1604 Traffic on the West Side (Howe: live, cars, parking)

[doss1]

Originally Posted by TexHwyMan

I'll wrap-up by saying this: big cities have traffic congestion-- there's just no way around it, and people need to understand that.

I can think of several solutions, but I'd probably get banned from the forum

One is...STOP BREEDING.

[wellguy]

Originally Posted by majormadmax

THM

Thanks for the constructive and comprehensive reply, but I have to challenge your one statement concerning the Dominion overpass. While I understand that the volume of traffic westbound on IH-10 may be that great, there is no way on God's green earth that the traffic on the access road that feeds into the Dominion exeeds that of 1604!

Whoever provided those figures did so to justify the ridiculous expense of that overpass to serve the small population that lives in the Dominion, and those stats give the impression like there was a traffic light on IH-10 at the Dominion and that was the number of vehicles that were affected by the installation of the overpass. That is simply not a true statement. The only ones who benefitted were those who live in the Dominion, and I don't know the exact number but I can guarantee it isn't 77,000!

It is clear that the Dominion overpass was a vast waste of taxpayer's money to serve a very small portion of the population. And as I stated before, there already existed two overpasses within 1.6 miles in both directions of the entrance to that community, so the claims that it was necessary for emergency services don't hold water either. There were some backroom shenanigans behind that deal...

As they say "Money Talks"

[majormadmax]

Originally Posted by wellguy

As they say "Money Talks"

Yeah, unfortunately it was our money!

[rd2007]

That new light on 1604 north of Marbach is already annoying. I've had to stop at it while southbound each time I've come up on it and the stop was to let people make a left turn from northbound 1604. It wouldn't be as annoying if the people were actually turning left, but they are doing a u-turn to go southbound on 1604. I think they're too lazy to wait for the Marbach left turn light onto 1604 and going up to take the next light since it appears to give them a green light as soon as they approach it. Another great job by the traffic light engineers..

[traficdogn]

Originally Posted by majormadmax

The only ones who benefitted were those who live in the Dominion, and I don't know the exact number but I can guarantee it isn't 77,000!

Developers in the surrounding area benefited multiples of any dominion resident on the deal.

[TexHwyMan]

Originally Posted by rd2007

well, traffic lights do not work here. The one on SW Military that I have reported is still giving preference to two closed Lackland gates and the new one north of Marbach is already retarded. There was a big line on 1604 while it gave preference to the left turn signals and that should not happen. Obviously the engineers that develop and research these things need to all be fired and sent back to elementary school.

Originally Posted by rd2007

That new light on 1604 north of Marbach is already annoying. I've had to stop at it while southbound each time I've come up on it and the stop was to let people make a left turn from northbound 1604. It wouldn't be as annoying if the people were actually turning left, but they are doing a u-turn to go southbound on 1604. I think they're too lazy to wait for the Marbach left turn light onto 1604 and going up to take the next light since it appears to give them a green light as soon as they approach it. Another great job by the traffic light engineers..

It's a new signal. As we all have experienced, sometimes things work better on paper than in the real-world, and new equipment always requires adjustments, so give them a little time to get it tweaked just right. If you have a complaint about it, report it to the City. In the end, though, remember that it's still a traffic signal and the inherent effect of traffic signals is that traffic on one roadway has to sacrifice to provide safe and convenient passage to the other roadway. There's just no way around that, but the engineers do their best to reduce the inconvenience for the mainline road. Unnecessarily stopping traffic on a high-speed roadway, besides being inconvenient, is also a safety hazard, and they know that. As I've said before, this stuff is often more of an art than a science.

Also, one other thing I remembered after my last post-- traffic signal sensors are now required to detect motorcycles, so sometimes they are a little too sensitive and see things when nothing's there. That can cause signals to change unnecessarily.

Originally Posted by majormadmax

Thanks for the constructive and comprehensive reply, but I have to challenge your one statement concerning the Dominion overpass. While I understand that the volume of traffic westbound on IH-10 may be that great, there is no way on God's green earth that the traffic on the access road that feeds into the Dominion exeeds that of 1604!

Whoever provided those figures did so to justify the ridiculous expense of that overpass to serve the small population that lives in the Dominion, and those stats give the impression like there was a traffic light on IH-10 at the Dominion and that was the number of vehicles that were affected by the installation of the overpass. That is simply not a true statement. The only ones who benefitted were those who live in the Dominion, and I don't know the exact number but I can guarantee it isn't 77,000!

