That new I-85 interchange near Buford could be under construction soon (Atlanta: restaurants, area)

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

Actually this isnt quite true.
Although the tree canopy isnt as tall as Atlanta's, its not lacking in greenery or hills.

Only eastern Austin is flat.

The western section of it is more hilly / slightly mountainous than most suburbs in Atlanta asside from the foothills of the Blueridge area. It looks more like California. Austin is also one of the more 'green' cities in TX which also surprised me. No, its not Atlanta level but there's a fair amount of greenery.

However between eastern Austin and western Austin (and even Southern) there's a huge difference in topography so in the flatter less lush eastern Austin, it's much easier to see why it's easier to throw up toll roads.

The hills are west of town, not in town itself.

45 in southern Austin faced alot of opposition and lawsuits and is to this date only a month old from its grand opening and even after approved the road had to be heavily condensed due to the environment is passed through so what I'm stating is it isnt quite like its cake and icecream to make highways here. The western section where the majority of the hills are does not have a single freeway or tollroad and from Austin to San Antonio it's very known if one even thought of designing a freeway through that region it would be met with severe lashback. This is why TX130 is on the East side of Austin rather than West although the west is far more directly in alignment with its route to San Antonio. Loop 360 is the only thing that comes close and only a few intersections were converted to interchanges (with MUCH political lashback at that).

On the northern end where 45 ends at 183, the interchange in designed in such a way that it looks as if they intended it to continue further west but abruptly dumps you onto a clogged surface road which also serves as the only route to the west hills area (F.M.620) and traffic on that route is a mess. They proposed to continue it further west but all votes to do so failed not only because the cost to cross the river but the west hills area plainly has far more environmental protection.

If the blueridge area were also present in Texas it's very likely they would not be so eager to coat those areas with highways. I mean one has to admit there is a HUGE topography difference between most of Texas and Georgia of which makes it much easier to design the kind of roads they have here than in the north metro area.

The real issue with the outer perimeter isnt that metro Atlanta does not want it, but metro Atlanta does not want what the politicians intended to do with it, which was route it through every one of their properties which would have in turn caused explosions of growth in the outer Atlanta area and very quickly instead of an outer perimeter you would literally have another clogged suburban highway without anywhere else or any other way to design around it. Although I do like the highways in Texas i have to agree that if the northern arc had been conceived in the design they had in mind (routing and exits through every other development) it would have eventually lead to a bigger problem.

NC terrain has much of the same geographical features of suburban Atlanta but asside from Asheville none of their metros are seated on the foothills of mountains.

Austin only has a single, north-south interstate so that made planning the bypass easier. Long-distance east-west truck traffic goes to IH-10 to the south.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

The hills are west of town, not in town itself.



Austin only has a single, north-south interstate so that made planning the bypass easier. Long-distance east-west truck traffic goes to IH-10 to the south.

The western hills are very much in town. They literally begin as soon as you start leaving Downtown to the west. Infact if comparing distances, between Downtown Atlanta and I-285's western arc, you would be well into them by the time you reached I-285. You can zoom in on those photos and see alot of those hills are quite developed.













Austin is not known to be a logistical hub and in my opinion is severely lacks blue collar jobs. Austin is more so a city that 'was not supposed to grow' but exploded anyway. Eventually we will have I-14 not too far north of us, but it was never really supposed to be anything more than a modern day Oklahoma City hence its horrific infrastructural issues. Had it have never grown it never would have needed much more than I-35 as it was basically another Waco or Temple with a one of the states flagship universities. The ByPass cannot pass through the western side of the city for many of the same reasons they refuse to build the northern arc. It's not a planning issue, much in the same way for the northern arc was not a planning issue - it was a political issue. It will pass through too much geographical prohibitive landscape. Our Bypass is only completed on 3 sides currently.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

The western hills are very much in town. They literally begin as soon as you start leaving Downtown to the west. Infact if comparing distances, between Downtown Atlanta and I-285's western arc, you would be well into them by the time you reached I-285. You can zoom in on those photos and see alot of those hills are quite developed.













Austin is not known to be a logistical hub and in my opinion is severely lacks blue collar jobs. Austin is more so a city that 'was not supposed to grow' but exploded anyway. Eventually we will have I-14 not too far north of us, but it was never really supposed to be anything more than a modern day Oklahoma City hence its horrific infrastructural issues. Had it have never grown it never would have needed much more than I-35 as it was basically another Waco or Temple with a one of the states flagship universities. The ByPass cannot pass through the western side of the city for many of the same reasons they refuse to build the northern arc. It's not a planning issue, much in the same way for the northern arc was not a planning issue - it was a political issue. It will pass through too much geographical prohibitive landscape. Our Bypass is only completed on 3 sides currently.

