TxDOT Plans to Expand MoPac - Meeting Tonight

DMJM Harris, the consultant hired by the Texas Department of Transportation to look at ways to squeeze more lanes onto MoPac between Lake Austin and Parmer, says that they will likely announce their solution in December. That "solution" appears to be to squeeze another lane in between the existing lane and the train tracks. That lane would not be for normal traffic - only buses and people willing to pay tolls.

A lane for buses sounds fine, and squeezing in another lane is sure to inspire less opposition than the previous plan to widen the highway or build elevated sections, which ended after community protest. On the other hand, squeezing in another lane is sure to negatively impact any future possibility for a second track for passenger rail. It also removes the incentive to use public transportation - why take a train or bus when it is faster and easier to drive? Plus, more highways = more sprawl + more noise + more traffic everywhere else. A better solution would be to convert the existing inner lane to a bus only lane. Done. Next?

The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization is meeting to speak on this issue today at at 6:00 p.m. at the UT Thompson Conference Center in room 2.102 (at Dean Keeton & Red River). They are also having open houses Sept. 19 @ 5 p.m. @ Summitt Elementary School, 12207 Brigadoon Lane and Sept. 21 @ 5 p.m. @ O. Henry Middle School, 2610 W. 10th St. Protest! No new highways!

* Image from Wikipedia.

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By Shawn Shillington in News on August 14, 2006 9:19 AM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

Jen

My incentive for NOT riding the bus is due to the scent of human crap on the last one I rode. Also, the population of Austin is growing at an exponential rate - and like it or not, a lot of these people will have cars. Public transportation is important, but so is a new, cleaner, and safer system. You ride the bus everyday, and I'll get 20 blocks down the street in 5 minutes instead of 3 hours.

M1EK

there's no incentive today to take the bus. A well-enforced well-designed bus lane (i.e. HOV) would provide such an incentive, but that's a big couple of ifs. "barely" separated facilities like this one is shaping up to be usually mean that people in that lane must merge all the way back to the right to take the same exit as normal traffic, which is a deal-killer unless you're going a very very very long way in that HOV lane.