Toll Road Planned Through Heights

[ricco67]

I think as far as major expansion of the freeways within the city imits of Houston will pretty much come to an end due to the fact that there is little land available for expansion as well as the price getting a bit out of hand.

As traffic gets worse, rail will be more viable for those living within the city limits, but hopefully some express rail will help with commuters.

If not, there's always the Taxi.

Ricco

[jghall00]

I think as far as major expansion of the freeways within the city imits of Houston will pretty much come to an end due to the fact that there is little land available for expansion as well as the price getting a bit out of hand.

As traffic gets worse, rail will be more viable for those living within the city limits, but hopefully some express rail will help with commuters.

If not, there's always the Taxi.

Ricco

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree, the I-10 expansion has already experienced massive cost overruns due to higher then expected ROW acquisition. I'm curious how they plan on doing the NW freeway expansion, since the entire feeder road is to the beltway is developed. At least on I-10, they had the old railroad ROW to consume.

I wonder why they don't just put an elevated tollroad, similar to the I-10 HOV inside the loop, on the NW Freeway. I don't see TxDOT having the funds to acquire the land to expand that Freeway.

[Guest danax]

I think they should stop with the freeways and start constructing some kind of high speed monorail or medium speed Aerobus as spokes linking to the wheel, which is the loop. The idea being to carry commuters quickly inside the loop where they can link to Metrorail. Energy supplies are limited and so are freeway expansion lands so the sooner we work on a real alternative the easier it will be to get around in 2030.

[jghall00]

I think they should stop with the freeways and start constructing some kind of high speed monorail or medium speed Aerobus as spokes linking to the wheel, which is the loop. The idea being to carry commuters quickly inside the loop where they can link to Metrorail. Energy supplies are limited and so are freeway expansion lands so the sooner we work on a real alternative the easier it will be to get around in 2030.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What's wrong with Metro's Park and Rides?

[Guest danax]

What's wrong with Metro's Park and Rides?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't suppose there's anything wrong with them, although I haven't used them, except that they apparently aren't an attractive enough alternative to driving a car to cause much of a reduction in freeway congestion. That's why I mention something high-speed, something that would knock off enough commute time to get people out of their cars, which is a very difficult task.

There's another interesting potential problem, really a paradox, in theory anyway. Let's say an alternative transport system is created, call it " The A" that cuts commuter's drive time enough to get them out of their cars. So let's say that a commuter, "Alice" starts taking The A. The A is so good that lots of people take it and the result is that the freeways now move nicely during all hours. I think we would say that that would be a successful mass transit system. But now that Alice sees that the freeways aren't crowded anymore, she, along with many others, get back into their cars and the freeways get back to the congested levels like before, until they all get sick of it and the cycle starts again. Kind of like a thermostat.

The other factor besides drive time is money. If gas gets to be maybe $4 or $5 a gallon in today's dollars then maybe that would keep Alice riding The A and the freeways might stay permanently less than full.

[midtown_resident]

I don't suppose there's anything wrong with them, although I haven't used them, except that they apparently aren't an attractive enough alternative to driving a car to cause much of a reduction in freeway congestion. That's why I mention something high-speed, something that would knock off enough commute time to get people out of their cars, which is a very difficult task.

There's another interesting potential problem, really a paradox, in theory anyway. Let's say an alternative transport system is created, call it " The A" that cuts commuter's drive time enough to get them out of their cars. So let's say that a commuter, "Alice" starts taking The A. The A is so good that lots of people take it and the result is that the freeways now move nicely during all hours. I think we would say that that would be a successful mass transit system. But now that Alice sees that the freeways aren't crowded anymore, she, along with many others, get back into their cars and the freeways get back to the congested levels like before, until they all get sick of it and the cycle starts again. Kind of like a thermostat.

The other factor besides drive time is money. If gas gets to be maybe $4 or $5 a gallon in today's dollars then maybe that would keep Alice riding The A and the freeways might stay permanently less than full.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

As long as you're going to run on broad based assumptions, please also take into consideration the likelihood that Alice will also start enjoying the freedom that the A gives her to read the paper, get some office work done or just sleep. The A will likely give her the opportunity to decline the daily stress on her personal vehicle, by limiting miles driven and therby reducing maintenance cost.

The cycle you describe is two dimensional and limited in definition...and i think the idea of projecting ridership based on the fact that people will see that there is more space available on the road is short sighted at best. I'd encourage you to also address other variables including population growth as well, as this dynamic will surely increase the amount of stress on the highways. I think it's safe to project that there will NEVER be a lack of congestion on Houston freeways.