Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[dariusb]

A friend of mine in Oklahoma  recently took a trip to San Antonio and he said the Dallas to San Antonio section was hell with all the congestion. My question is it really that bad on I-35?

[J N Winkler]

Short answer:  yes.  Much of this length is only four lanes and has been receiving long overdue upgrades (in Bell and McLennan counties) to six lanes.  SH 130 is available to bypass Austin (which has a double-deck segment which is severely congested and cannot be widened) but entails high tolls and a substantial amount of out-of-the-way travel, so it is severely underused.

[dariusb]

Short answer:  yes.  Much of this length is only four lanes and has been receiving long overdue upgrades (in Bell and McLennan counties) to six lanes.  SH 130 is available to bypass Austin (which has a double-deck segment which is severely congested and cannot be widened) but entails high tolls and a substantial amount of out-of-the-way travel, so it is severely underused.

Thanks for your reply. Besides widening in Bell and McLennan counties are there plans to widen the freeway the whole way from Dallas to San Antonio?

[Grzrd]

Besides widening in Bell and McLennan counties are there plans to widen the freeway the whole way from Dallas to San Antonio?

I have not looked at the I-35 Corridor Advisory Committee Plan (August, 2011), but it may give you an answer.  You also might enjoy just going through it in general.  In addition, I think serious consideration is being given (similar to Texarkana I-69 corridor) to possible leasing of air rights for the Freight Shuttle to help pay for some of the I-35 improvements.

[texaskdog]

I-35 costs about $18 and is 12 extra miles of driving.  Traffic around DT Austin is awful in rush hours, & midday on the weekends for no reason.    Passing through here on the weekend take 45 to Loop 1, briefly on 360, then 290 back to 35.  Free & much quicker.

[InterstateNG]

45 and 1 are not at all free,  unless you are suggesting using the frontage roads.

45&130 costs around 10 bucks, doesn't take you that far out of your way and is signed at 75 mph with light traffic.

[dariusb]

Besides widening in Bell and McLennan counties are there plans to widen the freeway the whole way from Dallas to San Antonio?

Thanks for the link Grzrd.
I have not looked at the I-35 Corridor Advisory Committee Plan (August, 2011), but it may give you an answer.  You also might enjoy just going through it in general.  In addition, I think serious consideration is being given (similar to Texarkana I-69 corridor) to possible leasing of air rights for the Freight Shuttle to help pay for some of the I-35 improvements.

[texaskdog]

45 and 1 are not at all free,  unless you are suggesting using the frontage roads.

45&130 costs around 10 bucks, doesn't take you that far out of your way and is signed at 75 mph with light traffic.

45 from 35 to Mopac and down to Scofield is not too spendy, or you can take 35 down to scofield and cut over to mopac, that is free and is a good option.    $10 is a lot now that 35 has just been increased in speed.  It is 70 MPH instead of 60 near Capital Plaza, and is now 65 MPH downtown.

[InterstateNG]

$10 is a lot now

No it isn't.  Especially for the traveler who isn't passing through regularly.

that 35 has just been increased in speed.  It is 70 MPH instead of 60 near Capital Plaza, and is now 65 MPH downtown.

Yeah those higher speed limits are nice, except in the times of congestion that you yourself mentioned earlier.

Also depending on the time of day, MoPac isn't a treat either.

[texaskdog]

$10 is a lot now

No it isn't.  Especially for the traveler who isn't passing through regularly.

that 35 has just been increased in speed.  It is 70 MPH instead of 60 near Capital Plaza, and is now 65 MPH downtown.

Yeah those higher speed limits are nice, except in the times of congestion that you yourself mentioned earlier.

Also depending on the time of day, MoPac isn't a treat either.

I've taken 130, long way out of the way for a lot of money

[InterstateNG]

It's a 12 mile difference.

[dariusb]

Besides widening in Bell and McLennan counties are there plans to widen the freeway the whole way from Dallas to San Antonio?

I have not looked at the I-35 Corridor Advisory Committee Plan (August, 2011), but it may give you an answer.  You also might enjoy just going through it in general.  In addition, I think serious consideration is being given (similar to Texarkana I-69 corridor) to possible leasing of air rights for the Freight Shuttle to help pay for some of the I-35 improvements.

I just had the opportunity to sit down and read the I-35 Corridor Plan and it was quite a lot of info. Thanks again Grzrd!

[texaskdog]

It's a 12 mile difference.

It's actually 42 miles on I-35 & 61 miles on the tollroad.  So would you pay $12 extra to go a fast 61 miles when the 42 may or may not be backed up?  and if youre not going the whole route its useless.

[NE2]

Er? Google gives 277 miles from San Antonio to Dallas via I-35 and 288 miles via the toll roads. One would think there'd be changeable message signs approaching the exit on I-35; even if not, you can get traffic on the radio.

[texaskdog]

Er? Google gives 277 miles from San Antonio to Dallas via I-35 and 288 miles via the toll roads. One would think there'd be changeable message signs approaching the exit on I-35; even if not, you can get traffic on the radio.

I did it on Google Maps from one end to the other, 42 or 61.  when i did what you did it was 278 vs 284.  So either 6, 11, 12, or 19 more miles.

[InterstateNG]

It's a 12 mile difference.

So would you pay $12 extra to go a fast 61 miles when the 42 may or may not be backed up?

Since the road is backed up more often than not, again, a point that you made earlier in this thread but seem to have forgotten, I easily would pay for the speedier option.  Especially when most of that 42 is stop and go, not just a small pocket downtown.

and if youre not going the whole route its useless.

