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Why are Texas interchanges so tall?

practical.engineering

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Re: Why are Texas interchanges so tall?

#151

Post by xyst »

pc86 wrote: post #92
xyst wrote: post #90

It’s a shame this country is so obsessed with cars. There’s so much land yet we devote it to destroying lush ecosystems (that help reduce effects of Mother Nature) and replacing it with massive highway projects that end up costing everyone more in taxes/indefinite maintenance costs. Then the effect is 10X’d when useless suburbs are built. More car dependence. More time spent on roads. Traffic slows to a halt as subur…

I'm not sure what you think the alternative is. The US is huge compared to any similarly developed country. Is the answer huge cities right next to thousands of square miles of untouched nature? That hasn't happened in any society on the planet. It sounds like you just want everyone to live in a city and take public transit everywhere but cities are awful for your mental health[0] and most people in the US do not wan…

Love how you cite a study performed in the _UK_ in _1994_ as irrefutable evidence that cities are "awful" for your mental health. Yet more recent studies in the US indicate exactly the opposite.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34315817/ (2021)

Re: Why are Texas interchanges so tall?

#152

Post by actionfromafar »

DidYaWipe wrote: post #143
s1artibartfast wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Corrective comments mean nothing specifically in the case where the author has no interest in correcting their behavior in the future. I realize may fall into this case, but it isn't universal. Some people seek to improve their grammar and avoid mistakes. Pointing them out doesn't have to be viewed as an attack. Alternative responses are as simple as "thanks" or "you are correct, of course"

They mean something to readers, though, regardless of whether the author is amenable to taking in the information or not. People learn by reading, so we all benefit by giving them correctly written material to learn from.

People should just fucking read the fucking TFA.

Re: Why are Texas interchanges so tall?

#153

Post by bamboozled »

yossi_peti wrote: post #112
pc86 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure what you think the alternative is. The US is huge compared to any similarly developed country. Is the answer huge cities right next to thousands of square miles of untouched nature? That hasn't happened in any society on the planet. It sounds like you just want everyone to live in a city and take public transit everywhere but cities are awful for your mental health[0] and most people in the US do not wan…

If people want to live in rural areas, that's fine by me. They don't particularly contribute to the problems with car-centric infrastructure in the US. The main complaints are how most cities in the US are designed in ways that are hostile to anybody who doesn't have a car, such as: - making it difficult to get around safely by bike - zoning restrictions that force development to be clumped in certain areas - underde…

Japan is awesome like this, they have amazing highways and rail. Tokyo in my option is a bit too car friendly but it’s still very walkable and rideable.

Re: Why are Texas interchanges so tall?

#154

Post by fuzztester »

hoten wrote: post #138
nabla9 wrote: post #26

First time I visited the US it was Houston, Texas. My host was perplexed because I laughed out loud while we were driving. Experiencing highways and those massive gas stations felt like someone had made a state that mocked America by taking prejudices we have about the American traffic and making them 200% larger in real life. My mind was blown.

Houston native here. I still guffaw when I see a massively lifted truck (but with a pristine bed, no scratches - so not even a work truck). Everything's bigger in Texas, including egos.

[flagged]

Re: Why are Texas interchanges so tall?

#155

Post by xyst »

jcfrei wrote: post #130
consp wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Poor people should not have to buy a car as it is a massive drain on finances to keep it running. There are better solutions

Theoretically yes but a lot would need to change for that to happen in the US. In reality having a car and traveling lots of miles every day is the cheapest variant for most people.

> In reality having a car and traveling lots of miles every day is the cheapest variant for most people.

Realistically, it's the _only_ way to get around the US.

Re: Why are Texas interchanges so tall?

#156

Post by actionfromafar »

lukevp wrote: post #140
mrguyorama wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Still, to this layman it seems like a colossal engineering cost to build all those bridges and ramps for relatively modest gain. IMO, maybe Texas does this because Texas gets a lot more taxes than they talk about (through high property taxes), and don't really want to spend them on anything else (like socialism!), so instead they build 10 lane highway systems for the billion cars and trucks every american should own…

I think this is spot on, but also keep in mind that Texas is a state built for cars, not people. There are very few places where you can safely live and get around to the things you need, and the state is so big that it’s all very high speed highways. I was just there driving from DFW to Austin and it’s 75mph, and then drove to El Paso where it’s 80 mph most of the way. The scale of highways in TX is unmatched anywhe…

Socialism, but for cars.

Re: Why are Texas interchanges so tall?

#157

Post by s1artibartfast »

h_tbob wrote: post #76

As somebody who lived in Dallas and drove on the high five with some frequency, I had actually a lot of questions about the design of it. If somebody who understands this could explain I’d be happy. For one, a lot of the overpasses had two lanes. But then they merged down to one right before you got on the highway… What’s the point in having two lanes on the overpass that merge just before you get onto the highway? T…

I haven't seen the road in question, but I wonder if it has to do with expected travel speed. Two lanes at low speed converting to one at higher speed. Of course following distance impacts this, but isn't actually 1:1 with speed

Re: Why are Texas interchanges so tall?

#158

Post by fuzztester »

psunavy03 wrote: post #144
hoten wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Houston native here. I still guffaw when I see a massively lifted truck (but with a pristine bed, no scratches - so not even a work truck). Everything's bigger in Texas, including egos.

The best analogy I've heard for explaining Texas to non-Americans is that Americans view Texans the same way the rest of the world views Americans.

>Americans view Texans the same way the rest of the world views Americans.

Reversing some of the substrings in that string would also result in a very good analogy.

Re: Why are Texas interchanges so tall?

#159

Post by mcbutterbunz »

DidYaWipe wrote: post #139

"the worst symbol of our car-obsessed culture" Nothing against the article, which covers an interesting topic. But this refrain gets tiresome, the railing against our "car obsession." We have a big-ass country. We like to move about it. Many of us don't want or need to live on top of each other. That is all.

I'd just love some zoning changes that would allow light commercial in the middle of some neighborhoods so I don't have to drive miles to get a cup of coffee. Could be as simple as adding more pathways between neighborhoods so I don't have to ride my bike on a busy street and almost get hit by someone on their phone.

Its not that we're obsessed with cars, its that cars are the only option for reasonable, safe transportation right now.

Re: Why are Texas interchanges so tall?

#160

Post by deegles »

hoten wrote: post #138
nabla9 wrote: post #26

First time I visited the US it was Houston, Texas. My host was perplexed because I laughed out loud while we were driving. Experiencing highways and those massive gas stations felt like someone had made a state that mocked America by taking prejudices we have about the American traffic and making them 200% larger in real life. My mind was blown.

Houston native here. I still guffaw when I see a massively lifted truck (but with a pristine bed, no scratches - so not even a work truck). Everything's bigger in Texas, including egos.

Texas is the America of America.
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