1604 Traffic on the West Side (San Antonio, Combine: real estate, new house, buyers)

[wellguy]

dvlpr- How can you sit there and blame we that live out here for screwing up the flow of traffic? Everytme we pay for gas that tax is supposed to be used for Highway Improvements. Instead Rick Perry uses it to by hairspray and provide a pillow in his bed for those that operate toll roads.

He better enjoy life as it is now since we will have a Lady in his office real soon.

[Steel Man]

Originally Posted by beetlemier

...And if you think 1604 is bad there now, just wait until school is in session.

I was going to say something about this. When school starts, it's going to get a lot worse again during the week.

[Steel Man]

Originally Posted by rd2007

...I do agree that a lot of people do not think when they move somewhere, though. There is plenty of evidence on this board of people buying what is popular instead of what makes sense. stone oak is a great example. How many of the people living there work there? very few probably. I live in Westcreek and that has always had a large Lackland presence, which makes sense...

Applying your logic, you should live closer to Lackland AFB than Westcreek which is about 12 miles or so from where you live. May I suggest you move to one of those new houses on Medina Base Road inside Loop 410?

[svg210]

Originally Posted by dvlpr

Nice try, but building highway overpasses is a wee bit more expensive than opening up additional checkout lines in a grocery store. And, of course, the people in the checkout lines are spending money; the people crossing the overpasses are costing money.

As I've said in other threads, I'm all for new highway and road construction, provided that it's paid by tolls. You guys reckon this part of 1604 is far enough away from Terri Hall and her band of piratical toll-fighters?

ohh please not that building costs come out of your pocket, Unless you get lots of tickets, or Own commercial vehicles it shouldn't be a bother to you.

Think about it, People usually speed, and thats how the city makes its money, So with traffic being backed up the way it is, well.....

[dvlpr]

Originally Posted by wellguy

dvlpr- How can you sit there and blame we that live out here for screwing up the flow of traffic? Everytme we pay for gas that tax is supposed to be used for Highway Improvements. Instead Rick Perry uses it to by hairspray and provide a pillow in his bed for those that operate toll roads.

He better enjoy life as it is now since we will have a Lady in his office real soon.

You're not "screwing up the flow of traffic". You ARE the traffic!

Yes, there are taxes assessed at the pump for state highways & roads. But that's the point - there's just not enough money to pay for all this stuff. That's the whole point. We can't continue to build things the way we have.

And if you think the Kay Bailey is gonna make things better.....well..don't hold your breath.......

[rd2007]

Originally Posted by Steel Man

Applying your logic, you should live closer to Lackland AFB than Westcreek which is about 12 miles or so from where you live. May I suggest you move to one of those new houses on Medina Base Road inside Loop 410?

A 12 mile drive isn't bad when you compare it to the stone oakers and others that drive 30+ miles to get to work

and no, I'll pass on that move to those houses. Every time I drive by it I have to laugh at the fools that moved there with all of its flood gauges.
BTW, I also noticed a lot of development on Grossenbacher today. I'm guessing the fools won't notice those gauges either..

[dvlpr]

Originally Posted by majormadmax

But somehow they found money for the monster overpass at the Dominion, which only serves an extremely small portion of the population and appears to only saved them the half mile or so they had to drive to get to the other overpass.

Sorry, but that one really is a crock; so I don't buy into the "no money" argument. There is proof right there that the state has about $25M to blow.

The request for the longer turn lane onto Shaenfield isn't that hard to understand, that turn lane only accommodates 6-8 cars if that and when more than that want to turn it blocks the left lane of 1604, causing even more headaches. An extended turn lane would allow more traffic that is going straight to get buy, and wouldn't be that costly to put in.

You don't have to be a certified traffic engineer to figure this stuff out. It kinda reminds me of an interview with the campus engineer at the university I went to. He was asked how he determined where new sidewalks would go, and he said he simply looked for places where the students were constantly walking across the grass!

