Texas Transportation priorities

Everybody wants an INTERSTATE (highway). If your community gets its own INTERSTATE, it undoubtedly will create economic growth. The problem is that building this INTERSTATE costs an almost unbelievable amount. Most of the time it is not even warranted. The bottom line is in MOST cases a DIVIDED RURAL HIGHWAY will suffice. The difference is that intersections with major roads should be controlled (over / underpass). The entire route with FEW exceptions should have a speed limit of 65 MPH or greater. There should be NO traffic signals on main lanes and when Loops and bypasses are built, the right of way should be purchased as per Section 6:( Texas Highway Trunk System) of the Texas Transportation Planning Manual:

  " Right of way should be initially purchased for the entire facility, although the facility will be developed in stages. The early acquisition of selected right of way, in certain instances, may be desirable along Trunk System routes. The priority of acquisition might not follow the approved project schedule in order to avoid delays and facilitate the economical considerations of acquisition."

What this means is that loops and bypasses should be built so that expansion to fully controlled access can be done in the future with minimal disruption to existent homes and businesses.  Loop 286 (US 271 & US 82) in Paris and US 69 / 380 in Greenville are excellent examples. Admittedly they were built in the seventies, both are grown up with little room for expansion. Loop 286 is trying to get rid of the traffic signals on the Northeast side of town, but it is a slow and messy proposition. There are no room for frontage roads and the best case example is right only turns.

MY way of seeing it is traffic seems to move well between these midsized towns but slows to a crawl as it goes through them. US 59 between Carthage and Texarkana is an excellent example of this. Traffic moves well from Carthage until Marshall. Marshall has seven traffic signals and a speed limit of 40 mph. Jefferson has a traffic signal and the traffic slows down. Linden has reduced speed limits. Atlanta has a loop with a hand full of traffic signals and a dramatically reduced speed limit.  There are even two traffic signals in rural areas between Atlanta and Texarkana.

While additional Interstate highway miles are desirable; ARE THE AFFORDABLE? If we can just get roadblocks of going through small and mid-sized towns out of the way so traffic can flow, it will improve the traffic dilemma manifestly. Currently from Carthage to Texarkana is 99.2 miles Google says it takes 1 hour 59 minutes. So about 50 MPH on average. Picking out the rural portion from the Junction of FM 2625 and US59 south of Marshall and Going to the Intersection of US 59 and US 79 on the North Side of Carthage is 17.5 miles in 16 minutes of about 65 MPH. If the entire trip were at that rate it would amount in just under 30 minutes less. Combined with the removal of starts and stops: the fuel economy, localized pollution, and even traffic safety would improve.

I CONCEDE not to the level of a fully access controlled Interstate, but again it is about what we can afford, not what is ideal. After I used US 59 as an example, I must add that it is actually an excellent candidate for the next Interstate. The point is that I was familiar enough with it to make the case. The bottom line is several roads in Texas such as US 287 from Fort Worth to Amarillo and  US 82 from Wichita Falls to Lubbock would benefit greatly with this.

There is much more to be added to this. I didn't even address the rail component of the equation. This blog entry is only a brief overview, but simply. We need to improve our transportation capacity without breaking the bank. In this case, the bank is US: THE TAXPAYER.