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6-April-2001
|
Enviromental clearance for the $1.5 billion
SH 130 in central Texas is granted, and final approval is assured. It's looking more and more like SH 130 will
actually be built.
Discussions are underway to make Houston's IH-10 expansion
even bigger by adding a toll road in the middle. Including feeder roads, the lane count would be 24 lanes.
This is eerily reminiscent of the IH-610 proposal in 1992, which the opposition
labelled as a 24 lane freeway and quickly killed it off.
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5-April-2001
|
The
winning bid of $260 million for the
IH-635 / US 75 interchange in Dallas is a big cost overrun. However, it does not
look like the project is at risk.
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31-March-2001
|
The cancelled
western end of SH 45 in northwest Austin is still causing controversy.
The freeway/tollway was cancelled to appease the neighborhood and the City of Cedar Park, but
now the neighborhood is unhappy to have a freeway stop at its edge, and momentum appears to
be moving in the direction of reinstating the cancelled section.
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26-March-2001
| Alignments for new freeways/tollways are causing controversy.
In Houston, the
north section of the
Grand Parkway is stirring up trouble. The opposition
appears to be over alignments, not over the Grand Parkway itself.
In northeast Dallas the
east extension of the
190 Bush Turnpike is controversial.
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16-March-2001
|
Legislation for the
Texas Mobility Fund is passed in the Senate and looks like a good bet to become law. Voter approval will
be required in November. This represents a new funding source for TxDOT, since contributions to the mobility
fund will be from general revenues that are not already dedicated. It appears that an increase in the fuel tax
to increase funds to TxDOT is highly unlikely.
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16-March-2001
|
The Arlington Morning News reports that construction on the new
161 freeway
will begin in 2003, starting at IH-20 and proceeding northward. Feeder roads only will be constructed initially.
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11-March-2001
|
The Dallas Morning News provides a
comprehensive report
on the development of Dallas' outer loop. The project is gaining momentum, although construction is
anywhere from 5 to 15 years away. See
map. Engineer's special: related article on
north Texas soil conditions.
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11-March-2001
|
Loop 1 recommendation:
TxDOT has succumbed to neighborhood opposition and will not add general purpose capacity to the critically
congested central section of Loop 1. Only
HOV or managed lanes will be added. The largest option with 4 managed lanes requiring 147 residential displacements and 18 business
displacments is still an option under consideration.
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10-March-2001
|
121 in Collin County
has become a strong candidate to become a tollway. Fortunately, the section in Denton County to DFW Airport
will still be a freeway. The way things have been going in Dallas, this section probably will become a tollway.
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9-March-2001
|
Light rail will be built in Houston after a favorable court ruling on March 8.
Construction will start immediately on the $300 million segment on Main Street.
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24-Feb-2001
|
Final environmental approval is granted for SH 45 north of Austin. See
map. Construction will likely begin in 2002
if toll road status is approved. I estimate that there is a 95% chance that SH45 will be designated as a toll road.
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19-Feb-2001
|
Big problem in Houston? Environmentalists are stirring up trouble with Houston's long-term road-building plan.
In the crosshairs: the Grand Parkway. Read the frightening
article.
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12-Feb-2001
|
George Bush Turnpike Super Connector -
The cost of this 5-mile tollway has exploded from $179 million to $417.6 million. The cost increase
will not affect the construction schedule and scheduled 2004 completion,
but may consume resources intended for other projects.
Location map.
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6-Feb-2001
|
Road bonds are a major issue
in this year's legislative session.
Light rail in Houston is stopped by a
court order just days before construction is to
begin.
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31-Jan-2001
| An
article in the
Houston Business Journal describes how many of the hundreds of business to be displaced in the massive
I-10 west expansion in Houston have banded together
to ensure fair treatment in the condemnation process.
| |
22-Nov-2000
|
$800 million loan obtained for Austin tollway construction.
See article
| |
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