Northbound MoPAc Toll Merge Fail Prediction (West: construction, contractor, costs)

[austin-steve]

Driving northbound on Mopac today and observing how the merge south of Far West, is set up, I predict it will bottleneck and cause wrecks in the merge zone.

I'm not an engineer or anything but I thought the same thing about the Hwy 183 eastbound ramp west of Mopac (which was so bad it was eventually bulldozed and simply deleted).

Why are road designers so obviously wrong so often? I mean, the northbound merge will work fine at 2AM for sure, but between 4-7PM?, it just looks like a disaster waiting to happen.

Have you seen it? What do you think? Do you see what I'm seeing?

Steve

[ScoPro]

The entire "improvement" on MoPac will help nothing - except perhaps the tall noise abatement walls lowering the decibels slightly for the residents.


And enrich a few politicians & the contractor.

[10scoachrick]

I have to agree with you, Steve. That's a 65mph wreck waiting to happen!

I'll say the same thing about these 'continuous flow' merge lanes where you nearly have to turn your head 180 degrees to view the lane with the ROW. How many people are just going to merge into 50mph traffic without even a how-dee-do ?

[cBach]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

Driving northbound on Mopac today and observing how the merge south of Far West, is set up, I predict it will bottleneck and cause wrecks in the merge zone.

I'm not an engineer or anything but I thought the same thing about the Hwy 183 eastbound ramp west of Mopac (which was so bad it was eventually bulldozed and simply deleted).

Why are road designers so obviously wrong so often? I mean, the northbound merge will work fine at 2AM for sure, but between 4-7PM?, it just looks like a disaster waiting to happen.

Have you seen it? What do you think? Do you see what I'm seeing?

Steve

Well since the average speed is like 2 MPH during rush hour I don't think it will be a problem

[cBach]

Originally Posted by ScoPro

The entire "improvement" on MoPac will help nothing - except perhaps the tall noise abatement walls lowering the decibels slightly for the residents.


And enrich a few politicians & the contractor.

Yes the only benefits I see is a repaved road, sound walls, and a bike path. Could've done that for a lot cheaper!

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by cBach

Well since the average speed is like 2 MPH during rush hour I don't think it will be a problem

You may have a point there. I was envisioning a 65 mph flow.

[mhudson78641]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

Driving northbound on Mopac today and observing how the merge south of Far West, is set up, I predict it will bottleneck and cause wrecks in the merge zone.

I'm not an engineer or anything but I thought the same thing about the Hwy 183 eastbound ramp west of Mopac (which was so bad it was eventually bulldozed and simply deleted).

Why are road designers so obviously wrong so often? I mean, the northbound merge will work fine at 2AM for sure, but between 4-7PM?, it just looks like a disaster waiting to happen.

Have you seen it? What do you think? Do you see what I'm seeing?

Steve

That 183 ramp was crazy. I talk about it every time I drive by it.

[Austin97]

variable rate tolls will work as long as there is no cap to the price.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

Why are road designers so obviously wrong so often? I mean, the northbound merge will work fine at 2AM for sure, but between 4-7PM?, it just looks like a disaster waiting to happen.

From my 23 years of experience working on Public Works projects I suspect that the Engineers were victims of the politicians who set budgets with little understanding and regardless of what the Engineers recommended, with no understanding of what that impact would be. It was not unusual in my experience to see a project that the Engineer or Architect estimated needed $4 million dollars, yet see the politicians cut it to $2 mil or $1 mil and then expect the Engineer to do the best he could with the funding that had been approved.

Politicians commonly make decisions to cut budgets on projects when they have absolutely no understanding of what the impact of that cut will be. But then expect, NO demand!, that the Engineers do the best they can with what funding is provided.

Another common foible is that the politicians delay funding for a project for 10 years and then expect it to be built for the same amount of funding that was estimated 10 years ago, when the economy was hurting and construction costs were low. But make no adjustment in funding to allow for the rapidly improving economy and growth that has occurred since that original estimate was done. Yes the political process is that stupid!

The engineering is rarely wrong, it is the political funding process that is most often inadequate.

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

...
The engineering is rarely wrong, it is the political funding process that is most often inadequate.

Your first part makes sense, but I also think the engineering is completely wrong in many instances. I think the Mopac Toll isn't suffering from any design change due to budget shortage. I just think it obviously won't work at the northbound merge approaching Far West, and will bottleneck there as people try to shift on and off the toll by criss crossing each other. There will be wrecks and fender benders and then the entire thing comes to a grinding halt.

Just my observation, I could be wrong.