1 Dec 2009, 1:15am
Commuting Construction and closures:
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Comments Off on Bridges, new lanes finally coming for FM 3009

Bridges, new lanes finally coming for FM 3009

FM 3009 through Garden Ridge and Schertz rolls over hills and past two railroad tracks to usher some 20,000 drivers to and from Interstate 35 every day.

Workers ready to go on FM 3009

Construction will soon start on FM 3009

The daily odyssey along two and four lanes is far from smooth. Traffic backs up during rush hours. Thundering trains blaring horns stop lines of cars for minutes at a time.

But one thing sure to be worse will be the construction to fix the mess. And yes, after years of planning and securing needed funds, the time has arrived to widen the road and build bridges over the rail lines.

Work is scheduled to start this week to build the two overpasses and add a lane in each direction between I-35 and Nacogdoches Road, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.

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22 Nov 2009, 9:17pm
Commuting History Oil and gas prices Passenger rail Railroads Roads Transit Travel
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Comments Off on SA – Austin passenger rail still dead

SA – Austin passenger rail still dead

Like the old Saturday Night sketch about Generalissimo Franco, passenger rail between San Antonio and Austin is still dead.Ā  Oh a mortician applied a new coat of make-up, but the poor old stiff ainā€™t going nowhere.Ā  After twelve years of failure, a new name and an application for $5 million of tax payer money was enough to create a blip of interest but even that has not lasted long.Ā  Oh well.

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17 Nov 2009, 3:26pm
Commuting Safety:
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Comments Off on Walking in San Antonio not as dangerous

Walking in San Antonio not as dangerous

Where the sidewalk endsLast week, Transportation For America and the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership released a report called Dangerous By DesignĀ that exposes what most of us here in San Antonio know all too well– that being a pedestrian on local streetsĀ can beĀ a dangerous proposition.Ā  However, compared to the other three big Texas metros– and most other metros nationally for that matter– San Antonio is not too bad.

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Hey, what happened to all the talk about commuter rail?

Anybody remember the Austin-San Antonio Intermunicipal Rail District? No? Yes?Ā If so, forget about it.

Lone Star Rail District web site

I mean, forget about the name, which was sort of long and obtuse anyway. The six-year-old district, authorized by a 12-year-old state law, has shedĀ the name andĀ dumped its old web site in exchange forĀ a punchy, fresh re-branding.

On Monday, regional leadersĀ will announceĀ the name change toĀ Lone Star Rail DistrictĀ as well asĀ theĀ reborn web presence at LoneStarRail.com. You don’t have to wait to see the siteĀ — it’sĀ already live.

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30 Oct 2009, 11:58am
Commuting History Passenger rail Railroads Safety Transit Travel
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Comments Off on No news = good news for railroads

No news = good news for railroads

UP locoIā€™m guessing you havenā€™t heard much about the railroads recently.Ā  The more they fly under the radar the better they like it because these days, when it comes to railroads, only bad news is good news.Ā  The Union Pacific is probably happy.Ā  Sure beats 2004 and the torrent of bad news way back then.Ā  These days they are regarded as just one step up from the water and sewage systems.Ā  These only make the headlines when something goes wrong.Ā  Certainly there are still far too many accidents at grade level road crossings but few blame the railroad for this anymore.Ā  If drivers are willing to risk absolutely everything to beat the train, just to save a minute or two and not miss the beginning of ā€œJeopardyā€ or something equally banal, well, you cannot legislate away stupidity.

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15 Oct 2009, 12:24am
Commuting Roads:
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Comments Off on So where do you plug in an electric car?

So where do you plug in an electric car?

Chevy Volt

Chevy Volt

With the all-electric Chevy Volt headed to buyers next year, and Ford’s Focus and other amped-up models soon to follow, a lot of people are about to find out that plugging in might not be as simple as it sounds.

Does your garage have a 120- or 240-volt outlet? What permits or inspections do you need? Will you be able to juice up at work or other places? And what kind of money are we talking about?

In other words, there’s a battery of questions aboutĀ how to keep electric cars going.

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9 Oct 2009, 10:00am
Bicycles Commuting History Oil and gas prices Safety Transit:
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Comments Off on Dude, where’s my bike rebate?

Dude, where’s my bike rebate?

bike kilmarnockI recently acquired, at surprising expense, a bicycle, a seven speed commuter bike with full mudguards and a wire basket that can hold two single gallons of milk. It is even more ā€œgreenā€ inasmuch as it has a dynamo for its lights, with a neat little capacitor to keep them lit when stopped at traffic lights, not a good place to be unilluminated. My main goal, at the time of purchase, was to avoid yet another piece of garage art, well intentioned but ignored after the initial enthusiasm wore off.

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