Commute from 78746 to The Domain? (Austin, Canyon: neighborhood, elementary school, living in)

[KeepinAustinWeird]

I am moving to Austin for a Job that is roughly located by The Domain, on Mopac. What would the commute time be around 8am going to The Domain from Rollingwood / West Lake area? Someone told me 30-45 minutes. Is that accurate? Is the traffic bad?

Thanks

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by KeepinAustinWeird

I am moving to Austin for a Job that is roughly located by The Domain, on Mopac. What would the commute time be around 8am going to The Domain from Rollingwood / West Lake area? Someone told me 30-45 minutes. Is that accurate? Is the traffic bad?

Thanks

Kinda depends on where in the 78746 area you are. If you are closer to mopac, and you take that it should be about 20 minutes during non-rush hour. 30-40 with heavy traffic. If you are closer to 360, you'd take 360 to North Mopac to the Domain. That would be about 20-25 mins without traffic, 45 mins with. My wife commutes that way, but to just south of the domain at Mopac & 360. The plus side of the deal is that 360 is really pretty as far as commutes go. The downside is the traffic lights along it.

Oh, and traffic is really bad on both Mopac and 360 during rush hour: from approx 7:45AM-9AM, and 4:30P-6:45P. On Friday, the evening rush starts about 1 hr earlier and ends about 30 mins earlier. Outside those times and on the weekends, it's a breeze -- no traffic at all.

[austinnerd]

The positive thing is that you will generally be going against the normal flow of traffic. You mentioned Rolling Wood, I assume then that you are relatively close to Mopac. In the morning that stretch of Mopac going north between 2244 and Enfield can suck, bad. Once you get beyond it though, it's relatively smooth sailing while you zip past all the rest of us going south from NW Austin to downtown in the morning. In the afternoon, different story. Mopac has a tendency to get backed up in both directions pretty heavily. 360 follows a similar trend.

[mimimomx3]

Originally Posted by KeepinAustinWeird

I am moving to Austin for a Job that is roughly located by The Domain, on Mopac. What would the commute time be around 8am going to The Domain from Rollingwood / West Lake area? Someone told me 30-45 minutes. Is that accurate? Is the traffic bad?

Thanks

It's terrible. If you can leave at 7, that would be pretty easy- about 20 minutes. At 8, it can take up to an hour, depending on what part of 78746 you're at. The bad part is the bridge, that's a pain. Why not move closer to the Domain?

[KeepinAustinWeird]

My feeling is that the Laurel-Canyon-Westwood area is too far from the city. We live in the suburbs now and find ourselves staying there for the most part, when going out to eat, parks, etc. We're also looking at NW hills but do the schools really compare to Eanes or Laurel-Canyon-Westwood? What's drawing us to the RollingWood area is the proximity to town and the schools, both in quality and the fact that it's a smaller district, which less likely to grow and change much.

[hoffdano]

I drive 360 northbound from Bee Caves Rd. to the Arboretum area every morning about 8 a.m. The 360 leg is not bad at all - right now is the worst case because school just started. It will settle down in a week or so when everyone's schedule gets set.

Southbound at the same time is worse.

In the evening I am southbound on 360 around 5:30 or so. I think evening traffic is moderately worse than the morning - but still not awful.

I can't compare to Mopac as the obvious other route since I never take that route.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by KeepinAustinWeird

I am moving to Austin for a Job that is roughly located by The Domain, on Mopac. What would the commute time be around 8am going to The Domain from Rollingwood / West Lake area? Someone told me 30-45 minutes. Is that accurate? Is the traffic bad?

Thanks

I would also add that 360 is all lights today, but at some point should get converted to a highway or toll rd.

Today I would take mopac north over 360.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by Austin97

I would also add that 360 is all lights today, but at some point should get converted to a highway or toll rd.

Today I would take mopac north over 360.

hmm ok I did a bit more research, it looks like no hope is coming anytime soon for 360

State to craft revised plans for Oak Hill 'Y,' Loop 360 traffic jams

<<Rush-hour traffic at certain traffic lights along Loop 360 has become a grind in recent years, with some lights requiring several cycles to clear. TxDOT had proposed in 2004 to turn the road into a tollway with frontage roads, an idea quickly shot down by neighborhood groups concerned about destroying the highway's scenic character. The general consensus: eliminate stop lights one at a time by building bridges.

Since then, with TxDOT spending its limited money on other priorities, no Loop 360 improvement plans have surfaced. The 25-year transportation plan for Central Texas approved last month did not include any Loop 360 project.>>

[austinkmomma]

I looked at schools in the 78746 area code, because I heard so much raving about the schools. Instead I ended up staying in the North Austin area, and son went to Kathy Caraway, a great school.

Laurel Mountain Elementary school is also excellent, and I think the commute would still be close to the Domain.

After living in NW hills for 3 years, I ended up really loving that area.

[hound 109]

Originally Posted by KeepinAustinWeird

My feeling is that the Laurel-Canyon-Westwood area is too far from the city. We live in the suburbs now and find ourselves staying there for the most part, when going out to eat, parks, etc. We're also looking at NW hills but do the schools really compare to Eanes or Laurel-Canyon-Westwood? What's drawing us to the RollingWood area is the proximity to town and the schools, both in quality and the fact that it's a smaller district, which less likely to grow and change much.

Yes they compare.....& in some ways they are different (more diverse) & in some ways they exceed (higher test scores/IB programs).

Westlake has a better football team though.