Quote:
Originally Posted by freerover
Yeah, it'll work out long term. Our hope has to be a daily business case that can justify a cap metro bus route. Once we have that, maybe we can convince the city bond voters to build bus only lanes from the airport to COTA. I don't think they will give up any existing ROW from private autos. But a bus only lane for charter buses and cap metro would be transformative for COTA. I avoid going there like the plague bc that bumper to bumper traffic is just too much.
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After making a point to hermit all past long weekend (On Reddit, I read many complaints of police escorts all over town, I don't have a taste for needless hassle and increased vigilance on the roads for normal errands/routine), I had to be neighborly and get my neighbors out to AUS for Sunday 10/19 Noon and 100pm flights. Ordinarily a 20-25 minute trip, I suggest we head out 9am-930am. I knew COTA gates were opening at 10am Sunday and before we hit the road I saw 183S and adjacent raod traffic on Google Maps already slowing toward AUS. and COTA. Neighbors insisted on loading out at 10am and not a minute earlier. So we did.
Doorstep to drop-off at AUS took double the normal time, 50 minutes or so. Half that time was crawling from 183S/Montopolis. We flew down 183S and stayed on toll lanes pretty nicely until coming on the curve and bridge over the Colorado River, adjacent to old Montopolis bridge and exit, southbound 183 toll and frontage was coming to a halt. Police escorts flying from behind us on the left and right emergency lanes/shoulders, plus an EMS truck responding toward same direction all cutting off traffic ahead at the last moment in a merge.
Complete stop for a few minutes it seemed and then from Montopolis bridge over 183/Old Bastrop Hwy), we crawled all the way to 183S ramp to 71E where the emergency lane/shoulder disappears and this police escort barges in at the split, very last second it seemed and forces others out of the way. Later on Reddit, I read of a barricade over there but I didn't notice one firsthand.
Rather aggressive reckless driving among the police escorts and entourages we saw. As we're nearing the 183S ramp merge with 71E coming, from Ben White/Riverside and further back west, we saw more police escorts over there going east to we assume 130 toll. We couldn't figure out why more folks weren't continuing or hanging a right from Ben White to go south on 183 to Burleson or 812. It was slow and idle forward until I took Spirit of Texas Dr. exit. The next frustrating thing was the whole time slow going in traffic was the cell phone networks were overloaded in the area and none of us could get a network signal to pull up maps and traffic picture.
Seems like a failure of coordination between COTA, city, APD to effectively mitigate chaos and advise escort/COTA-bound traffic a route that doesn't interfere with airport-bound folks. Like small city mentality still. How many years have they been doing this. I already avoid anything at COTA because of the layout and hassle to get in/out of there for an event, but now they let logistics and traffic issues there bleed out into the broader area because they didn't get it right from the beginning or since. I've seen POTUS visits, escorts and head-ups and law enforcement funeral motorcades handled better than this COTA mess Sunday morning.
Got neighbors to the airport finally, there was pretty decent traffic line for drop-off for a Sunday and once after drop-off it was a breeze for them, being a Sunday morning. But as someone, when flying out, who likes to get to the airport 2+ hours ahead of boarding time, I would have been a bit anxious arriving curbside barely an hour before gate departure time.
In it's current vision, Blue Line rail isn't planned to go all the way to the airport (and who knows when the current plan will break ground), so I have no hope in the short term that any enhancements to the line would extend fully out to COTA somehow.
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