12.04.06

The Missing Flyovers At SH 45 & IH 35

Posted in Road Issues, Williamson County at 9:46 am by wcnews

A few weeks ago McBlogger brought up the issue of the missing flyovers at the intersection of *NEW* SH 45 and IH 35. This from his post, You couldn’t even get the toll roads right:

I remember when the debate over tolls was joined. I remember the bullshit and the lies, how it was ‘the only way we could build out transportation infrastructure this decade’ without compromising. So, exactly what the hell am I to glean from the fact that as I drive on the 45 Tollway, I see the following missing:

1) A flyway from EB 45 to SB 35
2) A flyway from NB 35 to WB 45
3) A flyway from NB 35 to EB 45

So, basically, they even managed to screw this up. I know what the excuse will be… their analysis says no one will drive that way. It’s crap, but that’ll be the excuse.

It’s a logical question for people to ask why this happened. Me and my wife always figured that this was done to keep people on SH 45 to Mopac in order for them to continue paying tolls. If there’s a flyover for people to go 45 East to 35 South (#1 from Mcblogger) that would get people off of the to$$ road and onto the freeway (35), therefore keeping drivers from paying the to$$.

It seems like Ben Wear has been getting grilled over this too and from his article in today’s AAS about, this his first instinct was the same as ours was:

As for the flyovers at Texas 45 North in Round Rock, the state rejected a theory I advanced in a column a year ago, that they chose to build the flyovers most likely to boost toll-road traffic.

But, of course, TxDOT got Ben off this case with an extensive evidence to prove that wasn’t the case:

No, said Bob Daigh, the Austin district engineer, but rather there was a bureaucratic snafu on getting environmental clearance on the four that remain unbuilt.

Excellent. Isn’t it funny how a “bureaucratic sanfu” works in the favor of greed and against the people? Ben, of course you first instinct, like ours, was correct. These toll roads were not built to ease congestion, they were not built to make the drive to work better or with the best design in mind, if that happens it’s just a happy coincidence. No, they were built for one reason and one reason only. They were built, by corporations, with the permission of the representatives they bought, in the hope of making the most money possible - whether through tolls or the inflated land values.

Yes, at least as far as the toll roads go Ben, you should have stayed with and trusted your first instinct.

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