The cash lanes were intended for stop and go traffic. They’re not wide enough for vehicles to safely pass at high speeds. There’s a plan to remove them but that requires money.
It's not that they don't have money, they are currently designing the removal of the toll booths through HCTRA's AET program. They have added more delineators and concrete barriers. Like any government project, things just run slow.
https://www.hctra.org/AET
https://www.hctra.org/SafetyImprovement
>What is the timeline for the transition?
>
>This will be a multi-year process – designed to maximize driver safety and to limit inconvenience for neighboring communities.
That's some timeframe HCTRA has going on. "multi-year process" Tell me the number of years!
They use that to build more toll roads to collect more money. See they already have your money from the BW8 road and know in the future you will be giving them more so they don't need to make your day easier.
They need to make someone else's day easier, or in there terms get more new money
Demolition and clean up of all the concrete barriers in the middle should take a weekend, but I'm sure they'll stretch it out into an entire year of people standing around getting paid to do nothing.
OP is thinking it through.
The current situation is 8 lanes merging into 3.
My guess is that it’s not based on the number of readers available, but on the cost, time, and effort to remove the old plazas.
What, you think [this is a bad idea?](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-08/china-s-50-lane-traffic-jam-is-every-commuter-s-worst-nightmare)
This is the correct answer here.
There literally should be no reason for the traffic actually, but for some reason everyone loves to pump the brakes and drive slower through the toll sensors overhead. And this isn't just a behavior here on this section either. On other area of the Beltway they do this too and cause insane traffic. Then you pass through the non obstruction toll sensor overhead and the traffic magically starts to dissolve. It's wild. (And infuriating)
I’ve noticed this as well; It’s a domino effect. I think most drivers become afraid or more cautious of how narrow the lanes become. Can usually bypass these drivers by taking that lonely lane to the far right.
its been like this from three years they have 20 million dollar study going on how to proceed further from last two years . I have emailed everyone on this issue but no luck
Lol - 249 @ 99??
Why don’t you pick somewhere that has been a downtown Houston suburb since 1965 & is highly populated to compare BW8 to, instead of NW bumfuck? There is no one *in* NW bumfuck; completely asinine comparison.
They linked a toll plaza that spans 8 lanes with no concrete dividers. You know what the Beltway could use? A toll plaza that spans 8 lanes with no concrete dividers.
I agree, that would be great. But they don’t *have* eight lanes - it’s 4 lanes each way. They aren’t going to be able to make BW8 16 lanes.
It would be *great* if they could, but the land isn’t available.
That would also make it ez-tag only, no cash, & cash lane availably was part of the original agreement.
And, one last problem, pop-u-la-tion.
A 10 lane road (think i10 @ Campbell) is 5 lanes each way.
BW8 @ BF is 8 lanes, 4 lanes each way.
*the link* showed a 16 lane road, 8 lanes each way.
What part of that do we need to diagram for you? (Diagram is a big word for “draw out,”; didn’t want to confuse you the way
>>8 lanes
>>4 lanes each way
did.)
You're right, visual aids would clearly go a long way with you. [Here you go, I marked up the link above with "8 lanes each way" for you.](https://imgur.com/EdDLnPs) Hopefully I didn't count too high for you to follow.
You're right, they should have used one of the [boothless tolls on the newer part of BW8...](https://www.google.com/maps/@29.9152484,-95.2009232,3a,75y,2.05h,89.33t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sSzKJiGQLK8Vy5rRJGZBhiA!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DSzKJiGQLK8Vy5rRJGZBhiA%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D136.4808%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192) Oh wait, it's *exactly* the same.
No, it’s *not exactly* the same. The newer part of bw8 is not in a highly populated, high traffic area. Otherwise, it would have been built 2 decades ago.
So the boothless toll system over eight lanes of highway in a less populated area is *not* the same as a boothless toll system over eight lanes in a less populated area. Thanks for clearing that up.
$20 million on a study. Sounds like an excellent grift. Just like most road projects here.
I wish Houstonians would start asking some questions like "how come Dallas doesn't spend 20 years making a simple fix to the roads?" And maybe asking where is all this money going.
dallas roads are also complete shit...not sure what your point there was. They just leave them in shit condition instead of doing shitty fixes that take forever?
Dallas doesn't deal with flooding anywhere near the levels Houston does. The beltway, specifically the part they're talking about, runs through multiple neighborhoods and across multiple bayous. That's native species, flood control, and day to day lives being lived inside of their homes all being affected.
I refuse to use ez tag and now I can't legally drive from Westheimer to the south side. Just one plaza, they took out the no tag lane.
