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> How is it that someone can't work near an onramp to a major expressway and the nearest coffee house be at the next exit or just across a toll bridge? Solve i

by saryant 13y ago

> How is it that someone can't work near an onramp to a major expressway and the nearest coffee house be at the next exit or just across a toll bridge? Solve it the way Houston does: frontage roads.

AnthonyMouse 13y ago
You want to have a toll road and a parallel non-toll frontage road? Won't all the traffic end up on the frontage road to avoid the toll? Also, "frontage bridge" is probably not cost effective.
- saryant 13y ago
  No, the frontage road is slower and has traffic lights, not to mention cars moving on and off since the frontage roads are lined with commercial businesses. The toll roads can go up to 85mph (theoretically, not sure any allow that yet) while frontage roads rarely go above 55. I lived in Houston for quite some time, plenty of people out in the suburbs are willing to pay the toll to avoid traffic and get downtown faster. Houston is also getting rid of its cash lanes and moving towards EZ-Tag only which doesn't require drivers to slow down at all. In Texas it's quite standard to have a highway (toll or not) with a frontage road. Land isn't exactly scarce here, it's not uncommon to have a highway with 3-6 lanes on either side and a frontage road with another 2-4 lanes on either side again.
  - AnthonyMouse 13y ago
    Oh, I get it now. I looked up the toll amounts in Houston. Compare: http://www.panynj.gov/bridges-tunnels/tolls.html http://www.panynj.gov/bridges-tunnels/tolls.html Also, if you want to see a Bing Maps bug, tell it to give you directions from Newark, NJ to New York, NY and check the "avoid tolls" box. It spins for a few seconds and then says "Driving directions are temporarily unavailable." Most of the other map websites when you check the avoid tolls box it just says it couldn't avoid the tolls. I had a GPS at one point that would actually plot the route but it makes a trip that would take less than a half hour instead take more than 6 hours because to avoid a toll you have to cross the Hudson River in Albany. Obviously they've had to remove that route from the maps lest the tolls be raised a little bit more and it become cost effective.
    - saryant 13y ago
      Reminds me of the tolls on the Bay Area bridges from when I lived in California. Definitely don't miss that, or the backup trying to get across the Carquinez.

by saryant 13y ago

> How is it that someone can't work near an onramp to a major expressway and the nearest coffee house be at the next exit or just across a toll bridge? Solve it the way Houston does: frontage roads.

AnthonyMouse 13y ago

You want to have a toll road and a parallel non-toll frontage road? Won't all the traffic end up on the frontage road to avoid the toll? Also, "frontage bridge" is probably not cost effective.

saryant 13y ago
No, the frontage road is slower and has traffic lights, not to mention cars moving on and off since the frontage roads are lined with commercial businesses. The toll roads can go up to 85mph (theoretically, not sure any allow that yet) while frontage roads rarely go above 55. I lived in Houston for quite some time, plenty of people out in the suburbs are willing to pay the toll to avoid traffic and get downtown faster. Houston is also getting rid of its cash lanes and moving towards EZ-Tag only which doesn't require drivers to slow down at all. In Texas it's quite standard to have a highway (toll or not) with a frontage road. Land isn't exactly scarce here, it's not uncommon to have a highway with 3-6 lanes on either side and a frontage road with another 2-4 lanes on either side again.
- AnthonyMouse 13y ago
  Oh, I get it now. I looked up the toll amounts in Houston. Compare: http://www.panynj.gov/bridges-tunnels/tolls.html http://www.panynj.gov/bridges-tunnels/tolls.html Also, if you want to see a Bing Maps bug, tell it to give you directions from Newark, NJ to New York, NY and check the "avoid tolls" box. It spins for a few seconds and then says "Driving directions are temporarily unavailable." Most of the other map websites when you check the avoid tolls box it just says it couldn't avoid the tolls. I had a GPS at one point that would actually plot the route but it makes a trip that would take less than a half hour instead take more than 6 hours because to avoid a toll you have to cross the Hudson River in Albany. Obviously they've had to remove that route from the maps lest the tolls be raised a little bit more and it become cost effective.
  - saryant 13y ago
    Reminds me of the tolls on the Bay Area bridges from when I lived in California. Definitely don't miss that, or the backup trying to get across the Carquinez.