutdown April 12, but it didn’t go into effect until April 23. During those 11 days, the number of permitted pedicabs grew by 50 percent.

Today, the council will consider extending that permit shutdown, set to expire Oct. 23, for another 18 months while it considers how to best regulate supply of the human-powered taxis.

[ATXboom]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/t...edicab-/nSZYT/

Sorry but that's azz backwards. It's not governments responsibility to regulate supply and demand. The market will determine that. Now if there is evidence of an alarming public safety issue that's another thing.

[KevinFromTexas]

^I actually think it has something to do with the job market. Being a pedi-car driver you're pretty much guaranteed business and a paycheck. One of my friends did it for a while and made pretty good money at it.

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/t...-oct-24/nSZxJ/

Posted: 10:11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012
New Texas 130 section to open Oct. 24

By Ben Wear

The southern 41 miles of the Texas 130 tollway will open on the afternoon of Oct. 24, according to a Facebook post Thursday from the company that built the four-lane road under a long-term lease with the Texas Department of Transportation.

[the Genral]

Originally Posted by thekig

I got hit by a toll recently. I made a wrong turn and got stock on the toll road. Since I didn't have cash in my car I got the letter in the mail. The amount wasn't so annoying the time it took to pay was. I called to pay on the phone a few times (they were always closed). The number on my ticket wasn't in the system. Anyway tolls seem to be a really inefficient way to tax people. Gas taxes are much easier.

But I still prefer to pay as I go. I use the toll roads only occasionally when its more convenient and I'm glad I don't have to pay for it every time I fill my tank. With the toll tags, you keep a balance on your account and never have to go out of your way to pay. The 20 bucks I keep in my account lasts a couple of months at least.

[llamaorama]

I do agree about fairness. Don't toll all the roads on the working class side of town. But with taxes everyone has pay for these highways whether or not they use them.

Maybe highways should be like public transit. It's subsidized and isn't expected to make a profit, but individual use are still expected to pay a fare.

[JoninATX]

85 mph SH 130 opens just after noon

Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012

The first vehicles to travel the new section of Texas 130 a Serta mattress truck and a silver SUV carrying a Lockhart woman who will be commuting to her Austin teaching job rolled past a throng of dignataries, media, construction workers, engineers and other interested spectators at exactly 11:25 a.m. Wednesday. They were travelling at a leisurely 45 mph.

That is about half the speed that non-ceremonial drivers will be going on Central Texas’ newest 41 miles of tollway, which stretches from near Mustang Ridge (southeast of Austin) to Interstate 10 near Seguin. The road will be “the fastest highway in the United States,” former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters said during the dedication that preceded the driveby, with an 85 mph speed limit.

Workers were to begin taking down barricades at exits and entrances about noon, starting in the southbound lanes near Seguin and moving north, then doing a similar procedure on the northbound lanes. Opening the entire road should take at least a couple of hours, officials said

.

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/t...er-noon/nSmpm/

[KevinFromTexas]

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/bl....html?page=all

Public transit woes: Austinites just love their cars

Austin Business Journal by Robert Grattan, Staff Writer
Date: Thursday, November 1, 2012, 1:51pm CDT

Robert Grattan
Staff Writer- Austin Business Journal

When a recent Austin Business Journal survey found that 43 percent of respondents have looked into public transit but couldn’t fit it into their commutes, many were left scratching their heads.

Gadbois said about 116,000 people go downtown each day. Of those, about 85 percent drive alone. That’s about as many people as our current transit system can handle, he said.

To see real improvement in traffic conditions, he said, Austin would have to reduce the amount of such commuters to about 80 percent. Ideally, that portion would be reduced to 70 percent, Gadbois said.

[KevinFromTexas]

Top Gear came to Austin.

http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/h...oad-2012-10-25

Video: 220.5mph on America’s fastest road
One Cadillac CTS-V fettled by Hennessey Performance. One closed toll road in Texas. And Top Gear is there…

Posted by: Pat Devereux, 25 October 2012

The traditional way to open a new road is for some local dignitary with a comb-over to say a few words, then cut a thick ribbon with a big pair of scissors and declare the road open to some polite applause. That's not how they do it in Austin, Texas though.

When they finished the new SH130 toll road that links the new Circuit of the Americas to downtown, it was decided, with a bit of encouragement from local tuner John Hennessey, that the best way to open it would be to go as fast as possible on it for a whole day.

• Video Link

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[JAM]

I want that job! Hope they cleared the pigs out first.....

[JoninATX]

SH 45 SW survives the scalpel at CAMPO

by VERONICA GORDON

Pct. 2 County Commissioner Mark Jones is continuing his efforts to advocate for the construction of SH 45 SW, the proposed 3.5-mile road connecting Loop 1 (MoPac) in Austin and FM 1626 in suburban Buda.

“We’ll keep pushing for it with everything we’ve got,” Jones said Monday.

At its board meeting earlier this month the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) voted to keep SH 45 SW in its 2035 Regional Transportation Plan, rejecting a request from the city of Austin to remove the road from its list of projects.

“It’s very much the right thing to do,” Jones said. “(CAMPO) made the right decision.”

CAMPO’s policy board is chaired by Hays County Pct. 3 Commissioner Will Conley, who has advocated for the roadway’s construction. Last year, Hays County offered to contribute $5 million toward construction. Even though nearly all of the road would lie in Travis County, tens of thousands of Hays County resident use it to commute to and from Austin every day.

Opponents of the road expressed concerns that the road will encourage development on or near environmentally sensitive land.

In June, the Austin City Council deleted the project from its Comprehensive Plan. The council also directed city staff to request deletion of the proposed roadway from the CAMPO plan.

http://smmercury.com/2012/11/02/sh-4...lpel-at-campo/

This is ridiculous, just build the road. Heck why not just tie it into the new SH 45 tollroad across IH 35.

[ATXboom]

Originally Posted by JoninATX

SH 45 SW survives the scalpel at CAMPO





http://smmercury.com/2012/11/02/sh-4...lpel-at-campo/

This is ridiculous, just build the road. Heck why not tie just it into the new SH 45 tollroad across IH 35.

Agree... the development will come regardless and the air polution will increase. Build the road and buy surrounding land for park use only to restrict development... or zone it for essentially zero development. Austin (council) frustrates me when they don't plan. The penalty for inaction is worse than any action at all.

[JoninATX]

I hear ya ATXboom.

[JoninATX]

Does anyone know if the city approved on adding several double tracks at certain stations? It was in the impact newspaper back in June, said if it was approve that it would have started back in October this year and finish up in March.

http://impactnews.com/articles/capit...otos.html#3375