Austin, TX

[-- US 175 --]

TxDOT has a construction project underway--for itself.  A new combined campus on Austin's SE side will bring together different departments that are currently in multiple parts of the city.  Completion is set for February 2022.

https://www.statesman.com/news/20201127/txdotrsquos-new-300-million-hq-starts-to-take-shape
https://www.kvue.com/article/money/economy/boomtown-2040/austin-texas-txdot-new-300-million-hq/269-d90fb93d-3879-4608-878e-067acab4b45e

[Echostatic]

A project that isn't talked about much on here is the US 183 South project in Austin. It's wrapping up early next year.

[texaskdog]

I love how they kept the Montopolis bridge for a bike/pedestrian path

[Bobby5280]

Hopefully after they get TX-183 finished they'll work on improving TX-71 on the North side of Austin-Bergstrom Int'l Airport. The road is basically nothing more than a very busy street merely dressed up to look like a freeway. It's ridiculous for all the driveways and other junk emptying directly into the main lanes. TX-71 also needs more than a pair of barrier-separated single lanes when it crosses thru the TX-130 interchange. That whole thing is just really odd.

[RoadsByArco]

Hopefully after they get TX-183 finished they'll work on improving TX-71 on the North side of Austin-Bergstrom Int'l Airport. The road is basically nothing more than a very busy street merely dressed up to look like a freeway. It's ridiculous for all the driveways and other junk emptying directly into the main lanes. TX-71 also needs more than a pair of barrier-separated single lanes when it crosses thru the TX-130 interchange. That whole thing is just really odd.

The highway is called US 183, it's really easy to get those two messed up since they are prominent highways in Austin in Dallas-Fort Worth.
I also think that 71 should be converted into a freeway, no reason not to (in my opinion)

[Plutonic Panda]

Not really road related hit Austin just landed the Oracle HQ relocation. Yet ANOTHER major HQ relocation out of California. Texas is absolutely on fire. I wonder how long they can keep traffic from becoming California level.

[Bobby5280]

In the Austin area they're going to have to get more serious about upgrading certain roads, like I-35 through the middle of Austin and US-290 going out the West side of Austin. Tesla's Gigafactory 5 is going to be built near TX-130 and Harold Green Road, which is one exit North of the TX-71/TX-130 interchange. That will add to the traffic load. I think there is a good chance an NFL team will relocate to the Austin-San Antonio region within the next 10 years.

[bwana39]

In the Austin area they're going to have to get more serious about upgrading certain roads, like I-35 through the middle of Austin and US-290 going out the West side of Austin. Tesla's Gigafactory 5 is going to be built near TX-130 and Harold Green Road, which is one exit North of the TX-71/TX-130 interchange. That will add to the traffic load. I think there is a good chance an NFL team will relocate to the Austin-San Antonio region within the next 10 years.

Austin hates roads I agree they need upgraded, but the no-build option often wins there.

NFL- Not if Jerry Jones has anything to do with it.  As far as that goes, the McNairs, and the Bidwells are not wanting any new blood in their regions.

[Bobby5280]

If traffic gets bad enough it will hurt business in downtown Austin. The same goes for other parts of Austin such as the Western outskirts or Northern suburbs. The new urbanist types may hate freeways, but Austin is still an extremely automobile-centric city. As Austin continues to grow they're going to be forced to improve and expand roads.

Jerry Jones is losing a lot of clout. And he isn't going to live forever either. The Dallas Cowboys haven't won a Super Bowl since the mid 1990's. The current organization is kind of a joke really.

The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex continues to grow rapidly. But Austin is growing faster and the zone between Austin and San Antonio is adding population faster than just about anywhere else in the nation. Austin will soon be the fourth city in Texas with a city limits population over 1 million. There is about 5 million people living in the Austin-San Antonio region. That's the biggest market in the nation without NFL or MLB teams.

[silverback1065]

i thought there were plans to double decker 35 in austin?

[Plutonic Panda]

i thought there were plans to double decker 35 in austin?

They plan to widen I-35 but that won't last long given how fast growth is occurring. They should be proactive and add many more lanes than currently planned and look for preserving ROW for new freeways. Alternative transportation also needs to be thrown in the mix.

[TXtoNJ]

Austin's system is fine if they get 35 fixed (really, it's the downtown geometry more than anything that's the problem). Tunnels would be great for separating through traffic. Rush hour isn't great, but it's not as horrible as it appears given geographical constraints. I'm able to commute 8 miles in 15 minutes in the morning and 30-40 in the evening.

Future growth will be multinodal, mitigating existing limitations

[longhorn]

A project that isn't talked about much on here is the US 183 South project in Austin. It's wrapping up early next year.

So they used the bridge supports built in the 80s for the southbound lanes across the river? Interesting, love to have read the engineering reports on that one.

[Scott5114]

NFL discussion moved to the Sports forum.

