I'm feeling more like an Austin Traffic Complainer with each passing day (Round Rock: construction, university)

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

It's so disjointed, largely owed to the stupid hamhanded way bike lanes are shoehorned onto existing streets, decreasing total lanes availble,

So the root cause of Austin traffic is that a few streets (with extra lanes and capacity) got bike lanes.

Oookay. <smile and nod, humor the crazy talk>

[Leaving Arizona]

Originally Posted by ScoPro

The only bad exception to that is the lack of an overpass at the RR crossing on 620 by Chisholm Trail.

They're working on that. Now that's going to be one big cluster-F once they start working on it. I hope they start it after our house in G-town is done so Mr LA doesn't have to deal with access problems to I-35.

Additionally, they've started the project to do an overpass off of Wyoming Springs/Brightwater over Hairy Man to Creek Bend on the other side to supposedly help relieve the NB/SB pressure off of I-35. I saw them excavating/surveying from WS, and at a later point saw them clearing trees etc as I drove across Hairy Man, which prompted me to look it up.

(sarcasm) I'm sure the developments in that area are just thrilled. (/sarcasm)

[Return2Paradise]

Originally Posted by Novacek

So the root cause of Austin traffic is that a few streets (with extra lanes and capacity) got bike lanes.

Oookay. <smile and nod, humor the crazy talk>

Perhaps it's not entirely crazy. At the traffic light where my subdivision dumps onto the main road heading towards I-35, the city recently added a bike lane, which reduced the car lanes from two down to one to accommodate. This has significantly increased the number of light cycles cars have to wait through.

Bear in mind there is ZERO bicycle traffic coming into/out of my subdivision.

So it would appear that the city is not taking bike traffic into account when creating new bike lanes, nor the impact it may have on automobile traffic. Perhaps it's a diabolical plan to force residents out of their cars

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by Return2Paradise

Perhaps it's not entirely crazy. At the traffic light where my subdivision dumps onto the main road heading towards I-35, the city recently added a bike lane, which reduced the car lanes from two down to one to accommodate. This has significantly increased the number of light cycles cars have to wait through.

Bear in mind there is ZERO bicycle traffic coming into/out of my subdivision.

So it would appear that the city is not taking bike traffic into account when creating new bike lanes, nor the impact it may have on automobile traffic. Perhaps it's a diabolical plan to force residents out of their cars

Which intersection?

The city does traffic studies on all those changes. And on every single project I've seen, even when lanes are reduced, they get added back at intersections (Braker and Kramer, Kramer and Metric, Steck and Ohlen, Steck and Mopac, etc. etc. ). So I'm curious to see an example of otherwise.



And bear in mind, austin-steve said "more than anything". So it's not lack of capacity on I35, Mopac, and all the other highways. It's not lack of transit. It's not horrible Austin drivers that are probably drunk or high half the time.

more than anything it's the addition of a few bike lanes.

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by Novacek

Which intersection?
...
And bear in mind, austin-steve said "more than anything".

No, I said "It's so disjointed, largely owed to the stupid hamhanded way bike lanes are shoehorned onto existing streets, decreasing total lanes availble, but also lack of uniformity in onramps/exits, turnarounds, etc."

But the example R2P offered is exactly what I'm talking about. Available lanes for cars are actually being reduced in Austin where bike lanes are being added.

And, as those who live near any elementary/middle school know, during drop off and pickup, the cars queue up in the thru lanes because all the middle lanes have been eliminated to make room for bike lanes on both sides. Try driving down Pinnacle off Walsh Tarlton (my old neighborhood) at 2:30 PM during school year. It backs up sometimes all the way to WT, then people try to squeeze in and block the thru traffic on WT. Total logjam whereas before the bike lanes it flowed.

Try driving past Clayton or Kiker elementary during school year at pickup time. Same thing. Completely blocked both ways. Impassable because the roads that used to allow a middle turn lane to wait in have been retrofitted for bike lanes on both sides. So traffic literally just sits there, with no way around at all, except for those in SUVs who bump up the curb and drive with their right wheels up off the road in an unsafe way.