Those stats are from the 2007 traffic counts map. (ftp://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/sat/traffic/2007/sat_sheet_6.pdf (broken link)) Yes, counts for expressways always include both mainlane and frontage road traffic, so yes, you have a fair point about that not being the number of vehicles that actually uses the new underpass there. I don't have that number, but I'll see if I can find it. My point was that that's still a busy area.

It is clear that the Dominion overpass was a vast waste of taxpayer's money to serve a very small portion of the population. And as I stated before, there already existed two overpasses within 1.6 miles in both directions of the entrance to that community, so the claims that it was necessary for emergency services don't hold water either.

Again, I'll reiterate my points from before-- it is necessary to start converting the access roads in that area to one-way for traffic and safety reasons, and not just because of traffic from The Dominion, but also the new developments on the west side of I-10 in that area. The CB and BS overpasses are 3.6 miles apart. When all of the one-way conversions are done some day, if you left Las Palapas and wanted to get back to BS, that would be a 6 mile drive! The Dominion overpass was needed for that reason-- to provide a reasonable crossover location about halfway between CB and BS. It's just a coincidence that Dominion Dr. is at that sweet spot.

That overpass has always been on TxDOT's radar for the reason I just cited. However, the City asked that it be expedited because of their new fire station located there on Stonewall Bend. The overpass provides quick access to the east side of I-10 and cuts about five minutes off response time to The Dominion and, when the one-way conversions are done someday, it will cut that same amount of response time to Leon Springs. Those time savings could mean the difference between life and death. That's a reasonable use of tax money IMHO.

There were some backroom shenanigans behind that deal...

I know that's what some folks would like to believe because The Dominion is involved, but that's just not the case. The fact that it's The Dominion really is just purely coincidental. Besides, if that ("money talks") were really the case, do you really believe it would have taken nearly a decade to get it done?

Originally Posted by the_dimwit

Wow, HwyMan...how long did that take you to write? (Seriously impressed. Great job.)

Thanks Dim. That was about an hour, including the time it took to read all the posts. The hardest part was organizing it all and deciding what to leave in the bit bucket.

[vankai]

Originally Posted by majormadmax

THM

Thanks for the constructive and comprehensive reply, but I have to challenge your one statement concerning the Dominion overpass. While I understand that the volume of traffic westbound on IH-10 may be that great, there is no way on God's green earth that the traffic on the access road that feeds into the Dominion exeeds that of 1604!

Whoever provided those figures did so to justify the ridiculous expense of that overpass to serve the small population that lives in the Dominion, and those stats give the impression like there was a traffic light on IH-10 at the Dominion and that was the number of vehicles that were affected by the installation of the overpass. That is simply not a true statement. The only ones who benefitted were those who live in the Dominion, and I don't know the exact number but I can guarantee it isn't 77,000!

It is clear that the Dominion overpass was a vast waste of taxpayer's money to serve a very small portion of the population. And as I stated before, there already existed two overpasses within 1.6 miles in both directions of the entrance to that community, so the claims that it was necessary for emergency services don't hold water either. There were some backroom shenanigans behind that deal...

My thoughts exactly.

Let's say, hypothetically, 8,000 Dominion drivers take advantage of the underpass, that may save a minimal amount of time to access the highway as compared to before construction.

That would leave 69,000 IH10 travelers that have the same thoroughfare as before the overpass was built. Compare that to 69,000 1604/Braun drivers that HAVE to experience a stoplight.

Apples and Oranges.

I wonder how many minutes are wasted when Emergency Services are navigating cars backed up at a stoplight.

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by vankai

My thoughts exactly.

Let's say, hypothetically, 8,000 Dominion drivers take advantage of the underpass, that may save a minimal amount of time to access the highway as compared to before construction.

That would leave 69,000 IH10 travelers that have the same thoroughfare as before the overpass was built. Compare that to 69,000 1604/Braun drivers that HAVE to experience a stoplight.

Apples and Oranges.

I wonder how many minutes are wasted when Emergency Services are navigating cars backed up at a stoplight.

What's done is done. Y'all can't take a wrecking ball to the overpass. My goodness.

[majormadmax]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

What's done is done. Y'all can't take a wrecking ball to the overpass. My goodness.

True, but it serves as a constant reminder that TxDOT has its priorities screwed up! Overpasses on 1604 should have been built long before the one at the Dominion, and it will be a constant reminder to those who get stuck in traffic on the Anderson Loop while those leaving the Dominion have a nice overpass to save them from the grueling 1.6 mile drive to the next overpass!

[vankai]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

What's done is done. Y'all can't take a wrecking ball to the overpass. My goodness.

It's really not about an overpass, it's about the have's, have not's and fuzzy statistics.