Obviously those who design and build our roadways never travel on them!

I'm not defending the expense of the Dominion overpass. TexHwyMan is the definitive resource on TXDOT-related issues, but my guess is that the money for this project was appropriated a long time ago, at a much different time. And there were probably factors outside of the nefarious influence of Dominion residents. In any event, it's not especially relevant when we're talking about future solutions.

Whether or not people want to accept it, we just don't have enough money to build the massive infrastructure required to support suburban development. That's why Houston, Dallas, and Austin have all funded major freeway extensions in high-growth suburban areas with toll roads.

With regards to Shaenfeld, I still don't understand the problem - I'm probably being dense. I do know that signalized traffic doesn't move as fast - and there's no real way around that.

The bottom line is this: the problem isn't "the people who design and build our roadways". The problem is that suburbanites are unwilling to recognize that they're living with a problem of their own making. They've grown accustomed to having their new home subdivisions subsidized by the rest of us (in the form of new highways & thoroughfares & improvements to FM and county roads). And, right or wrong, that arrangement just isn't practical anymore.

And even though people don't like hearing this, they're going to have to live with it.

[dvlpr]

Originally Posted by beetlemier

We moved out here (Bridgewood @ 1604 & Culebra) in 2004. We knew traffic would eventually worsen but it was close to work and a good priced home. I predicted that in 10 years Bandera & 1604 would be like Bandera & 410 and Culebra & 1604 would be the new Bandera & 1604.

Not quite there yet but this trend is just going to continue. A bit slower now due to the recession, but still widening.

I'm not an engineer or a city planner but I wish there were a way they would build these intersections for what they will inevitably become. I think developers should have to pay towards that but that won't happen.

Hell we almost didn't have a firehouse because KB and such were building so many homes (and the county was allowing this) that Helotes Fire Dept (rightfully) said they couldn't handle covering all of us. You think home builders cared? Nope and they don't care about the future stress on traffic. Neither does the county.

Thankfully enough of us for once got off our lazy asses and voted to build a new firehouse so Helotes would cover us the rest of the year.

The rambling point I'm trying to make is that I think everybody involved should pay towards building intersections, firehouse, schools, etc. that we know are going to be needed. I'll gladly pay! A fee on a purchased house, taxes, becoming part of the city, even tolls. Especially tolls.

After all - my kids go to Ward which is off Shaenfield. And if you think 1604 is bad there now, just wait until school is in session.

I'm sympathetic. It's a huge failure of the development industry that it's impractical for your kids to walk to school.

That really ought to be the goal. Good urbanism isn't about everyone living in apartments and riding mass transit. It should be possible (and convenient) for your kids to safely walk or ride their bikes to school, and to soccer practice, and some of their other daily activities. It ought to be possible for you and your family to walk to a convenience store to augment larger trips to the HEB or Wal-Mart, or to a dry cleaners, or salon, or neighborhood pizza/burger/taco joint, etc. If that happened in neighborhoods like yours, traffic would cease to be the all-consuming issue.

It's up to people to demand this sort of thing, though. Most folks in the development business believe (with good reason) that the only thing people care about is buying a home as cheaply as possible. If people accept the bare minimum, then you'll continue to see subdivisions built that fall far short of providing good neighborhoods for families.

[rd2007]

I have noticed a lot of left and right turn lanes here do not hold the amount of cars they should. I know you have to skimp here and there, but some are absolutely retarded.

BTW, the government does not need to install all of the stop lights they put up. There is no need for all three of them in between Culebra and Bandera on 1604. Just put up a couple of turnarounds on 1604 and people can use those to change direction. If they would not have installed the lights, people would not have moved out there like they have. There's a nice way to save a lot of money right there.

[scuba steve]

About the Dominion thing... I-10 is federal so wouldn't this bridge be too? Sounds like they're well-connected though. Maybe I shoulda moved over there