18-lane highway going up in Houston

[chicagogeorge]

It has nothing to do with population growth. It has everything to do with low density sprawl. Which is most of the United States outside a few areas.

[Sabretooth]

Bingo.

How wide is the 401 outside Toronto? Something like 14 lanes?

Originally Posted by DrT

Sprawled or dense, there are just too many people.
Anyone for zero population growth?

We gots negative population growth in these parts!

Well not in the suburbs. And alas, still too many people; I'm with you on that one.

And we're still widening roadways because volumes continue to go up. How sick is that.

[Brillemeister]

18?
Atlanta's getting 23 on I-75 north of the Perimiter.

[TroyBoy]

"What will we do when oil runs out?"

You guys havent been to the auto show, i see. Well one car will fix this, the "VOlT"

[Shawn]

Originally Posted by Greens!

Indicative of our auto centric culture? Not necessarily. Houston grows by ~ 120,000 people every year. Since the current freeway was built when the city was around half the size that it is now, it is understandable that they would want to improve the existing structure.

Yes, it is indicative of our pathetically wasteful auto-centric culture. Tokyo grows by ~300,000 a year and its widest highway is a 6-lane, double-decked freeway built in 1960. Oh, and there are some 35 million people working in the city every day. How is this possible? Easy: around 20 million people ride the train to work and school on a daily basis in Tokyo.

But not us Americans, we're too selfish to understand that we produce something like 5x the pollution per capita of every other nation on Earth.

[vid]

Originally Posted by Sabretooth

Bingo.

How wide is the 401 outside Toronto? Something like 14 lanes?

As much as 24 in some places, I believe.

Coming from Houston, this doesn't surprise me.

[Unionstation13]

Originally Posted by Shawn

Yes, it is indicative of our pathetically wasteful auto-centric culture. Tokyo grows by ~300,000 a year and its widest highway is a 6-lane, double-decked freeway built in 1960. Oh, and there are some 35 million people working in the city every day. How is this possible? Easy: around 20 million people ride the train to work and school on a daily basis in Tokyo.

But not us Americans, we're too selfish to understand that we produce something like 5x the pollution per capita of every other nation on Earth.

It really depends on the people, about half the people I know use public transportation, and the other half use cars and highways, I think the USA really needs to work on massive public transportation, like lightrails, subways, etc.

[Sabretooth]

Originally Posted by vid

As much as 24 in some places, I believe.

Yeah, I think you're right. I don't know where I was getting 14 from.

Google Earthed and counted 21 including ramps near one of the interchanges, but once all the auxiliary lanes were dropped I counted 18 for a typical section.

[TexasBoi]

Originally Posted by BalWash

Policies like this are what's wrong with America. I hope the Feds aren't giving them a cent.

When oil runs out, Houston will be fucked both ways: they don't have mass transit and their oil economy will go down the shitter. They'll definately suffer the biggest hit of all American cities.

As been stated. Houston will be fine. It's economy doesn't depend on just oil. Not when you have one of the world's largest and successful ports and a growing world class medical center. But I hate to see this anyway. The sad thing is, I bet Houstonians would love to have rail but are forced to live with the likes of Culberson and his oil loving asses.

[EtherealMist]

Originally Posted by Shawn

Yes, it is indicative of our pathetically wasteful auto-centric culture. Tokyo grows by ~300,000 a year and its widest highway is a 6-lane, double-decked freeway built in 1960. Oh, and there are some 35 million people working in the city every day. How is this possible? Easy: around 20 million people ride the train to work and school on a daily basis in Tokyo.

But not us Americans, we're too selfish to understand that we produce something like 5x the pollution per capita of every other nation on Earth.

Tokyo is bulit on what used to be ancient villages. Houston isnt. I dont really think its that we're selfish just that its the most practical way of getting around. Tokyo is very limited on room and has been for a long time, they have no choice but mass transit. Houston is a sprawled out and is low density in most areas, mass transit simply isnt as practical in these conditions.

