Out of all the major highways in Austin
the one I use the most is Mopac; it always gets me to where I want to
go, and is very convenient for me. Raised in Austin, I remember
being in the car day after day, caught in heavy traffic on Mopac and
getting very impatient. I always wondered if there was a way to
change Mopac from being so congested during those busy times of the
day. I never thought it would be a possibility because there are
neighborhoods and other buildings on either side that are pretty
close to the edge of the highway, and a major railroad track in the
median. While looking for a topic to comment on, I found the article
Mopac to expand with addition of tollroad in the Daily Texan.
It immediately caught my attention because a toll road would affect
my daily routine. My first reaction on seeing the title of the
article was, “NO WAY is this an idea I would want to happen.”
When I hear “toll”, I hear of extra money being spent to get to
work and all the other places the drivers need to get to. Also I
don't see how it could work with as it is.
More about the details: the proposal
was submitted last week for an express lane project for Mopac
Boulevard, costing $200 million. With this, there would be an added
toll lane to both sides of the loop. After learning more of the
details, for example that Capital Metro Transit and emergency
vehicles would travel through the northbound and southbound toll
roads for free, it seems to me that it could actually be beneficial.
It sound like cars will still be able to travel on Mopac for free,
but with the extra lanes available for those that choose to pay the
toll fee to travel faster. This may cause less traffic on the no-toll
part of Mopac because some would choose the toll road. The one thing
that I am really curious about, but couldn't find more information
on, is how it will be executed and how much the access to Mopac would
change, and also how many years the whole project will take (during
which traffic on Mopac will no doubt be even worse than now). There
was no map provided to show details. Overall, I think this could
definitely improve the traffic congestion that happens daily through
central Austin.
After reading Ms. Murphy's post concerning the proposed Express Lane project for Mopac, I was immediately intrigued. I live less than one mile from Mopac, and experience its grandeur as well as its horrors daily. When traffic is light, I can get from 183 to Slaughter in 20 minutes--a good excuse to see my brother. When traffic is normal, I can get from Far West to 2222 in 15 minutes. Every night that there isn't ice in town, I can hear the sounds of progress like something out of The Dubliners. The Express Lanes sound like a wonderful idea. It appears a thorough environmental study is near completion (http://www.mopacexpress.com/environmental/index.php), and TxDOT and its partners are going out of their way to encourage community involvement. The noise abatement barriers are long overdue, but I'm curious to see how the demand-based tolling will work.
ReplyDeleteNo one who drives in Austin during the daytime will dispute that we need more major traffic arteries. Mopac is tough, and IH35 has become nearly as impassable as the Beltway in D.C. Additionally, the Y in Oak Hill is perhaps the biggest abomination I have ever witnessed, traffic-wise. 2 hours to get through the light on a run of the mill Sunday afternoon in early November? No wrecks, just the outdated infrastructure of a rapidly growing city. Austin, like nearly every square mile of America, needs sweeping infrastructure upgrades. Everything built in the 30's and 60's is OLD. Those periods were major engineering successes, but we need to stop resting on our laurels--they're rusty and crumbling, too.
The Mopac Improvement Project website I linked to earlier is very nice. It details a project that could be an effective Band Aid for Austin's traffic woes. They have a reasonable financing plan and are doing an amazing amount of due diligence. I hope the voters put on their forward-looking glasses, because it is time to make sacrifices to make our city more efficient while still keeping it beautiful and melodic.