What could have been...

Maybe you've noticed, as you drive around the Austin area, how it seems that some roads are a lot wider than others (Riverside Dr from I-35 down to 290 just west of 183):,

how some elevated, divided highways just..end, and suddenly become surface streets (290 East as it comes into town, goes under I-35 and over Airport Blvd, and then just dies out right at the railroad tracks and "becomes" Koening Ln):

and 290/71 as it enters Oak Hill and runs straight into a bunch of traffic lights). Why is this?

The answer?

Enviromental impact studies and clueless politicans.

WAYYYYYY back in the early 1960's, there were ambitious plans for an extensive network of freeways in and around the Austin area. Here's a map:

They had crosstown freeways going east/west just north AND south of downtown, a freeway running north/south roughly paralell to Lamar, and a connector running from it at 35th street over to a freeway west of town (which WAS built - we know it as Mopac).

Speaking of Mopac, this is what it might have looked like as it crosses the river, looking north:

A little overkill at the time, maybe, but damn, all those roads would sure move some traffic if they exisited today. However, all these great plans were killed by enviromentalists and idiot City Councils over the years, even as newer, better plans were brought up.

Don't believe me, go here:

 http://www.texasfreeway.com/austin/historic/freeway_planning_maps/freeway_planning_maps.shtml

Spend some time at that site (it's where I linked the above photos from), and see what could have been...and why it isn't.

Austin has always been growing, and will continue to do so. Austin NEEDS MORE ROADS. We need to make a few changes to the roads we've already got to help traffic flow better. There have always been plans to improve the network of roads around Austin, but a few greedy, small-minded idiots have always managed to throw a wrench into the works every chance they get.

Now, yet another opponent to freeway construction has come upon the scene....TOLLWAYS. Yes, that's right, why should TxDot bother to use the billions of dollars we taxpayers cough up every year to actually build roads for us to use, when they can contract out the work to foreign investor owned companies to do so and then CHARGE us to drive on them? I don't know about you, but I don't mind paying a fair amount of taxes, as long as that money is used for things it should be used for. I DO get just a little pissed off (and you should, too) when my tax dollars are pissed away and I'm told they only way any new roads will be built is if they're TOLL roads that I'll have to pay yet AGAIN just to drive on to get where I need to go.

Details in my next post.