Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Texas

Private Toll Road Backed By $430 Million in Federal Funds Goes Bust

By Angie Schmitt | Oct 18, 2016 | 18 Comments

From the beginning, there were plenty of reasons to suspect that Texas 130 — a private toll road between San Antonio and Austin — was a bad idea. For one thing, the state of Texas looked into extending the highway in 2006 and concluded it wouldn’t generate nearly enough toll revenue to pay for construction. Nevertheless, when two […]

A “Dutch Junction” With Glow-in-the-Dark Bike Lanes Now Exists — in Texas

By Angie Schmitt | Oct 7, 2016 | 9 Comments

It’s America’s first unsignalized “Dutch Junction” — a type of intersection with protected space for cycling. It even has solar luminescent bike lanes. And here’s the kicker — it’s in the heart of Texas. The Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M led the design and installation at a campus intersection in College Station. The Dutch Junction is designed to keep bicyclists out of […]

What Killed Eduardo Dill: ‘Failure to Yield Right of Way’ or Awful Streets?

By Jay Blazek Crossley | Oct 4, 2016 | No Comments

Tragedy struck El Paso again on September 22, when 27-year-old Susanna Lozano, driving her F-150 pickup truck, struck and killed 53-year-old Eduardo Dill as he attempted to cross a neighborhood street in his electric wheelchair. Police said that the “contributing factor” to the crash was Dill’s “failure to yield the right of way,” according to El […]

El Paso’s Bid to Create a Regional Active Transportation Network

By Angie Schmitt | Sep 6, 2016 | No Comments

A lot of regional transportation agencies talk a good game when it comes to improving biking and walking, but El Paso’s Metropolitan Planning Organization is actually doing something about it. The organization passed a new rule that designates seven key corridors as the “active transportation system.” Next, the MPO will identify gaps in the walking and biking network and […]

The Hilarious 1960s Vision for the Underbelly of a Houston Highway

By Angie Schmitt | Jun 30, 2016 | 4 Comments

Ah, the best laid plans. As Texas DOT considers tearing down the Pierce Elevated Freeway on the east side of downtown Houston, it’s instructive to look back at what people were thinking when they made this eyesore. Kyle Shelton at Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research shares these hilarious drawings from the late 1960s that depict how happening […]

Texas DOT Seems Open to a Downtown Dallas Highway Removal

By Angie Schmitt | Jun 13, 2016 | No Comments

Will Texas embrace a model of mobility that works well for cities, instead of tearing them up with wider highways? A new report from the Texas Department of Transportation indicates that at least in some circumstances, the answer may be “Yes.” TxDOT last week released its “CityMAP” plan for urban highways in central Dallas [PDF]. Normally, you […]

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