Started By
Message

re: Widening Highways Never Fixes Traffic. But Darnit, It Did in Texas

Posted on 4/25/16 at 1:36 pm to
Posted by The Mick
Member since Oct 2010
43223 posts
Posted on 4/25/16 at 1:36 pm to
Basically building new roads entices more people to drive that route, or not carpool, etc. Seems retarded but that's the concept.
Posted by Ace Midnight
Between sanity and madness
Member since Dec 2006
89621 posts
Posted on 4/25/16 at 1:52 pm to
quote:

Basically building new roads entices more people to drive that route, or not carpool, etc. Seems retarded but that's the concept.


Well, if by "retarded" you mean, "backed up with observation and research" then, you're correct. How many lanes do the highways around the beltway have? They could have 30 lanes each way and be a mile wide - still would have crushing traffic jams.

Efficiency of the traffic flow is far more important to eliminating congestion than adding lanes. Straighten out the lanes (as much as possible) - every curve and turn slows down traffic, even if you have 1000 lanes. And all the curves and turns stack and have a cumulative effect. Cut down on stops before turns/turning across traffic and such.

Adding lanes actually adds to your traffic volume. If the system is already efficient (straight with minimal interruptions) the added volume will be handled efficiently. If your system isn't efficient, adding lanes won't improve that efficiency 1 bit.
This post was edited on 4/25/16 at 1:53 pm
Posted by kingbob
Sorrento, LA
Member since Nov 2010
67214 posts
Posted on 4/25/16 at 4:07 pm to
quote:

Basically building new roads entices more people to drive that route, or not carpool, etc. Seems retarded but that's the concept.


What the idiots who espouse this logic fail to realize is that people are driving no matter how many lanes you add. They just may take alternate routes to adjust to the heavy traffic. When the road is expanded and increased traffic flows to the newly expanded road, that leaves less cars driving the roads they left behind. It's like imagine a river delta. Near the mouth of a river, it splits into several streams. By widening and deepening one channel, more water flows into it, but that means less water is flowing into the others.

You will never have less flow total, but giving the flow more places to go will inevitably help.

This whole logic of "expanding highways doesn't solve anything" is just a cop-out excuse to avoid expensive infrastructure projects while wasting highway dollars on meaningless bullshite pet projects like greenways, road diets, and traffic calming.
Posted by slackster
Houston
Member since Mar 2009
85138 posts
Posted on 4/25/16 at 5:17 pm to
quote:

Basically building new roads entices more people to drive that route, or not carpool, etc. Seems retarded but that's the concept.




I don't think it seems retarded if you apply some basic common sense.

Widening Hwy 1 from Golden Meadow to Grand Isle will easy traffic congestion because it is the only feasible route you can take to get there, so it is the same amount of cars traveling the same road with twice the lane capacity.

Widening I-10 from Lafayette to New Orleans by 1 lane is an entirely different animal. You have people who take Hwy 90 from Lafayette due to traffic concerns that would now consider taking I-10 due to the new lane. Eventually that increased traffic will no longer be offset by the new lane, and, voila, you haven't eliminated the traffic problem after all.
first pageprev pagePage 1 of 1Next pagelast page
refresh

Back to top
logoFollow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to get the latest updates on LSU Football and Recruiting.

FacebookTwitterInstagram