Shoudn't all of this road work been done a LONG time ago??

[Newbe10]

Originally Posted by fistofsouth

Do yourself a favor and NEVER visit Germany as they are always working on roads and construction projects. I think the Franfurt Airport Rein Main Airbase expansion has been going on since the early 1980s.

As far as North Texas road construction goes I have to ask did you just get here? Do you know what Central Expressway looked like in say 1985? How about the Central/LBJ interchange? Did you know the Dallas North Tollway used to actually end in North Dallas? Did you know the George Bush Tollway was in the works in the 1980s and didn't really go anywhere until about 2001? Do you realize that DFW has averages greater than 20% growth for the last 30 years? Did you know the only other metro areas the size of DFW (NY, LA, Chi, Philly, et al) average growth rates of less than 5% during that same time-frame? A glance at the US Census for the last 30 years has ALL of the answers you seek.

I did move here in December of last year. However, I had been coming to the DFW area for several years before since I have family in the area that I keep in contact with. Believe me, I know how much the population has been going up... For example, I think that Frisco has nearly doubled in size (at least in population anyway) since I got here.

What I am saying is that all of this rapid growth could have been planned for several decades ago (i.e. in the 70's and 80's) when DFW was really getting big and all of the suburban areas started exploding in population. Construction companies and city planners back then had to have known that DFW was going to continue to expand rapidly through the next several decades.

Cities like LA, San Diego, Chicago, and Houston seem to plan ahead and keep up with growth in terms of roads & highways, so I wonder why DFW can't? Many of the freeways in LA for instance were built with 5 lanes on each side back in 60's (which was a time that LA was going through a growth spurt like DFW is now, the difference being that out there, the rapid growth was anticipated).

[Newbe10]

Originally Posted by loves2read

get real...
government buracracy
growth
wear/tear on construction that is always built a little less than perfect

yes--it is insane--
yes--it creates a hazardous driving environment

but people who advocated building an 8 lane freeway vs 6 for 183 or 114 would have been laughed out of the room because of the increase in cost vs the number of cars at that time--

using your analysis--no street/freeway should be built unless it is originally created for the max number of vehicles to use it--

Yes, exactly. If that had been the case out here, then we wouldn't have the crazy mess that we currently have. It's not hard to plan for and anticipate future growth in a metro area. Planners and construction companies had to have known that DFW was really going to explode in population in the latter decades of the 20th century.

The Houston area seems to keep up with it's own CRAZY population growth. For instance, they are currently expanding I-45 to four lanes in each direction through Northern Conroe all the way to the Montgomery / Walker county line (I believe it is about 10 miles of new road they are working on), which is an area that right now is dotted with small but very RAPIDLY growing outer suburban areas (Panorama Village is a good example). The rest of Houston's freeways seem to have been expanded a LONG time ago (except for the more recent I-10 expansion in West Houston & Katy).

But you are right. A big reason why it never got done here in DFW until now is more than likely gov't. bueacracy. Well at least some of it is being done now. I like living here in DFW, so I will just have to suck it up like everyone else, despite that being hard to do at times! By the way, how much of 183 and loop 12 is acutally getting expanded? I use those two freeways a lot when going to and from Fort Worth. By the way, I wonder how many lanes they are going to be adding to TX 183 & 820 in Fort Worth / Bedford? If I' am not mistaken, TX 121 is supposed to be widend in Tarrant county as well?

I will definitely celebrate the day all of the road work in the metroplex is complete.

[Newbe10]

Originally Posted by Eric Fred Norris

you people complain about anything. grow up.

Yes "Chuck" Norris, I shall "grow up."

[lh_newbie]

Originally Posted by Newbe10

IWhat I am saying is that all of this rapid growth could have been planned for several decades ago (i.e. in the 70's and 80's) when DFW was really getting big and all of the suburban areas started exploding in population.

One could argue that the region grew so fast that there WAS construction projects going on to try to keep up with the development (Dallas North Tollway, TX-75 expansion, light rail system, George Bush/High-5, etc, etc). But one thing that's mostly being ignored is that when an area grows, it doesn't immediately have the money to build said roads. TX DOT is scraping to get by as it is. The Feds flung some money at several projects to get them going, which is why so much is going on at once. It's almost always about the money. People love to say what should have been done, but the fact is what should be done and what can be afforded are usually two different things.

I ask you one question:

- If you want more proactive road projects, would you accept an extra 20 cents per gallon gas tax?

Cause that's about the only way you'll get it. And that tax will need to increase by a few cents ever few years to keep up with the escalating costs of road construction/maintenance. Are you willing to put your money where your mouth is?

Brian