The Tolls, and heavy freight?

[verybadgnome]

Once the portion of SH 130 south of US 183 is completed to IH-10 there will be a complete bypass around Austin and truckers coming from Houston or South Texas border areas will be able to avoid IH-35 for a 49 mile stretch east of Austin.

To the OP I would recommend the same approach I would when moving anywhere, whether they have tolls or not, and that is to find your job first and then find a place to reside nearby. If you live and work in North Austin or likewise South Austin you will not need to be using the toll roads. All the highways I use on a regular basis (SH 71, US 290, MoPac, and IH-35) are already paid for via gas taxes and their maintenance is kept up via my regular contribution at the pump.

Also remember two other things and one that not all toll roads are the same cost per mile traveled as 183A is much more expensive than the others and two that the toll roads that were upgraded from previously free roads will have free frontage with traffic lights available as an alternative to paying and moving at a higher rate of speed.

[Austinitegirl]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

The reason the trucks are mentioned is that they were the reason given to us to garner our support of 130 being built in the first place, that they would remove a very dangerous situation of having semis on I35 through downtown Austin. So it's notable that this doesn't seem to be happening as yet.

I'm sure you're right about this, but I agree with cabolissa - I really don't want truckers on 130/45. The trucks are the reason I STOPPED driving on 35, and I really don't think that opening up the south end of the toll road will divert ALL trucker traffic. Out of town trucks won't know it's there, so it'll only be used by truckers who come through Austin often or are from the surrounding area. So, the end result will be TWO highways with 18 wheeler traffic, making 2 unsafe roads and a lot of unhappy suburbanites (like me) who use 45/130 as an escape from the madness of 35.

[love roses]

I'm adding myself as a 3rd who loves the toll road!

[TexasHorseLady]

All I was saying was that they sold SH 130 to the people in Austin who were there to vote for it as a way to get rid of that mess for the folks in Austin (after several auto/18-wheeler accidents, as I recall). Not that I believed for a moment that that would be the case, because the truckers would have to pay considerably more toll than we do.

And now, if it were actually to do what it was approved to accomplish for the folks who approved it to accomplish exactly that, folks who use SH130 rather than I35 are not going to be happy.

Sort of a Catch 22 there. Or "damned if you do" because the people who have become used to using it are going to be unhappy if the trucks start using it or "damned if you don't" because the people who approved it to alleviate their problem are going to be unhappy at the expenditure without getting what they paid for.