"It's only money."
The case of the missing flyovers
November 21, 2005
Ben Wear
Austin American-Statesman
Copyright 2005
It didn't take but a few days for the e-mails to start coming in after the long-awaited interchange at Interstate 35 and Ben White Boulevard opened up early this year.
Why, people asked and still ask occasionally, are there just four flyover bridges, or "direct connects" as they're called in the road-building industry?
The answer, as it often is, was lack of money. And if you have enough for only four bridges now, well, officials said, of course you do the ones that serve downtown.
With that in mind, I wonder how many e-mails I'll get in a year or so when the Texas 45 North tollway and its intersection with I-35 opens up in Round Rock.
That interchange (the construction of which has been causing the weekend shutdowns of I-35 this fall) also will have just four flyovers initially, with one key difference: The four bridges will be not on the Austin side, as with Ben White, but on the Round Rock and Georgetown side to the north.
The "why" part gets a little more interesting here.
Pondering it, I realized that having those north-side bridges will encourage people coming south on I-35 from north Round Rock or Georgetown to take a flyover to the east or west onto Texas 45 North and from there potentially head south on MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) or Texas 130 — both of which, by gum, will be toll roads and will have connections to Texas 45 North fully and helpfully equipped with flyover bridges.
In the case of MoPac, the toll road part will be only the first three miles or so, with a likely toll of about $2. But there will be a toll for Texas 45 North, too. And all of Texas 130 will be a toll road, so if your destination is the airport, for instance, and you take Texas 130, it will cost you $5 or more.
A southbound driver on I-35, of course, could choose to stay on I-35, pay nothing and deal with whatever traffic awaits to the south in Austin. But the bridges will increase the enticement factor for the toll option.
Fine so far. But the real question is, why didn't they go ahead and build the four other bridges connecting on the Austin side of the 45/35 interchange as well? After all, the Texas Department of Transportation was borrowing $2.2 billion to build the three toll roads we've been discussing here and likely could have raised with little trouble the $60 million for the other four bridges.
Could it be they didn't want those bridges to be there, at least for awhile, because they would discourage use of the toll roads? I'm envisioning, for instance, a person who lives in northeast Round Rock and works in downtown Austin.
That person might take Texas 45 North and then I-35, and the reverse in the afternoon. But without the flyovers, that transition from Texas 45 North to I-35 would involve exiting to a frontage road and going through three traffic lights. What the heck, my imaginary commuter might think, I'll just go on another mile to MoPac, eat the $2, and avoid the stoplights.
So, no bridges, more tolls, right?
Bob Daigh, the Transportation Department's district engineer for Austin and a high-ranking official with the agency's turnpike division before that, calls that "a very serious charge." He also considers it a bogus charge.
"You're choking a dragon that isn't there," Daigh said. "That never crossed my mind. We would love to build those direct connects now. It's only money."
Actually, Daigh said, it's more than that.
Back in the late '90s, when the decision about the interchange design was being made, Daigh said the Austin district was engaged in a comprehensive study of I-35 traffic in Austin. The district, he said, wanted to handle the cumbersome environmental clearance process for the south bridges while the statewide turnpike division dealt with the rest.
That clearance by the Austin district, which Daigh has run for the past two years while work on the toll roads tooled along, never occurred. Until it does, and until the department comes up with that $60 million, the southerly flyovers will remain unbuilt.
Which, whether this was anyone's intention or not, will direct at least some extra slice of drivers onto the toll roads rather than I-35. Which should lighten traffic on I-35 in Austin, which is a good thing.
And bring in more toll revenue for the Transportation Department. From the department's point of view, at least, that will also be a good thing.
Getting There appears Mondays. For questions, tips or story ideas, contact Getting There at 445-3698 or bwear@statesman.com.
© 2005 Austin American-Statesman: www.statesman.com
November 21, 2005
Ben Wear
Austin American-Statesman
Copyright 2005
It didn't take but a few days for the e-mails to start coming in after the long-awaited interchange at Interstate 35 and Ben White Boulevard opened up early this year.
Why, people asked and still ask occasionally, are there just four flyover bridges, or "direct connects" as they're called in the road-building industry?
The answer, as it often is, was lack of money. And if you have enough for only four bridges now, well, officials said, of course you do the ones that serve downtown.
With that in mind, I wonder how many e-mails I'll get in a year or so when the Texas 45 North tollway and its intersection with I-35 opens up in Round Rock.
That interchange (the construction of which has been causing the weekend shutdowns of I-35 this fall) also will have just four flyovers initially, with one key difference: The four bridges will be not on the Austin side, as with Ben White, but on the Round Rock and Georgetown side to the north.
The "why" part gets a little more interesting here.
Pondering it, I realized that having those north-side bridges will encourage people coming south on I-35 from north Round Rock or Georgetown to take a flyover to the east or west onto Texas 45 North and from there potentially head south on MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) or Texas 130 — both of which, by gum, will be toll roads and will have connections to Texas 45 North fully and helpfully equipped with flyover bridges.
In the case of MoPac, the toll road part will be only the first three miles or so, with a likely toll of about $2. But there will be a toll for Texas 45 North, too. And all of Texas 130 will be a toll road, so if your destination is the airport, for instance, and you take Texas 130, it will cost you $5 or more.
A southbound driver on I-35, of course, could choose to stay on I-35, pay nothing and deal with whatever traffic awaits to the south in Austin. But the bridges will increase the enticement factor for the toll option.
Fine so far. But the real question is, why didn't they go ahead and build the four other bridges connecting on the Austin side of the 45/35 interchange as well? After all, the Texas Department of Transportation was borrowing $2.2 billion to build the three toll roads we've been discussing here and likely could have raised with little trouble the $60 million for the other four bridges.
Could it be they didn't want those bridges to be there, at least for awhile, because they would discourage use of the toll roads? I'm envisioning, for instance, a person who lives in northeast Round Rock and works in downtown Austin.
That person might take Texas 45 North and then I-35, and the reverse in the afternoon. But without the flyovers, that transition from Texas 45 North to I-35 would involve exiting to a frontage road and going through three traffic lights. What the heck, my imaginary commuter might think, I'll just go on another mile to MoPac, eat the $2, and avoid the stoplights.
So, no bridges, more tolls, right?
Bob Daigh, the Transportation Department's district engineer for Austin and a high-ranking official with the agency's turnpike division before that, calls that "a very serious charge." He also considers it a bogus charge.
"You're choking a dragon that isn't there," Daigh said. "That never crossed my mind. We would love to build those direct connects now. It's only money."
Actually, Daigh said, it's more than that.
Back in the late '90s, when the decision about the interchange design was being made, Daigh said the Austin district was engaged in a comprehensive study of I-35 traffic in Austin. The district, he said, wanted to handle the cumbersome environmental clearance process for the south bridges while the statewide turnpike division dealt with the rest.
That clearance by the Austin district, which Daigh has run for the past two years while work on the toll roads tooled along, never occurred. Until it does, and until the department comes up with that $60 million, the southerly flyovers will remain unbuilt.
Which, whether this was anyone's intention or not, will direct at least some extra slice of drivers onto the toll roads rather than I-35. Which should lighten traffic on I-35 in Austin, which is a good thing.
And bring in more toll revenue for the Transportation Department. From the department's point of view, at least, that will also be a good thing.
Getting There appears Mondays. For questions, tips or story ideas, contact Getting There at 445-3698 or bwear@statesman.com.
© 2005 Austin American-Statesman:
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Monday, November 21, 2005
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