IDK, that looks like "on the edge of town" to me. But again we're on the same page that a western bypass of Austin would be very difficult.

Pretty pics BTW.

[hilltop180]

I drove back from Greenville on Sunday. Traffic was terrible from Commerce all the way to Suwanee. Maybe it was all the summer travelers. It seems like 85 needs to be 8 lanes all the way to Charlotte though. That road gets to much traffic.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

The western hills are very much in town. They literally begin as soon as you start leaving Downtown to the west. Infact if comparing distances, between Downtown Atlanta and I-285's western arc, you would be well into them by the time you reached I-285. You can zoom in on those photos and see alot of those hills are quite developed.













Austin is not known to be a logistical hub and in my opinion is severely lacks blue collar jobs. Austin is more so a city that 'was not supposed to grow' but exploded anyway. Eventually we will have I-14 not too far north of us, but it was never really supposed to be anything more than a modern day Oklahoma City hence its horrific infrastructural issues. Had it have never grown it never would have needed much more than I-35 as it was basically another Waco or Temple with a one of the states flagship universities. The ByPass cannot pass through the western side of the city for many of the same reasons they refuse to build the northern arc. It's not a planning issue, much in the same way for the northern arc was not a planning issue - it was a political issue. It will pass through too much geographical prohibitive landscape. Our Bypass is only completed on 3 sides currently.

Is your first picture from Mt. Bonnell? Its kind of hazy and hard to make out specific buildings.

It actually looks a lot like the view of Atlanta from Cobb County.

All of Austin is pretty hilly except the area right along the river. It gets hilly in the UT campus just north of the Capitol and by Lamar Blvd on the west edge of downtown. And Mt. Bonnell is only 7 miles from the center of town.

Note that Atlanta hasn't built an eastern or western or southern bypass either and those areas are not the Piedmont foothills. Geography is just an excuse to end debate.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by hilltop180

I drove back from Greenville on Sunday. Traffic was terrible from Commerce all the way to Suwanee. Maybe it was all the summer travelers. It seems like 85 needs to be 8 lanes all the way to Charlotte though. That road gets to much traffic.

They're working on widening 85 to the north. Eventually it will be three lanes each way all the way to the South Carolina state line.

[samiwas1]

Originally Posted by hilltop180

I drove back from Greenville on Sunday. Traffic was terrible from Commerce all the way to Suwanee. Maybe it was all the summer travelers. It seems like 85 needs to be 8 lanes all the way to Charlotte though. That road gets to much traffic.

I drove to philly on Wednesday. Most of 85 was fine. The two-lane sections kind of sucked. But they are definitely doing work in South Carolina. It was miserable getting through there.

[drfranklin]

Originally Posted by samiwas1

I drove to philly on Wednesday. Most of 85 was fine. The two-lane sections kind of sucked. But they are definitely doing work in South Carolina. It was miserable getting through there.

Construction/"Improvements" of I-85 thru Upstate SC is primarily 3 major projects:
(and SCDOT decided to undertake all three at the same time)

I-85/385 Gateway Project - 2nd largest infrastructure project in state history - many years overdue

I-85 Rehab and Resurfacing Project (in Spartanburg County) - behind schedule, mismanaged, with extremely confusing/incompetent construction signage

I-85 Widening Project - widening I-85 in Spartanburg/Cherokee counties to 6 lanes - perhaps 20 years overdue - very dangerous span on interstate - some residents refer to the Cherokee County portion as the "Death Road" - all interchanges will be redesigned/reconfigured

I am not native to this area, but have been a resident now for over 10 years - SCDOT is woefully mismanaged and incompetent - interstate infrastructure in SC is abysmal (esp now with everyone moving here) - the truck volume on I-85 thru SC is unlike anything I've ever seen recently - I-85 desperately needs a truck bypass or a "Peach Pass"-like addition lane (I will gladly pay for it, but will not happen in my lifetime or before flying cars) - also, please enjoy all of our interstate litter, uncut grass on interchanges, and wild bushes/trees (yes, trees) in the interstate medians - welcome to SC!

[DJDeadParrot]

Originally Posted by hilltop180

I drove back from Greenville on Sunday. Traffic was terrible from Commerce all the way to Suwanee. Maybe it was all the summer travelers. It seems like 85 needs to be 8 lanes all the way to Charlotte though. That road gets to much traffic.

I'm not the least bit surprised. Sunday traffic returning to the Atlanta area along I-85 is frequently like that.

You should have seen it a few hours after the eclipse two years ago.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by DJDeadParrot

I'm not the least bit surprised. Sunday traffic returning to the Atlanta area along I-85 is frequently like that.

You should have seen it a few hours after the eclipse two years ago.

Why was it worse after the eclipse?