On the Move

Most congested roads in San Antonio

TxDOT released their second annual list of the 100 most congested roadway segments in the state.  Last year’s list inexplicably missed US 281 north of Loop 1604, but not this year.  However, it still wasn’t tops in Bexar County.   more »

E-N rips AGUA

If you didn’t see it, the Express-News editorial board took AGUA to task today over their 281/1604 interchange lawsuit, calling the legal action “stunningly irresponsible” and saying that “(a)ny notion that (AUGA is) operating in good faith now lacks credibility.”  Furthemore, the editorial reveals some of the ludicrous demands made by AGUA.  Check it out:
http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/aguas_lawsuitclearly_misguided_101672858.html?showFullArticle=y

There’s also a good John Branch cartoon:
http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/cartoonists/Latest_cartoons_from_John_Branch.html?c=n#1

Eckhert, Braun improvements on tap this weekend

As discussed previously, a second right-turn lane is being added to Eckhert at Bandera.  That work should be completed this weekend.

Also, the new westbound lane on Braun at Loop 1604 will also be striped and opened in time for Monday’s commute.

Heat already on AGUA?

In reader comments posted yesterday in response to the Express-News’ story about AGUA’s lawsuit to stop the US 281/Loop 1604 interchange, several posters were calling for boycotts of local businesses listed on AUGA’s “donors” page.  Today, that list of businesses is gone from AGUA’s site.  Reading between the lines, I think it’s pretty obvious that the heat is already on AGUA from their donors over their wildly unpopular and inane decision to sue.

What effect do you think this will have, if any?

First super-street intersection to open Monday

After yesterday’s disheartening news about the US 281/Loop 1604 interchange, I have a bit of good news today.  Earlier this week, the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority (ARMA) announced that the first intersection in the US 281 super-street project will be completed and open to traffic on Monday morning.

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AGUA files suit to stop 281/1604 interchange

In what really isn’t a surprise (at least to me), the enviro-wackos at Aquifer Guardians in Urban Areas (AGUA) have filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the planned US 281/Loop 1604 interchange project, which would build the first four direct connectors at that intersection.  According to an early Express-News report, AGUA claims that the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority (ARMA) didn’t kowtow to their demands, so they had no choice but to file a lawsuit.

Whatever. 

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Live longer by driving less (or at least slower)

San Antonio traffic jam photo from viainfo.net.

A recent study laid out what I found to be an amazing stat.

For every hour driving, U.S. life expectancy decreases by 20 minutes, suggests analysis in a University of Toronto study. The shorter life spans are due to crashes.

An hour a day is about the average two-way San Antonio commute. So the typical driver here loses four days a year, about half a year over a 40-year career. The payoff is a year and a half slogging through traffic to make the bucks.

The finding that drivers lose a minute of life for every three minutes on the road wasn’t even the main point of the study. Authors wanted to consider the risks of driving faster to reduce travel times. They determined that time saved by speeding is far outweighed by shortened lives due to higher chances of crashing.

The conclusion: Americans drive a little too fast and can live longer by driving slower.

Road trip to Midland and Odessa, Texas

Polikarpov I-16 at the CAF museum, Midland, Texas

Rolling forward on my 2010 resolution to get out of San Antonio more, I took a three day trip to Midland and Odessa, two cities, indeed a region of Texas, I had not visited before in the nineteen years I have called the Lone State home.  I set out on the last Thursday in July, which proved to be a very good time to go. more »

Relief coming for Eckhert at Bandera!

For commuters from the Medical Center to Bandera Rd., one of the worse bottlenecks is the intersection of Eckhert at Bandera.  While there are dual left turn lanes for traffic headed toward the Medical Center from southbound Bandera, there is only a single right turn lane for traffic coming from the Medical Center to northbound Bandera.  This means that during the afternoon rush hour, that right turn lane backs-up considerably, sometimes all the way to Marshall High School, which itself also contributes to the problems when school’s in session.  To get around that, drivers cut through on neighboring streets, especially Woodchase, and some cut through the Carl’s Jr./Dickey’s parking lot.  A few bold drivers even make illegal right turns from the center lane, which is marked as straight or left turn only.  And I’m sure many drivers just avoid the area entirely.

To finally provide some relief, TxDOT and the City of San Antonio are working to install dual right turn lanes.  Some initial prep work to fix the corner curb and bring the curb cut to ADA compliance was completed a few weeks ago, and the “pork-chop” island that separates the right turn bay from the through lanes was removed earlier this week.  The City now has some traffic signal work to complete and then the restriping will be done.  There’s no official completion date as of now, but I would guess that it would be done by the time school starts-up again later this month or shortly thereafter.

Loop 1604/Braun update

Future new westbound lane

A couple of weeks ago, TxDOT completed the restriping of Loop 1604 to three lanes in each direction at Braun Rd.  This seemingly minor change has had a fairly dramatic effect on traffic.  From my own observations, typical peak period traffic jams in both directions have been significantly reduced.  For instance, southbound traffic used to back-up nearly to Bandera Road during the evening rush hour, a distance of a mile or so.  But now it typically backs-up only half of that distance or even less.  I’ll be interested to see how it looks when school gets back into session, but for now, the improvement seems to have eased things quite a bit.  If you drive through this area regularly, post a comment and let me know your observations.

TxDOT is also planning at least one other improvement at that intersection, that being an additional lane on westbound Braun.  more »