Commute from Steiner Ranch to Central Austin (West, Van: houses, neighborhood)

[Matt JS]

My family is considering moving to Steiner Ranch. I am looking for some accurate and up to date info about what the commute could look like to a workplace near 45th and Lamar? We are looking at a neighborhood near the Quinlan Exit onto 620. My hours are 9-5. The "Leave Time" feature on Google Maps suggests a 22-35 min morning commute and a 25-40 min evening commute. I suspect those algorithms have been thrown off by a reduction in commuters during COVID-19? I am also wondering about people's opinions about how effective the new cut through from 620 to 2222 and a couple road widening projects on 2222 will be in reducing commute times? Any thoughts, experiences and info would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[Austin97]

I would absolutely not do that commute. During regular times it can take 30 minutes just to get to 620/2222. I would go jester/lakewood over steiner. Riverplace could be a maybe.

For google always use the highest number.

you should post on reddit/r/austin, they will absolutely love you there.

[Need4Camaro]

Quinland is not an exit, it’s a stop light. Everything west of U.S. 183 on 620 is a surface arterial buried in strip centers and businesses. It’s a one way in one way out surface street with no alternative routes of escaping the area it goes through. Your times have been heavily impacted by COVID. You would be looking at an hour and change to get to Downtown Austin during regular traffic. 30 - 40 of the minutes will be spent crawling up 620 to get to 2222. The other parts will be dealing with MoPac.

[Swizzle Stick]

Originally Posted by Austin97

I would absolutely not do that commute. During regular times it can take 30 minutes just to get to 620/2222. I would go jester/lakewood over steiner. Riverplace could be a maybe.

For google always use the highest number.

you should post on reddit/r/austin, they will absolutely love you there.

Jester Estates is in Austin ISD (Anderson HS). Steiner has better schools (Vandergrift HS). We looked at both areas but settled on Westlake instead. Steiner is way far out which may be an issue if WFH starts being phased out. Both areas are beautiful though.

[CarnivalGal]

I live in Steiner and used to had a client at 35th and Lamar, so made that commute regularly for a few months. During rush hour, it will take about an hour for that commute. That's during the school year and assuming that things return to normal after COVID. The improvements to 2222 may cut that down a little. The times you are seeing are COVID times - lots of people working from home, and schools at 40% capacity. The commute home is usually even longer.

Are you looking at the new development right at the front of Steiner? If so, don't. I love Steiner, but you couldn't pay me to live in that new development. Houses so close together that I don't even know how you can get a car out of the driveway, 620 is going to be VERY noisy, and the biggest issue is that there are no left turns out of the development. That means you have to get on 620 even to go to places IN Steiner, like the schools. That's going to be a HUGE pain the in the behind, even if there isn't traffic. We stay IN Steiner a lot to go to restaurants, etc. (pre-COVID). School, practice, kids going to friends houses, etc.

[LifeWillNeverBeTheSame]

On a different note, does anyone know the pre-Covid commute time from Lake Pointe to downtown Austin and vice-versa? Is it a rough one, as well?

[Need4Camaro]

I’m unsure on that one. I don’t think 2244 is as rough as 620 but I could be wrong. It’s still kind of a one way in one way out area. I’d imagine it would be okay until you get to Loop 360, from there after it may get rough, but not sure. Haven’t used that road during rush hour.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

I’m unsure on that one. I don’t think 2244 is as rough as 620 but I could be wrong. It’s still kind of a one way in one way out area. I’d imagine it would be okay until you get to Loop 360, from there after it may get rough, but not sure. Haven’t used that road during rush hour.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/03/covi...s-traffic.html

40 minutes during covid, so I would think much worse when things open up again.

Since Covid-19 broke out, Google said it had to deprioritize older traffic data and has changed its models to first prioritize traffic patterns from the last two to four weeks. That means it should continue to be reliable through the pandemic, especially if areas start to open up gradually over time.