Austin Road system - understanding highways and byways in Austin and Northern suburbs (Leander: living in, area)

[mundakal]

I was in in Austin and ROund ROck / Leander area this past few days and what a lovely city. Only gripe the road system 0- any easy pointers on understanding the road system? Maps or tools to figure out the highways and byways and names of these byways ?

Thanks - TOm

[jennyb315]

get a map and memorize it GPS helps a bit too, but don't totally rely on it because the roads are constantly changing around here.

I've been here for about 3 weeks and I feel like I am almost getting it down.
They make no sense, have a number (sometimes more than 1) and then also have at least 500 different names for the same road....... and they don't just run n-s, e-w except for I-35. It's completely overwhelming for a while and then you just get used to it.

And what's with the l-r street lights and why are so many of them on timers instead of weights?????? craziness!

[gigi927]

I agree with Jenny - I spent a lot of time studying maps, taking 1 new road I hadnt' been on every weekend, and then we got a GPS.

[applekat]

I used to live in Austin and the roads were the most confusing part...but once you get past that little detail, it's a great place to be!

In the past, there were two main north-south major roads...I-35 and Loop 1, or "Mopac". Mopac is on the west side of Austin, named for the Missouri Pacific railroad that runs down the middle of it. I-35 is on the east side. Interestingly enough...Google maps actually had a different name for I-35 until recently. I see it's now updated.

Here's a good tip for navigating Austin...if it's a numbered street, like "45th St." or "4th St.," it most likely intersects BOTH I-35 and Mopac. So if you get lost, find a numbered street and go east or west.

One of the most confusing things for me was Highway 290. US 290 comes in from the west on the SOUTH side of town, then "dog-legs" up I-35, and leaves Austin on the NORTH side of town.

And there are many roads that change names...coming in from Lake Travis is FM 2222, that turns into Koenig Lane; Bee Caves is FM 2244; Cesar Chavez is 1st Street. It takes awhile, but you get used to it.

Anyway, living in Austin is well worth the road hassle!
: )
Kat

[Trainwreck20]

And just a fun fact (which is pretty much useless for newcomers) is that the N/S streets in the downtown area are named after the rivers in Texas....in geographic order. So the Red river is the first street running parallel to I-35 and Rio Grande is the furthest 'river' street running parallel to I-35. All the other streets are in between in the order they would appear on a map. So if you know where the Brazos, Colorado, and Guadalupe are relative to each other, it helps a lot...if you don't..... .

[Phisch]

When we visited last year, it look a couple of days to "get" it. After we realized what was up, we had a good time navigating. If you pay attention to the exit numbers instead of names, it's easy to keep from missing any exits. And those roads on the side of the freeways? Wow! They beat surface streets that we have here in So. Calif. if you ask me. They're cool.

Of course, So. Calif. towns may have developed similarly to Austin. You had isolated towns and then eventually they grew together and the streets kept going only they changed names depending on what city you happened to be in. It might be confusing, but as you get familiar with the area it can be helpful because you can pinpoint what part of town you happen to be in.

[fil]

Garmin Nuvi 350..buy one.

[Jazzedforhim]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

And just a fun fact (which is pretty much useless for newcomers) is that the N/S streets in the downtown area are named after the rivers in Texas....in geographic order. So the Red river is the first street running parallel to I-35 and Rio Grande is the furthest 'river' street running parallel to I-35. All the other streets are in between in the order they would appear on a map. So if you know where the Brazos, Colorado, and Guadalupe are relative to each other, it helps a lot...if you don't..... .

Ok, we were on all those streets, but now I have to learn my Texas geography...that's a neat little factoid! Thanks for posting!

[LeoZ]

I think the most confusing part of the streets in Austin is that most of the major roads have several different names. In fact, some streets even have different names depending on how their pronounced! For example, when I was growing up, I remember hearing about this street called "Menchaca." I also heard of another road called "Manchack." Guess what? They're the same road! Texans and our pronunciation... XD

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by LeoZ

I think the most confusing part of the streets in Austin is that most of the major roads have several different names. In fact, some streets even have different names depending on how their pronounced! For example, when I was growing up, I remember hearing about this street called "Menchaca." I also heard of another road called "Manchack." Guess what? They're the same road! Texans and our pronunciation... XD

Yep, everything/nothing has changed in the three years since this thread was active .