Quote:
Originally Posted by wwmiv
Fix: have a single toll each coming in on the north side and south side that is sufficient to re-route significant portions of traffic onto 130. Unfortunately, that would suck for alot of people in our southern suburbs, but it is the most realistic vision.
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I don't like the idea of charging people in the metro area an arm and a leg to use the road. Maybe the city could strike a deal with surrounding municipalities whereby those residents wouldn't have to pay any more than Austinites. I don't want to tax commuters. A lot of people live so far out because they can't afford to live (well) in Austin. They don't have a lot of money. So it would be a tax on the poor. I just want to attach a punitive charge for people who are using the highway to
pass through Austin instead of taking 130.
I-35 is the main corridor for traffic from Mexico into the United States and vice versa. People always think that the traffic is because of the native population (and to a large degree it is), but I think it gets clogged up to a standstill because of the added traffic of people traveling through.
Though if we do have to charge commuters more to use the road I guess one benefit would be creating more of an incentive to live in the city proper. Unfortunately, that would mean more demand, which means higher cost of living still.