Nobody is taking a holistic look at the entire road system and identifying the hundreds of small bottlenecks and the secondary problems those bottlenecks cause. We have many intersections, such as 290 W at 1826 where you have City, County AND TXDOT all in charge, all cooks in the kitchen boiling up a wretched stew of traffic vomit.

There needs to be one entity in charge. A strike force team empowered to make recommendations that will upset people but which will make sense as part of an entire road system and its flow.

Steve

[Return2Paradise]

Originally Posted by Novacek

Which intersection?

The city does traffic studies on all those changes. And on every single project I've seen, even when lanes are reduced, they get added back at intersections (Braker and Kramer, Kramer and Metric, Steck and Ohlen, Steck and Mopac, etc. etc. ). So I'm curious to see an example of otherwise.

East Parmer Lane and Harris Ridge. They lopped off auto lanes northbound and southbound on Harris Ridge, didn't add lanes back at the intersection. I've lived there for 5 years and I could count the number of bicycle riders I've seen near there during that time on both hands.

My previous response was somewhat tongue and cheek, as I don't see bike lanes as a major contributor to the overall Austin traffic problems. I think it's a combination of sheer volume, poor design, poor planning and moronic drivers (both dangerously fast, dangerously slow, overall inattentive and unskilled).

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

No, I said "It's so disjointed, largely owed to the stupid hamhanded way bike lanes are shoehorned onto existing streets, decreasing total lanes availble, but also lack of uniformity in onramps/exits, turnarounds, etc."

No, you said:

"what Austin roads lack more than anything is what in business we call "uniformity of operation". It's so disjointed, largely owed to the stupid hamhanded way bike lanes are shoehorned onto existing streets"

So the majority problem of the majority problem.

So forget more lanes in I35. Get rid of a few bike lanes and it will take care of most of the issues.

Originally Posted by austin-steve

And, as those who live near any elementary/middle school know, during drop off and pickup, the cars queue up in the thru lanes because all the middle lanes have been eliminated to make room for bike lanes on both sides.

I live near both a elementary and middle school. And neither Wooten Elementary nor Burnet middle have experienced this phenomenon.

Originally Posted by austin-steve

Try driving down Pinnacle off Walsh Tarlton (my old neighborhood) at 2:30 PM during school year. It backs up sometimes all the way to WT, then people try to squeeze in and block the thru traffic on WT. Total logjam whereas before the bike lanes it flowed.

It couldn't possible be the massive population growth in Austin. It's got to be the bike lanes.

Originally Posted by austin-steve

Try driving past Clayton or Kiker elementary during school year at pickup time. Same thing. Completely blocked both ways. Impassable because the roads that used to allow a middle turn lane to wait in have been retrofitted for bike lanes on both sides. So traffic literally just sits there, with no way around at all, except for those in SUVs who bump up the curb and drive with their right wheels up off the road in an unsafe way.

I'm not sure what you're smoking. La Crosse by Clayton didn't remove a middle turn lane for bike lanes.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&p...2dKATAuMQEBdjI

[Aquitaine]

La Crosse by Clayton didn't remove a middle turn lane for bike lanes.

LaCrosse at Escarpment had two lanes going North on Escarpment. About 6-8 months ago it was reduced to one Northbound lane and a combination right turn / bike lane.

It works out well enough outside of school pickup/dropoff hours. During those hours it jams up quite a ways back on Escarpment.

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by Return2Paradise

East Parmer Lane and Harris Ridge. They lopped off auto lanes northbound and southbound on Harris Ridge, didn't add lanes back at the intersection. I've lived there for 5 years and I could count the number of bicycle riders I've seen near there during that time on both hands.

Okay, here's the change.

Harris Ridge (Parmer to Howard) Bike Lane Project Meeting – Tuesday, Nov 27th 7pm | Bike Austin

http://bikeaustin.org/wp-content/upl...Tech-Ridge.pdf

And it confirms they did a traffic study.


I'm confused by your statement that they "didn't add lanes back at the intersection." Harris Ridge widens out to 3 lanes at East Parmer.

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.4029...7i13312!8i6656

[cBach]

I just came back from DC. The traffic here really isn't that bad.