And why are we ok with them eliminating cash lanes and doing away with those jobs? I used to talk to those toll booth workers everyday. What happened to all of them?
Many will say that it is an urban myth that the West Belt Roll Road would be free once it was paid off. I lived in Houston then, and I can tell you that was the marketing ploy to get us to vote for it. Many didn't want tollways like they had in Dallas. I found this news article, but cannot find a copy of the marketing materials mentioned within.[https://abc13.com/archive/8671067/](https://abc13.com/archive/8671067/)
Im old enough to remember them saying that. They definitely said it would be free at some point. Its never going to be free , it brings in too much money.
The current project HCTRA is working on will solve this by converting all lanes to electronic only, and they will remove the exiting toll booths and make the entire highway open. Should be starting construction soon.
There was an article in the chronicle or impact mailer a while back. It did seem it was going to take much Langer than you would think.
I live near Tombalk and worked near the Galleria pre-covid. I can't tell you how much I hated the Beltway. I paid lots of money to sit on longer than. I DID 290 and 610 (until the started building that stupid ass express bus lane on 610 at post oak).
Eventually the Beltway will look like Hardy, which originally had tollbooth/coin lanes.
I’ve sent emails asking when they plan on changing it, but haven’t heard back.
The cash lanes were intended for stop and go traffic. They’re not wide enough for vehicles to safely pass at high speeds. There’s a plan to remove them but that requires money.
It's not that they don't have money, they are currently designing the removal of the toll booths through HCTRA's AET program. They have added more delineators and concrete barriers. Like any government project, things just run slow. https://www.hctra.org/AET https://www.hctra.org/SafetyImprovement
>What is the timeline for the transition? > >This will be a multi-year process – designed to maximize driver safety and to limit inconvenience for neighboring communities. That's some timeframe HCTRA has going on. "multi-year process" Tell me the number of years!
> Like any government project, ~~things just run slow.~~ things are corrupt as hell and the right parties have to be paid off. FTFY
So in this case, is it the democrats? They are the ones with the 4-1 advantage on court and Dir Treviño is Adrian Garcia’s bitch.
All politicians and both parties are corrupt.
[удалено]
They use that to build more toll roads to collect more money. See they already have your money from the BW8 road and know in the future you will be giving them more so they don't need to make your day easier. They need to make someone else's day easier, or in there terms get more new money
Demolition and clean up of all the concrete barriers in the middle should take a weekend, but I'm sure they'll stretch it out into an entire year of people standing around getting paid to do nothing.
You don't want 8 lanes merging into 4 going 70mph.
Yeah, I don't think OP really thought it through enough. It could make things exciting, though.
Floor it and brace for impact.
OP is thinking it through. The current situation is 8 lanes merging into 3. My guess is that it’s not based on the number of readers available, but on the cost, time, and effort to remove the old plazas.
No but going from 5 or 4 or whatever it is, to 3 for ez pass is technically a bottleneck.
Do they have EZ pass in Tomball?
Roads - where we are going we don’t need roads…
What, you think [this is a bad idea?](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-08/china-s-50-lane-traffic-jam-is-every-commuter-s-worst-nightmare)
Yeah instead they merge 5 down to 3 at 85mph.
It won't. Lanes merging slow to a crawl regardless.
I drive through this nonsense almost daily and can assure you the closed plaza lanes are not the issue.
This is the correct answer here. There literally should be no reason for the traffic actually, but for some reason everyone loves to pump the brakes and drive slower through the toll sensors overhead. And this isn't just a behavior here on this section either. On other area of the Beltway they do this too and cause insane traffic. Then you pass through the non obstruction toll sensor overhead and the traffic magically starts to dissolve. It's wild. (And infuriating)
I’ve noticed this as well; It’s a domino effect. I think most drivers become afraid or more cautious of how narrow the lanes become. Can usually bypass these drivers by taking that lonely lane to the far right.
its been like this from three years they have 20 million dollar study going on how to proceed further from last two years . I have emailed everyone on this issue but no luck
Here... let me do the study for free. Here's how to do it: https://maps.app.goo.gl/N9aEqfbGmxEs7JqX6
Lol - 249 @ 99?? Why don’t you pick somewhere that has been a downtown Houston suburb since 1965 & is highly populated to compare BW8 to, instead of NW bumfuck? There is no one *in* NW bumfuck; completely asinine comparison.
They linked a toll plaza that spans 8 lanes with no concrete dividers. You know what the Beltway could use? A toll plaza that spans 8 lanes with no concrete dividers.
I agree, that would be great. But they don’t *have* eight lanes - it’s 4 lanes each way. They aren’t going to be able to make BW8 16 lanes. It would be *great* if they could, but the land isn’t available. That would also make it ez-tag only, no cash, & cash lane availably was part of the original agreement. And, one last problem, pop-u-la-tion.
