Incomprehensible Traffic “Improvement”
May. 17th, 2005 02:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebI submitted the following to the editor of The Austin Chronicle on 5/17/05. Austin has incredibly stupid road design and virtually every road construction project I've seen has actually made things worse. Now Austin is the most congested city of its size (we're number one!). Not to mention that you have to be an expert on how each major intersection works in order to be able to plan a reasonably direct route anywhere, because each intersection is different, and the signs are too little, too late, at best. I get really angry each time another horrible change occurs. Robin can't understand how I can still be so shocked and horrified every time.
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Those of us living near Capitol Plaza [shopping center] have recently been informed of an exciting new feature in our area called "the Jughandle." According to the flyer, the Jughandle is part of how TxDOT [Texas Department of Transportation] and Catellus [a developer] plan "to accommodate additional traffic, while improving conditions on the existing roads."
Sounds exciting! However, I don't quite understand the logic. The plan involves building a maze of roads next to the northbound access road leading to Cameron Road, then diverting all traffic off the access road and into the maze.
It makes sense that additional traffic can be accommodated by increasing the surface area of a road. But doesn't it work better when the road is made wider rather than longer?
And I guess conditions on the existing roads could be improved by disallowing traffic completely. But isn't the whole problem with traffic congestion that people actually want to go places?
I would love it if someone could explain to me how this Jughandle could be a good idea.
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Out of the four entrances and exits near my house, there is only one left, and it's so poorly designed that I never even use it, except after 2:00 am. I live walking distance to two highways, and it takes about ten minutes to get on to either one of them going either direction. I think this really might be the last straw. It's about time to start turning my house into a rental house and moving someplace new.
**
Those of us living near Capitol Plaza [shopping center] have recently been informed of an exciting new feature in our area called "the Jughandle." According to the flyer, the Jughandle is part of how TxDOT [Texas Department of Transportation] and Catellus [a developer] plan "to accommodate additional traffic, while improving conditions on the existing roads."
Sounds exciting! However, I don't quite understand the logic. The plan involves building a maze of roads next to the northbound access road leading to Cameron Road, then diverting all traffic off the access road and into the maze.
It makes sense that additional traffic can be accommodated by increasing the surface area of a road. But doesn't it work better when the road is made wider rather than longer?
And I guess conditions on the existing roads could be improved by disallowing traffic completely. But isn't the whole problem with traffic congestion that people actually want to go places?
I would love it if someone could explain to me how this Jughandle could be a good idea.
**
Out of the four entrances and exits near my house, there is only one left, and it's so poorly designed that I never even use it, except after 2:00 am. I live walking distance to two highways, and it takes about ten minutes to get on to either one of them going either direction. I think this really might be the last straw. It's about time to start turning my house into a rental house and moving someplace new.