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Old 03-23-2009, 07:18 PM
 
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We went to Houston last week to visit some family. When we were driving back Sunday on I-10, we saw that the HOV lanes are closed on Sat and Sun. Um, why?

They FINALLY got the construction done, and now have 2 HOV lanes going in each direction. Why would you just close 2 perfectly good lanes of a major interstate on the weekends?
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Old 03-23-2009, 07:52 PM
 
Location: Hutto, Tx
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Because they are probably only open for weekday commuting.
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Old 03-23-2009, 11:27 PM
 
Location: Dripping Springs , TX
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Are they truly closed on the weekend, or just closed as HOV lanes. i.e. open to all traffic?

Maybe they are trying to reduce wear and tear on the pavement?
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Old 03-24-2009, 06:53 AM
 
Location: Austin, Texas
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it's a ploy to reinforce to commuters that they are getting a "deal" when they car-pool --- brainwashing/training the masses
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Old 03-24-2009, 08:15 AM
 
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To answer some questions, the lanes are truly closed - as in no vehicles are allowed on them.

And why would you only have them open for "weekday commuting," as someone suggested? It's like having check-out lanes open, with people behind the register, but telling customers they can't use them.
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Old 03-24-2009, 08:41 AM
 
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Are they still contraflow? (In the am they're all inbound and in the pm they're all outbound) Maybe on weekends they don't want to confuse people about when they can enter the lanes?
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Old 03-24-2009, 08:52 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by texastea View Post
Are they still contraflow? (In the am they're all inbound and in the pm they're all outbound) Maybe on weekends they don't want to confuse people about when they can enter the lanes?
Nope.
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Old 03-24-2009, 09:38 AM
 
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They are ultimately supposed to be toll lanes during non-HOV hours... perhaps they are working on the toll setup when the lanes are closed? Another possibility: they may have to keep some extra staff on hand when they are open, to assist motorists and clear accidents that happen in those lanes, since they are completely blocked off...

I'm curious though, did you encounter heavy traffic on I-10 over the weekend? Aren't there like 14 regular lanes now? Was it that full?
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Old 03-24-2009, 01:49 PM
 
7,996 posts, read 10,362,820 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by atxcio View Post
They are ultimately supposed to be toll lanes during non-HOV hours... perhaps they are working on the toll setup when the lanes are closed? Another possibility: they may have to keep some extra staff on hand when they are open, to assist motorists and clear accidents that happen in those lanes, since they are completely blocked off...

I'm curious though, did you encounter heavy traffic on I-10 over the weekend? Aren't there like 14 regular lanes now? Was it that full?
If they require extra staff, then that makes sense. We didn't encounter really heavy traffic, but since it was the end of Spring Break, and everyone else was going home, it was pretty congested. Another lane or two would have helped.
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Old 03-24-2009, 09:14 PM
 
Location: Hutto, Tx
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Traffic between Austin and Houston during spring break has been hideous for many years and it's probably only going to get worse. My MIL and SIL live in Katy. Guess I could ask them why.
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