Commuting Construction and closures: FM 3009 Garden Ridge Schertz Texas Department of Transportation
by Patrick
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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.
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.
Thanksgiving travel shows glimmer of hope
AAA Thanksgiving 2009 Travel Forecast
Americans shaken by last year’s economic crash may be regaining enough confidence to hit the roads in higher numbers this Thanksgiving, according to AAA.
When a wobbly economy finally nose-dived last fall, Thanksgiving trips also plunged, by 25 percent from the year before, the travel association reports.
This year, with unemployment higher than it’s been since 1983 despite economic growth last quarter, 38.4 million Americans — one in eight — will travel at least 50 miles from home, up a slight 1.4 percent.
But the numbers, like the economy, could be rickety.
Construction and closures: Loop 410
by Patrick
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Loop 410 closed this weekend
Construction workers will shut down eastbound Loop 410 on the Northeast Side this weekend so they can pour a bridge deck, the Texas Department of Transportation announced.
Crews will close the main lanes between Starcrest and Perrin Beitel from 3 p.m. Saturday until sometime Sunday. Traffic will be routed to the frontage road.
A suggestion for motorists: Consider using alternatives such as Austin Highway or Wurzbach Parkway.
Also, making the mess worse, crews will close two eastbound Loop 410 lanes between Broadway and Starcrest from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday and again on Sunday. That’s to do pavement work.
Hey, what happened to all the talk about commuter rail?
Anybody remember the Austin-San Antonio Intermunicipal Rail District? No? Yes? If so, forget about it.
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 shed the name and dumped its old web site in exchange for a punchy, fresh re-branding.
On Monday, regional leaders will announce the name change to Lone Star Rail District as well as the reborn web presence at LoneStarRail.com. You don’t have to wait to see the site — it’s already live.
Oil and gas prices Roads Travel: economy
by Patrick
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Rising gas prices for a growing economy
Rising gas prices, along with a renewed American appetite to drive, offer yet more signs that the recession has lifted.
The U.S. economy, much of it fed by federal stimulus injections, grew 3-1/2 percent last quarter despite unemployment climbing to a two-and-a-half-decade high.
Growing also are gas prices, according to Energy Information Administration data. Regular unleaded swelled 26 cents a gallon since last month, and today settled at a yearly high of $2.69 a gallon.
San Antonio prices average $2.53, up nearly 20 cents from a month ago, AAA reports.
Tweeting from the toll-road meeting
Hey everybody, follow tweets from tonight’s long-awaited meeting to argue and vote on local toll plans, which starts at 6 p.m. at the Alzafar Shrine Auditorium. To join the tweeting, use the #sampo hashtag in your Twitter posts so that they’ll show up here.
UPDATE: Click #sampo to see all tweets from the start. Also, the half dozen posts at the top are actually earlier tweets that TexHwyMan reposted.
MUCH LATER UPDATE: Twitter only holds together hashtags for so long, apparently, since they’re gone now. Next time we do a tweetup, I’ll copy and paste the results after the chatter wraps up.
Are we on the Daily Show yet?
Tommy Adkisson
After years of activists challenging engineers about the scope and cost of adding lanes and overpasses to U.S. 281, the public last month got one of its few chances to hear those arguments hashed out in the open.
But mostly what we got was a Jon Stewart-like moment.
The punch line came as Metropolitan Planning Organization board members began pressuring Chairman Tommy Adkisson, who’s leading the charge to pull tolls from several highway projects (item 9c), to explain details about his proposed non-toll versions.
“Are these not TxDOT numbers?” he answered, according to a San Antonio Express-News report.
As toll critic Terri Hall, who likely led Adkisson to the hot seat he’s in, nodded yes from the audience, MPO board member and TxDOT engineer Clay Smith said:
“No, no they’re not.”
Well, yes, yes they are. Well … sort of.
Two freeways closed this weekend
Construction workers will shut down both directions of Interstate 35 and also eastbound Loop 410 this weekend so they can do bridge work.
Near Fort Sam Houston, crews demolishing a bridge will close all I-35 main lanes between AT&T Parkway and New Braunfels Avenue from 11 p.m. Friday to as late as 5 a.m. Monday, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.
On the North Side, workers setting beams will close eastbound Loop 410 at Nacogdoches Road from 8 p.m. Friday to as late as 5 p.m. Saturday.
Meanwhile, the National Weather Forecast predicts sunny skies Saturday and Sunday, with temps in the upper 70s.
I predict mighty slow going for motorists who don’t find better alternate routes, with tempers in the upper ranges.
Useful links:
Commuting Roads: electric cars
by Patrick
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So where do you plug in an electric car?
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 about how to keep electric cars going.
Construction and closures Roads: Loop 410 Perrin Beitel weather
by Patrick
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Loop 410 closed Saturday
Starting tonight, workers plan to close both directions of Loop 410 on the Northeast Side through Saturday afternoon so they can set bridge beams.
Seems this morning’s heavy rain and thundery bluster might say otherwise, but the National Weather Service predicts sunny skies by Saturday, with a high at a mellow 73 degrees.
If the weather backs off as expected, crews will close all main lanes of Loop 410 at Perrin Beitel from 11 p.m. tonight to as late as 3 p.m. tomorrow, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. Motorists should use alternate streets such as Nacogdoches Road and Wurzbach Parkway, and Harry Wurzbach and Austin Highway.
Useful links: