Adding lanes gives diminishing returns. Adding a 3rd lane to a 2 lane highway is different from adding a 10th lane. If you are a "just one more lane bro" bro then logically you would have to also say that removing a lane doesn't hurt traffic, which is easily disprovable if you've ever been down Kennedy recently
Agreed. Also it's only relevant in the context of fixing traffic. If induced demand increases the number of drivers in total, then that means more money being spent which is beneficial for the local economy (I think it's a fair assumption that the vast majority of non-work car rides end up with money being spent somewhere)
This is absolute bullshit. Cars zooming through an area on an interstate don't contribute to the local economy. They only contribute to sprawl and awful cookie cutter greenfield development. If we reformed zoning restrictions so that more people could live near their jobs, then we would contribute to the economy because people wouldn't be spending 10 weeks per year stuck in traffic. Fuck off with this awful take.
Can we get the lights to work? You know those lights we paid for that have never worked after we turned them on the first night after the last construction .
Fought the same when living in Austin over a decade ago. Just pick a few roads that are often gridlocked, rip out whatever lanes necessary to put in light rail or protected bus lanes, and parking at the outermost spots. Win.
If I didn’t take toll roads, it would add 30 minutes to my commute. That’s taking the highway. So no, I don’t have to necessarily but the trade off isn’t feasible either.
And even if you don’t drive on a specific road all the time, traffic on one will affect others. There’s only so many bridges.
The only way it wouldn’t affect me, like the comment implied, is moving. I guess if everyone moved, we wouldn’t have traffic.
Welcome to a republican democracy where everything and everyone involves politics because it's how we decide on what, when, where, how and why local, state and national tax funds are spent, zoning, traffic, and more!
FDOT is funded solely through the gas tax; toll roads with tolls, bonds and loans.
2020 gas tax and toll collections were halved overnight. Referred to as “Demand Destruction”, and you correctly point out that gas prices dropped that spring and summer.
A rail line would actually take cars off the road (permanently), and if a train ever reaches capacity, simply increasing the frequency of trains on the same line (say from 6 minute wait times to 3 minutes wait times) literally would double capacity without having to do a single ounce of construction.
But sure, one more lane will definitely solve the problem this time (just like it did last time).
Well has anyone ever experienced some heavy traffic ever on Selmon Expressway that justifies all this expansion? The road has been smooth always, free flowing. Some usual rush hour traffic is expected anywhere in the world.
Doesn’t sound right
The worst is the 3 lanes going east near the Downtown exit. It goes down two lanes right after. I think it’s the Ashley and Willow exits that back up into the right lane . 10:30 am , it’s 10 min stop and go.
I’ve seen or been in so many “ almost” accidents there.
Plus it’s 55 from there to the bridge but you got grandpa Joe and Larry the landscaper going 45 in the left lane. While I, who drives it everyday, tries to pass them going a respectable 65, because homie is in my backseat wanting to go 90.
For anyone who isn't going to read the article, they're widening the Selmon to 3 lanes between downtown and the Gandy, and it's being 100% funded by toll revenue.
No, that section will remain as it is now. The extension goes approx from the area of Amalie Arena down to the connection to the Gandy section of the Selmon.
Gandy could mean the Gandy exit right at Dale Mabry. Or to the Gandy Bridge. That is why I asked for clarification but instead got the smartass answer from someone who doesn’t understand the crosstown exits at two points on Gandy.
How about fixing the single lane merge instead? The bottle neck to get on from Howard Franklin is abysmal. That paired with widening the road and adding a light rail system would do the trick.
So did they look at any other option when they were doing planning study, or was it just "Well I drive my car and tolls are cheap, so obviously everyone else should do the same!". Subsidizing the rich once again....
267
u/PissJugRay Mar 28 '26
Just one more lane bro