If not now then when?

Austin Roads and Freeways: Planned By Satan Himself

Just got home from work. It took my 1 hour to drive what normally takes (in the morning) 15 minutes. I hate Mopac.

Mopac is the main freeway from north Austin to south Austin if you're traveling on the west side of town. It is the most direct route of travel to and from my home to work. Today, at 7PM, Mopac was practically a parking lot as far as the eye can see. The primary source of traffic on Mopac is the bottleneck that is created where it crosses the Colorado River, better known as Lady Bird Lake (formerly Town Lake), due to the freeway narrowing down to 2 lanes (southbound) until it hits the other side where it turns into 4 lanes for a mile or so, then consolidating back down to 2 lanes.

2 lanes for a damn freeway? Who planned this shit? Did the city of Austin hire satan himself for their road planning?

So I usually get off Mopac at Cesar Chavez, which is the main artery road from west to east Austin, just on the south edge of downtown. It is supposed to be a fast moving 2 lane road, that opens to three lanes, then once entering downtown, it opens up to 4 lanes. It used to be a very fast route from Mopac to south Austin via South 1st street or Congress avenue. Not anymore. The city of Austin is doing a ton of construction on Cesar Chavez right now (which is supposedly going to be done in about a week, but we'll see), and the formerly far right line is closed.

Closing the far right lane wasn't good enough for Austin road planners. They had to add a totally useless stoplight at San Antonio & Cesar Chavez, which is a half block from a main intersection, Guadalupe & Cesar Chavez. This stoplight is for the 1 car in 50 which enters Cesar Chavez eastbound from San Antonio, yet the light is timed to go off every 20 seconds or so, and stays on for 20 seconds or so. For one car, compared to the thousands of cars that are traveling eastbound on Cesar Chavez towards Congress ave. Truly brilliant.

Thank you Austin road planners for making my drive home every day an absolute hell. You've done well.