Austin Road System Rant (The Problem)

While writing the last post on Austin's most dangerous intersections, it stirred up some emotions on the road system in Austin. I've lived all over America and even in South Korea for over a year. I've been to almost every one of the 48 contiguous states. I've traveled to several other countries, industrialized and not, old and young, rich and poor, and never have I seen such a disaster of a road system as in Austin, Texas. Don't get me wrong, I love this city. Out of all those places I've been to and lived, not one of those places I would rather live in than Austin. It's perfect....almost.

My love for Austin ceases, however, with everything involving automobiles. Why are parking spots so small in Austin? Normal parking spots here are compact car spots in other cities. This is amplified by Texans driving the biggest trucks I've ever seen. There is nothing wrong with that. Yay trucks! My car has been dinged so many times it looks like I part-time golf ball pick-up at the driving range.

Gripe two. Austin is obsessed with becoming the "greenest city in America." Just Google "Austin Green City" and there are over 9.5 million hits! They have implemented mandatory energy audits on all home sales that were constructed older than ten years. They emphasis green in everything. Why is it that they can't realize that getting cars off the road faster and resetting their infrastructure will pay huge dividends in the long run with their efforts?

It seems like everywhere you drive, the road is one lane short of being tolerable. Austin wants to keep the small town vibe, but with projected growth of 137% by 2040, expansion of the road system is necessary. Why would making roads bigger effect the small town feel anyways? Who's idea was it to have people entering and exiting the highways in the same lane? This is just ridiculous, congestion-causing mayhem! Everywhere outside of Texas has an exit ramp and THEN an entrance ramp. 

Austin Road System Rant (The Solution)

I've lived a good portion of my life in the Detroit, Michigan area which has a population of about 200,000 more people than Austin. While the road quality is horrible in Michigan because of the drastic weather changes, they have perfected the road system and traffic congestion problem. They time their traffic signals so that if you go the speed limit, you don't hit many lights. You literally see the lights turn green in a sequential order. In Austin, it seems like they WANT you to sit at every light. The lights turn red as you get to them. Large amounts of traffic have to stop, sit (too long), and re-accelerate repeatedly. Sometimes 50 cars stop to let five go by. Timing the lights would no doubt be costly and require lots of man-hours, but in the long run getting people off the road faster will decrease gas consumption, get the city greener, get people to follow the speed limit, and make things run fluidly. Many birds with one stone.

Lastly, left turn lanes (suicide lanes) do nothing, but create backups and congestion on a side of the street that doesn't need it. In addition, lights are longer because they have to have extra time for those turning left. What Detroit and most of Michigan did was create what is commonly referred to as the "Michigan Left" where you turn right, hit a U-turn about 500 feet down from the intersection and head the other way. It keeps traffic flowing by taking cars off the left side and all the cars heading in a certain direction go on ONE green light, instead of waiting for a separate green arrow. Perfect.

Austin has a serious issue with their backwards road system and they need to take a page out of the book of other cities that have solved it. Trying just a few of these things could be a solution over adding more lanes. From time to time, I occasionally cannot be my lovable self with issues. I'm sorry. It's frustrating, so I created a blog to create a cathartic vent. I'm sure many feel the same. I see you cussing the lights! I just want everyone to be happy drivers!