Regional Boards > Mid-South

Houston: Hardy Toll Road extension status

<< < (10/10)

MaxConcrete:

--- Quote from: Bobby5280 on January 13, 2023, 10:56:05 AM ---It sounds like they're still in "revision hell" with the design concepts -basically trying to make everyone happy.


--- Quote from: armadillo speedbump ---I see the prelim design mapped on the link above showed the new Elysian viaduct with 3 lanes each way.  Unfortunately it has been built with 2 lanes each way.  I guess you could add a 3rd if you eliminated the safety shoulders and narrowed to 11' lanes, but I'm guessing that won't happen.
--- End quote ---

11' wide lanes really suck. I get why traffic engineers are stuck in the no-win situation of having to use them in certain cases (budget limits and geometry limits hammering against the wants of lawmakers and other interests). Any widespread use of 11' wide lanes runs counter against the reality of American driving. We like big vehicles. Full size pickup trucks and SUVs remain very popular. Unless there is some gigantic cultural shift where we gravitate to driving little tiny econo-box cars those skinny lanes aren't going to be any good.

--- End quote ---

The Hardy downtown connector will have two lanes each way. Of those two lanes, one will connect into the Elysian viaduct (you can see the stubouts in Google maps) and the other lane will connect into I-69. I don't foresee a need to have 3x3 on the Elysian viaduct. The recently-opened viaduct is built to high standards and is very roomy, with half inner shoulder, 12-foot-wide lanes and full outer shoulder. Remember, it is not a freeway or even a highway, it's just a city street. So I don't anticipate the high standards will need to be compromised.

Bobby5280:
It looks like all the other connecting surface streets to the Elysian Viaduct are no more than 2 lanes in each direction. That seems like another good reason to make the viaduct a 4 lane facility than one with 6 possibly skinny lanes.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page