[longhorn]

https://www.183south.com/multimedia/photos

Am I seeing this correctly? If you are southbound on 183 and you want to go west on 71, you have to go through the Riverside intersection? Only the toll roads have a direct connection to west 71.

[Mapmikey]

https://www.183south.com/multimedia/photos

Am I seeing this correctly? If you are southbound on 183 and you want to go west on 71, you have to go through the Riverside intersection? Only the toll roads have a direct connection to west 71.

The schematic does appear to show that you can slide from free 183 into the toll flyovers to TX 71 before you reach the Patton interchange, but yes, the only direct ramps to TX 71 west from US 183 south will be tolled unless you go through the Riverside interchange.

[The Ghostbuster]

I think the TX 183 Toll Road in Cedar Park and Leander should be part of mainline US 183, and existing 183 should be either Business 183 or a local street (N./S. Bell Rd.). Was the Bergstrom Expressway given the TX 183 Toll designation because Texas's Toll Roads have either a state highway designation, or are otherwise unnumbered?

[wxfree]

I think the TX 183 Toll Road in Cedar Park and Leander should be part of mainline US 183, and existing 183 should be either Business 183 or a local street (N./S. Bell Rd.). Was the Bergstrom Expressway given the TX 183 Toll designation because Texas's Toll Roads have either a state highway designation, or are otherwise unnumbered?

That's a little complicated.  The 183A toll road was originally planned to be built by TxDOT and designated as US 183A.  When the regional mobility authority got the road, it was not made into a state highway, but it kept the 183A name, which is just a name, like "Dallas North Tollway."  The 290 and 183 toll roads are the same, they're just names, not highway designations.  TxDOT's toll roads have highway numbers.  Near Tyler, the road planned as Loop 49 was built by the regional mobility authority and the loop designation was removed.  People still call it Loop 49, but it's officially Toll 49, which is the name given to it by the RMA.  The 360 Tollway in south Arlington is the same, just a name, with TX 360 running along the frontage roads.  Other NTTA roads have non-numerical names.  The Sam Rayburn Tollway was originally planned as a state highway owned by TxDOT and leased to a private company.  It would have had the SH 121 designation.  When NTTA won the project, it was removed from the state highway system.

In general, a TxDOT road has a state highway designation and a road that is owned by a local or regional authority does not.  What I believe an exception is I-169.  I think that is owned by the RMA, but it is designated on the state highway system.  There may be some other arrangement.  It may be owned by and leased from TxDOT, like the southern half of TX 130.  Or it may be that TxDOT owns the road and the RMA just handles the billing.

[Plutonic Panda]

WASHINGTON — U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg today announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation's Build America Bureau (the Bureau) has provided an up to $448.38 million consolidated Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan to the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA) for tollway projects in the Austin, Texas metropolitan area. This is the first TIFIA loan to be closed under the Biden Administration.

- https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/us-department-transportation-announces-448-million-loan-183a-phase-iii-183s-and-290e

[armadillo speedbump]

Can't find it now, but last week I saw completion of the SH-45 southwest missing link to I-35 on a city of Austin planning document (not just the local MPO.)  Is there a timeline for that now, or are the local NIMBY's and city ideologues still fighting it?  The inclusion in the city doc is what gives me hope.

[The Ghostbuster]

Is TX Loop 1 going to be extended south of TX 45? Maybe it could be another Austin-to-San Antonio relief route for Interstate 35.

[MaxConcrete]

Is TX Loop 1 going to be extended south of TX 45? Maybe it could be another Austin-to-San Antonio relief route for Interstate 35.

As far as I know, any possibility for a southward extension of Loop 1 has been dead for a long time and is permanently dead. That area and adjacent areas toward the south are in the Barton Springs recharge and/or contributing zones. It was a big accomplishment to get the SH 45 toll section built, as well as complete the main lanes of Loop 1.

As for the missing section of SH 45 between IH-35 and FM 1626, it certainly would be nice to get it built, especially since there is no decent east-west road in that area.

[texaskdog]

Is TX Loop 1 going to be extended south of TX 45? Maybe it could be another Austin-to-San Antonio relief route for Interstate 35.

Seriously doubt it.  That's true "hill country" and it won't really help traffic.   Finishing 45 to 35 will help a lot of people but probably little interest in ever extending it. 

[Bobby5280]

While it already seems like its asking too much to fill the TX-45 gap between FM-1626 and I-35, I do have, um, "fantasies" shall we say, of TX-45 being fully built out as a super highway from TX-1 to FM-1826 AND extended farther West to US-290. The fantasy also includes US-290 being turned into an Interstate-class highway all the way out of the Western outskirts of metro Austin.

[Echostatic]

Dragging back from fantasyland, no I don't believe there's any plans to complete the gap at the moment. The city has featured the 45S (45 South) connection as "proposed" for many years.