The whole purpose of 45 Southeast and 130 is to use the whole route.  It hardly serves local needs but it isn't supposed to.

One would think there'd be changeable message signs approaching the exit on I-35

Which there are all the way from south of San Antonio past Austin.

[Grzrd]

Besides widening in Bell and McLennan counties are there plans to widen the freeway the whole way from Dallas to San Antonio?

I have not looked at the I-35 Corridor Advisory Committee Plan (August, 2011), but it may give you an answer.  You also might enjoy just going through it in general.  In addition, I think serious consideration is being given (similar to Texarkana I-69 corridor) to possible leasing of air rights for the Freight Shuttle to help pay for some of the I-35 improvements.

I just had the opportunity to sit down and read the I-35 Corridor Plan and it was quite a lot of info. Thanks again Grzrd!

You're welcome dariusb!  I just took a brief look at it myself and found the following right-of-way recommendation to be interesting (page 26 of document; page 30/122 of pdf):

Consider common rights of way for rail and highway/multi-modal alignments, where feasible.

That recommendation fits in well with the recent TxDOT RFP regarding modes of freight transportation like the Freight Shuttle.  Also, in regard to your initial question about Dallas to San Antonio plans, page 11/21 of this pdf indicates that the Dallas to San Antonio section of I-35 might be the first segment of a Freight Shuttle along the I-35 corridor and down to Mexico.

EDIT

I recently made the following post in the "TxDOT RFP For Leased ROW Freight Transportation" thread and decided to add it here, as well:

TxDOT received a proposal for the I-35 corridor, I assume for Dallas to San Antonio, which is currently under review.  Here's part of an email reply I received from Roger Beall at TxDOT:

Thank you for your inquiry. We received one proposal on October 3, 2011 and their proposal was for leasing the right-of-way within a portion of the IH-35 corridor. The Texas Transportation Commission has not acted on moving forward with lease negotiations. We are in the process of clarifying some items from the proposer. No time frame has been set for Commission action to approve or disapprove moving forward with lease negotiations.
Please let me know if you have any other questions.

[NE2]

Consider common rights of way for rail and highway/multi-modal alignments, where feasible.

That recommendation fits in well with the recent TxDOT RFP regarding modes of freight transportation like the Freight Shuttle.  Also, in regard to your initial question about Dallas to San Antonio plans, page 11/21 of this pdf indicates that the Dallas to San Antonio section of I-35 might be the first segment of a Freight Shuttle along the I-35 corridor and down to Mexico.

I don't know how much of an issue it is on I-35, but grades are generally lower on rail rights-of-way than on highways.

[dariusb]

Er? Google gives 277 miles from San Antonio to Dallas via I-35 and 288 miles via the toll roads. One would think there'd be changeable message signs approaching the exit on I-35; even if not, you can get traffic on the radio.

I did it on Google Maps from one end to the other, 42 or 61.  when i did what you did it was 278 vs 284.  So either 6, 11, 12, or 19 more miles.

That's quite a disparity in the mileage.

[dariusb]

Besides widening in Bell and McLennan counties are there plans to widen the freeway the whole way from Dallas to San Antonio?

I have not looked at the I-35 Corridor Advisory Committee Plan (August, 2011), but it may give you an answer.  You also might enjoy just going through it in general.  In addition, I think serious consideration is being given (similar to Texarkana I-69 corridor) to possible leasing of air rights for the Freight Shuttle to help pay for some of the I-35 improvements.

I just had the opportunity to sit down and read the I-35 Corridor Plan and it was quite a lot of info. Thanks again Grzrd!

You're welcome dariusb!  I just took a brief look at it myself and found the following right-of-way recommendation to be interesting (page 26 of document; page 30/122 of pdf):

Consider common rights of way for rail and highway/multi-modal alignments, where feasible.

That recommendation fits in well with the recent TxDOT RFP regarding modes of freight transportation like the Freight Shuttle.  Also, in regard to your initial question about Dallas to San Antonio plans, page 11/21 of this pdf indicates that the Dallas to San Antonio section of I-35 might be the first segment of a Freight Shuttle along the I-35 corridor and down to Mexico.

They have quite a plan set up between now and 2035. Just hoping the funding will be in place for all those projects.

[texaskdog]

True dat, if the out of towners actually USED it it would help congestion in Austin.  Then when those highways weren't congested, they'd come back    They are actually considering buying it and making 130 into I-35 and making it free so A) there isn't the money penatly and B) the plebians who don't pay attention would just stay on 35. 

[InterstateNG]

They are actually considering buying it and making 130 into I-35 and making it free so A) there isn't the money penatly and B) the plebians who don't pay attention would just stay on 35. 

A scenario which is impossible for a whole host of reasons.

[texaskdog]

They are actually considering buying it and making 130 into I-35 and making it free so A) there isn't the money penatly and B) the plebians who don't pay attention would just stay on 35. 

A scenario which is impossible for a whole host of reasons.

Agreed...but we have morons like Perry hiring companies from Spain to build them.  Back in 1985 the liberals killed the good plan

[dariusb]

True dat, if the out of towners actually USED it it would help congestion in Austin.  Then when those highways weren't congested, they'd come back    They are actually considering buying it and making 130 into I-35 and making it free so A) there isn't the money penatly and B) the plebians who don't pay attention would just stay on 35. 

If 130 was made into I-35 then what would the old highway be called? 735, 835, 935?

[NE2]

366.