I-10 is great!

[XodoX]

Originally Posted by jd433

Hey, are those managed toll lanes open to people who want to pay a toll to use them even if they are driving by themselves???

Of course you can still use it. Its just HOV right now cause they are trying to find out how much money they can get outta our wallets..

[Beto]

Originally Posted by case44

If you're curious about U.S. 290 and the plans for it, here's the link.

My290 : Home

As for the Katy Freeway, I can't wait until my next Houston trip. It was a joy seeing some finished portions and driving on them a few months back. You can now see the downtown skyline from just east of West Sam Houston. It's great.

It'll be great when I finally see the finished product next time. Wow!

Thanks, I have the link. I also called to get and update a few months back on the progress and time frame for the expansion.

[cla]

Originally Posted by jd433

Hey, are those managed toll lanes open to people who want to pay a toll to use them even if they are driving by themselves???

Not till spring 2009...

from click2houston.com...

"Until Spring 2009, the managed lanes will only be open to buses, HOV riders and motorcycles during normal HOV lane hours, 5 to 11 a.m. and 2 to 8 p.m. weekdays.

The lanes will eventually be open 24 hours.

When the lanes open to single-riders, the toll will change throughout the day depending on the amount of congestion in the lanes."

[KerrTown]

Originally Posted by dv1033

Not at all. For example, everyone who pays taxes to have commuter rail built can't ride for free. They still have to pay a charge to use the commuter rail.

Of course! The diesel needs to be paid for and the train cars need to be maintained. I just checked the fare on Chicagoland's Metra from Aurora (the end of the line) to Downtown Chicago and it was $5.65 for one-way. That is a deal considering that gas was running $1/L or more this summer plus wear and tear costs that need to be depreciated from the asset and allocated as an expense.

And just think if more people would choose a certain commuting alternative that doesn't require billions of dollars of infrastructure... I am talking about carpooling. Those managed lanes would be wonderful if more carpoolers would fill up the lanes than single occupancy riders. The great thing too is, the managed lanes function by increasing the toll cost to keep the speed flowing. Consequentially, that would make the free lanes more congested because of the increased carpool use.

My dad blamed my stepmom's carpooling to the premature wear of their shocks. That's one more infrastructure that will require hundreds of dollars.

[Metro Matt]

I-10 Katy Freeway is now the widest freeway (for a sustained distance) in the nation!

[case44]

Originally Posted by jd433

Hey, are those managed toll lanes open to people who want to pay a toll to use them even if they are driving by themselves???

It will be cashless, and they can be billed if they are not TollTag users. And I wouldn't be too surprised if this process of tolling were not permanent, but any idea of removing tolls, if at all, would be years away. If TXDOT ever gets any financial stability again, then it's quite possible that the managed lanes would eventually be free again. It's not certain yet, though.

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

I-10 Katy Freeway is now the widest freeway (for a sustained distance) in the nation!

And as we all say, everything's bigger in Texas!

[HedwigTramp]

When they FINALLY opened all the lanes on I-10 it was pure heaven. My commute to downtown from Hedwig Village (Blalock/Echo) was fantastic. For about 2-3 weeks it was about 20 minutes from my garage to my office door.

But then I started hitting bottlenecks just outside downtown beginning at Taylor. Then the backup started further and further out I-10. First Studemont, the Heights, and now the traffic consistently stops at Shepherd.

There is no backup at the entrance to downtown (Smith), so I am thinking the traffic must be caused by the I-10 / 45 interchange.
I have also heard that the new I-10 has stolen a lot of traffic from the Westpark tollway.


2/3 of my commute is now between Shepherd and downtown.

Anyone else witness this?