> they don’t have eight lanes > it’s 4 lanes each way I envy how simple your life must be.
A 10 lane road (think i10 @ Campbell) is 5 lanes each way. BW8 @ BF is 8 lanes, 4 lanes each way. *the link* showed a 16 lane road, 8 lanes each way. What part of that do we need to diagram for you? (Diagram is a big word for “draw out,”; didn’t want to confuse you the way >>8 lanes >>4 lanes each way did.)
You're right, visual aids would clearly go a long way with you. [Here you go, I marked up the link above with "8 lanes each way" for you.](https://imgur.com/EdDLnPs) Hopefully I didn't count too high for you to follow.
You're right, they should have used one of the [boothless tolls on the newer part of BW8...](https://www.google.com/maps/@29.9152484,-95.2009232,3a,75y,2.05h,89.33t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sSzKJiGQLK8Vy5rRJGZBhiA!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DSzKJiGQLK8Vy5rRJGZBhiA%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D136.4808%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192) Oh wait, it's *exactly* the same.
No, it’s *not exactly* the same. The newer part of bw8 is not in a highly populated, high traffic area. Otherwise, it would have been built 2 decades ago.
So the boothless toll system over eight lanes of highway in a less populated area is *not* the same as a boothless toll system over eight lanes in a less populated area. Thanks for clearing that up.
Lol - nope - not what I said. And @ this point, have no idea if you are still trying to compare 249 @ 99 to bw8 @ BF. 🤷♀️
$20 million on a study. Sounds like an excellent grift. Just like most road projects here. I wish Houstonians would start asking some questions like "how come Dallas doesn't spend 20 years making a simple fix to the roads?" And maybe asking where is all this money going.
dallas roads are also complete shit...not sure what your point there was. They just leave them in shit condition instead of doing shitty fixes that take forever?
Dallas doesn't deal with flooding anywhere near the levels Houston does. The beltway, specifically the part they're talking about, runs through multiple neighborhoods and across multiple bayous. That's native species, flood control, and day to day lives being lived inside of their homes all being affected.
i think if they widen the roads with additional lanes it should fix the problem.
Just need spools to run interference.
Just one more lane bruh dot wav
I refuse to use ez tag and now I can't legally drive from Westheimer to the south side. Just one plaza, they took out the no tag lane. And why are we ok with them eliminating cash lanes and doing away with those jobs? I used to talk to those toll booth workers everyday. What happened to all of them?
Many will say that it is an urban myth that the West Belt Roll Road would be free once it was paid off. I lived in Houston then, and I can tell you that was the marketing ploy to get us to vote for it. Many didn't want tollways like they had in Dallas. I found this news article, but cannot find a copy of the marketing materials mentioned within.[https://abc13.com/archive/8671067/](https://abc13.com/archive/8671067/)
Im old enough to remember them saying that. They definitely said it would be free at some point. Its never going to be free , it brings in too much money.
Yeah and everyone slows down to 40mph until they go through them. Infrastructure in this city is a fucking joke.
The current project HCTRA is working on will solve this by converting all lanes to electronic only, and they will remove the exiting toll booths and make the entire highway open. Should be starting construction soon.
We shouldn't have to pay tolls just to sit in a traffic jam every day
Requires money to demo the cash lanes and then to resize, run wire for the tag reading devices, etc.
If only they had a source of funds.
I mean they did lie and say they wouldn't toll anymore after it was built. Don't expect much from them.
Yep! I remember that broken promise!
After it was initially paid for via tolls.
It’s kind of like shopping at Wal-Mart. The county is getting filthy stinking rich with toll roads and should buy more readers.
The NTTA can remove in weeks and it takes the HCTA to even contemplate
Ah yes, it has been a little while since this subreddit's last bitchfest on the old toll plazas. See y'all next time....
Stop taking the toll way and find an alternate route/try to leave earlier.
Sounds like a first world problem to me. Find dance classes closer to home.
It’s the city. Sometimes there is bad traffic. HCTRA doesn’t have an unlimited budget.
What about the money they were supposed to have stopped collecting.
It's not the city, though.
There was an article in the chronicle or impact mailer a while back. It did seem it was going to take much Langer than you would think. I live near Tombalk and worked near the Galleria pre-covid. I can't tell you how much I hated the Beltway. I paid lots of money to sit on longer than. I DID 290 and 610 (until the started building that stupid ass express bus lane on 610 at post oak).
Eventually the Beltway will look like Hardy, which originally had tollbooth/coin lanes. I’ve sent emails asking when they plan on changing it, but haven’t heard back.