[ssiguy2]

The world is NOT running out of oil...............not even remotely close. We have enough oil to supply us for hundreds of years. Now thou the oil is harder to get at but with new tech more and more will able to be replaced which is happening like Alberta's oilsands.
The thing that is pertinent is not that we demand oil which we readily have but rather CHEAP oil. We got use to cheap oil and planned accordingly. Now we are paying for oil at it's current price and people start to say we are running out........rubbish.
Funny, we are willingly to pay $2 for a litre of water but get infuriated when gas in only $1.00/litre. Remember also that is it so easy to blame other countries for the price of oil when really, depending on the country, much or even most of it is nothing but tax.

[ArchiTennis]

Originally Posted by ssiguy2

The world is NOT running out of oil...............not even remotely close. We have enough oil to supply us for hundreds of years. Now thou the oil is harder to get at but with new tech more and more will able to be replaced which is happening like Alberta's oilsands.
The thing that is pertinent is not that we demand oil which we readily have but rather CHEAP oil. We got use to cheap oil and planned accordingly. Now we are paying for oil at it's current price and people start to say we are running out........rubbish.
Funny, we are willingly to pay $2 for a litre of water but get infuriated when gas in only $1.00/litre. Remember also that is it so easy to blame other countries for the price of oil when really, depending on the country, much or even most of it is nothing but tax.

Are you head of General Motors or something? Oil will be depleted in the near future. Maybe not in our lifetimes, but maybe those of our kids or grandkids. I think this sort of thinking has to stop. If there was more rail I think more people would use it. Besides, the hub-and-spoke freeway system here in Houston sucks.

[Velvetj]

Originally Posted by TexasBoi

The sad thing is, I bet Houstonians would love to have rail but are forced to live with the likes of Culberson and his oil loving asses.

This is a KEY statement. To those that do not live in Houston, John Culberson is a staunch opponent of any rail in Houston. And COINCIDENTALLY the 18 lane highway that is under construction is in the heart of his district. Oh, and did I fail to mention that Houston's "Energy Corridor", which is where most of the oil company's headquarters are located in a concentrated business district on the city's west side, just so happens to be along this 18 lane freeway, which again, lies in John Culberson's district (a district whose lines were re-drawn to make sure his conservative republican base stayed in tact).

So think about it! How would it look in the "Energy Capital of the World", to have a electric train carrying thousands of passengers a day past all of those oil companies on I-10, which means less use of gasoline, less use of oil, which would ultimately cost them money. Just image wise, that wouldn't look very good. Those rail tracks that were removed along that freeway were removed on purpose, and many Houstonians were not happy about it.

Despite the image that some have of what a typical Houstonian is all about, there are many here who do not fit the stereotypes (the city has never had a Republican mayor, and the city of Houston itself which covers a large area, actually voted for Kerry, despite Dubya's father living here).

*note* I know this post comes across as defensive but that article was a little misleading which only feeds certain stereotypes about the city which are not true.

[DC Miracle]

Wow, this is hilarious how a article on Yahoo could blast the state of Texas like this! From start to finish they let those gun toting, horsing riding Texans have it! ROFL!!

[Greens!]

Yeah now that you mention it, that article is kind of nailing Texas. Whatever makes her sleep better at night, regardless of the sweeping generalizations and exaggerated facts.

[vid]

It's a Reuters article, and they have seemed slightly Anti-American lately.

[jmancuso]

we assume that cars will always be the combustion engine variety. we are moving towards hybrid technology and the pace is quickening and even so while i don't see freeway construction ever ending, cars will continue to be less dependent on gasoline.

[arturo]

ewwww. and the solution to congestion is better growth planning, not more lanes. imagining sitting in traffic on a 200ft-wide asphalt slab in 100F+ heat makes me gag.

[Xusein]

Originally Posted by vid

It's a Reuters article, and they have seemed slightly Anti-American lately.

You mean Anti-Texan

[LordMandeep]

Bingo.

How wide is the 401 outside Toronto? Something like 14 lanes?

Its wider in some sections but its surrounded by a lot of high density in some sections. Also its the only highway that goes through a region of over 6-7 million people from west to east fully. Also no highways cut right through the heart of the city, and the only highway that goes near downtown is on the water edge.

So, massive highways are needed in big metro areas in North America, but Houston has more then a ton of highways.