Does Texas need another freeway alternative to I-35? (Dallas, San Antonio: construction, live)

[brock2010]

I was having a conversation with someone and the subject of traffic on I-35 came up. As traffic counts continue to increase, do you think there will be a demand for another freeway alternative kind of like I-5 and 99 in California? I think it's possible. Probably starting a few miles south of Hillsboro then going south and east of Waco near the towns of Mart, Riesel, Marlin, crossing over 190 between Rogers and Temple. Then continuing south near Holland and Bartlet before connecting to 130.

[bluescreen73]

That sounds a lot like the Trans-Texas Corridor boondoggle that Gov. Goodhair and his buddy the late Ric Williamson wanted to build 20 years ago.

[brock2010]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

That sounds a lot like the Trans-Texas Corridor boondoggle that Gov. Goodhair and his buddy the late Ric Williamson wanted to build 20 years ago.

Wow. I do remember the Trans Texas Corridor to some degree. When I lived in Texarkana (hometown) there were a couple of grand highway proposals that never materialized after Perry left office. Do you think there should be an alternative to I-35 or should they expand I-35 to 4 or 5 lanes in each direction?

[Need4Camaro]

Honestly... They screwed up with I-35 IMHO. I-35 would probably be alot better to travel on if it bypassed Waco, Temple, Austin and arguably even DFW and those cities were accessible by spur routes instead of directly along the cooridoor.

As it stands, I-35 through Waco just finished up not long ago and I usually dont run into any snags between DFW and AUS on ordinary days. But Holidays and Events are another story.

TX-130 was supposed to run along side I-35 all the way to DFW but the plan was nixed after heavy lashback from the ranchers the road would have either destroyed or brought development nearby.

Today the only reasonable alternative would be to maybe allow 130 to travel in the median of I-35 between AUS and DFW kind of similar to the New Jersey Turnpike dual configuration... except 130 would be more like tolled express lanes with much fewer exits to keep traffic flow optimized

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by brock2010

Wow. I do remember the Trans Texas Corridor to some degree. When I lived in Texarkana (hometown) there were a couple of grand highway proposals that never materialized after Perry left office. Do you think there should be an alternative to I-35 or should they expand I-35 to 4 or 5 lanes in each direction?

If truly autonomous cars are as close as they say, I don't think we should be investing tons of money in highway expansion. There's more than enough capacity on most of today's freeways when you take humans and our utter dumbassery behind the wheel out of the equation.

[rynetwo]

281.

[brock2010]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

Honestly... They screwed up with I-35 IMHO. I-35 would probably be alot better to travel on if it bypassed Waco, Temple, Austin and arguably even DFW and those cities were accessible by spur routes instead of directly along the cooridoor.

As it stands, I-35 through Waco just finished up not long ago and I usually dont run into any snags between DFW and AUS on ordinary days. But Holidays and Events are another story.

TX-130 was supposed to run along side I-35 all the way to DFW but the plan was nixed after heavy lashback from the ranchers the road would have either destroyed or brought development nearby.

Today the only reasonable alternative would be to maybe allow 130 to travel in the median of I-35 between AUS and DFW kind of similar to the New Jersey Turnpike dual configuration... except 130 would be more like tolled express lanes with much fewer exits to keep traffic flow optimized

You're not lying about the holiday traffic. Traffic was at a trickle or standstill in both directions on I-35 this past Thanksgiving.

[elnina]

The piece between San Antonio and Austin is a nightmare. I travel to Dallas every three weeks or so. Waco was bad during construction, but thankfully Waze redirection worked just fine. Now going through Waco is OK.
Driving through Austin at any time, even weekend is just very frustrating and time consuming.
There should be other option, but I don't see any.

[brock2010]

Originally Posted by elnina

The piece between San Antonio and Austin is a nightmare. I travel to Dallas every three weeks or so. Waco was bad during construction, but thankfully Waze redirection worked just fine. Now going through Waco is OK.
Driving through Austin at any time, even weekend is just very frustrating and time consuming.
There should be other option, but I don't see any.

So true. I've been stuck in Austin traffic even on Sunday which was crazy to me.

[TheOverdog]

Texas coast should be dramatically improved, and the alternative to I35 should be along the coastline.