Georgetown(TX): Public meeting for new limited-access corridor

Started by MaxConcrete, December 28, 2018, 01:48:39 PM

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MaxConcrete

Public meeting was last month (Nov 29)

https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/get-involved/about/hearings-meetings/austin/112918.html

The freeway corridor is somewhat of a surprise to me, but definitely a good surprise. The schematics show a new 2x2 freeway with frontage roads from Georgetown westward to SH 183A, about 8 miles.

The meeting site and documents seem to avoid the use of the words freeway and tollway, instead using "controlled access" and expressway. Realistically I don't see sufficient funds available to build it as a freeway in the near future. The frontage roads would be built first, and the status of the main lanes (tolled or free) would likely be determined some point in the future, with the outcome depending on TxDOT's financial situation and the political climate.
www.DFWFreeways.com
www.HoustonFreeways.com


Bobby5280

Hopefully they'll at least be able to build out the frontage roads sometime soon and effectively reserve the future freeway/turnpike corridor. It would fit in with some other potential new super-highway corridors on the North side of Austin.

txstateends

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Chris

70,000 vehicles per day by 2040 according to the presentation. Current traffic volumes are only some 9,000 v.p.d., but it would draw traffic from other corridors as well.

Leander is projected to grow to 159,000 inhabitants and Georgetown to 114,000 by 2040.

Bobby5280

Quote from: ChrisLeander is projected to grow to 159,000 inhabitants and Georgetown to 114,000 by 2040.

Those estimates sound very conservative (low-balled). The Austin metro area and region South of there toward San Antonio is growing very rapidly. Georgetown had a population of 47,400 at the 2010 Census. As of the 2016 Census estimate the population had grown to 63,716. I think the only thing that will curtail this rapid pace of development is if housing costs get out of control, which could very well happen. Significant parts of Austin have very high living costs.

longhorn

I work near Georgetown, they need this NOW! What was once a sleepy town winning best small Town awards in the 80s and 90s is growing at the same rate or faster than Austin to the south of it. There are half million home subdivisions being built out in a couple of years, where are all of these people coming from?

Chris


Bobby5280

I think there's a lot of people cashing in on their personal real estate in very high cost of living areas on the coasts. Then they're re-locating to where they can buy a lot more home for their money, such as states like Texas. I have a theory that the race and political leanings of those selling have something to do with the choice to relocate to a "red" state like Texas. Along with very high living costs they're also fleeing increasingly diverse demographics. But the funny thing is the Austin metro area and other giant metro areas in Texas trend a little more "purple" and "blue."

longhorn

Quote from: Bobby5280 on January 01, 2019, 08:32:41 PM
I think there's a lot of people cashing in on their personal real estate in very high cost of living areas on the coasts. Then they're re-locating to where they can buy a lot more home for their money, such as states like Texas. I have a theory that the race and political leanings of those selling have something to do with the choice to relocate to a "red" state like Texas. Along with very high living costs they're also fleeing increasingly diverse demographics. But the funny thing is the Austin metro area and other giant metro areas in Texas trend a little more "purple" and "blue."

No, its blue. There were a couple of "surprise" upsets of good ole boys in the state election and politicians are taking notice.

sparker

Quote from: longhorn on January 02, 2019, 01:35:12 PM
Quote from: Bobby5280 on January 01, 2019, 08:32:41 PM
I think there's a lot of people cashing in on their personal real estate in very high cost of living areas on the coasts. Then they're re-locating to where they can buy a lot more home for their money, such as states like Texas. I have a theory that the race and political leanings of those selling have something to do with the choice to relocate to a "red" state like Texas. Along with very high living costs they're also fleeing increasingly diverse demographics. But the funny thing is the Austin metro area and other giant metro areas in Texas trend a little more "purple" and "blue."

No, its blue. There were a couple of "surprise" upsets of good ole boys in the state election and politicians are taking notice.

While it's more than likely a good chunk of the influx into TX and other Plains/Midwest/Mid-South states is driven by more conservative political leanings, the simple fact is that the more urbanized area have a much higher concentration of the amenities to which these "migrants" are accustomed.   Unless these folks are willing to adapt to a small-town/rural atmosphere, they're probably more than ready to settle down in a somewhat more diverse environment for the difference in cost of living/housing alone.  Only those on the rightward fringe of the political spectrum would be apt to seek out locations largely devoid of folks that (a) didn't look like them and/or (b) expressed viewpoints not in line with their own.  To be fair, if their counterparts on the left were to similarly seek out like-minded folks,  if relocating they'd probably gravitate toward urban centers and/or university-dominated communities.  And from what I've seen from visits to the Austin area, the larger metro region can certainly accommodate influx from all over the sociopolitical spectrum!   



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