Tag Archives: traffic

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Signs portend driving misery

Driving south along Beauchamp Boulevard in Princeton, Texas, a day or so ago, a couple of orange signs jumped out at me as I entered the intersection with US Highway 380.

One sign had an arrow pointing west along 380 that said, “Road Work 2 miles.” The other sign had an arrow pointed east on 380 that said, “Road Work 6 miles.”

That’s when it hit me. The fun I have known would come to those of us who live in the nation’s fastest-growing city is about to commence. Actually, it won’t be fun. It’s going to be a headache, more than likely.

The Texas Department of Transportation is going to widen 380 from four lanes to six lanes. However, to do that I was told by a former Princeton city manager that TxDOT had to narrow the right-of-way from four lanes to two lanes … one lane in each direction. Thus, the “fun” begins for anyone needing to get anywhere along 380.

All of this appears to be the prelim to work on a freeway bypass around Princeton that TxDOT has been pondering since before my bride and I moved here six years ago.

This is the price of progress. I am able to pay it. Not with any great enthusiasm. But I’ll get through it. The alternative? There isn’t any!

To which I only could mutter: Aaaack!

This is one of the costs I am paying by living in a community that is undergoing a growth explosion. It’s no “spurt.” Or any other term that suggests a smallish growth pattern.

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Traffic class has begun

I have just taken a master class designed to acquaint motorists such as me with what to expect in the Metroplex for the foreseeable future … and beyond.

It is a class in patience associated with coping with highway construction.

I’ve known this class was on the books and that the hundreds of thousands of us who drive through the Dallas/Fort Worth area each day are aware of what we can expect. We’re going to experience gridlock made famous in places like Los Angeles and New York City. I’ll throw in some foreign cities with which I am acquainted. Traffic flow in places like Athens, Bangkok, Taipei and Mexico City is nothing to dismiss, either.

I saw construction sites with utilities — water drainage pipes — piled along the thoroughfares such as Texas Highway 5 and U.S. Highway 380 through Princeton. Motorists traveling past these construction sites are using good judgment and adhering to warnings that they would be fined extra if they sped through them. Following state police warnings, though, slows the traffic to a near crawl.

I drove to Addison to have lunch with a friend. We parted company just ahead of rush hour. My GPS said it would take me about 45 minutes to get home. It took well more than an hour! Yes, I grumbled and cursed when I approached Allen and Princeton, where I started noticing the utilities strewn along the roadway.

I had to remind myself that this is a temporary condition. State highway planners hope to relieve traffic along US 380 by building those freeway bypasses around Princeton, Farmersville, McKinney and other cities.

However, and this is a big deal … I am 75 years of age and I might not be around when it’s all done. So, I shall pray for continued good health and my ability to operate a motor vehicle. I want to see them pick up those ubiquitous orange construction cones for the final time.

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Time is no one’s friend

I have surrendered to the reality that time marches on relentlessly and that I likely will not be around long enough to see a major highway project planned by the Texas transportation department come to its fruition.

If only …

Those of us who live along US Highway 380 gnash our teeth and grumble — sometimes quite loudly — over the traffic (non)flow along the highway at certain times of the day.

It’s impossible. It’s maddening. It’s annoying in the extreme.

The Texas Department of Transportation has a big-league plan ostensibly to solve this problem. It plans to build a series of freeway “loops” around several cities that sit astride US 380. Princeton, where I live, is one of them.

What might stand in the way of TxDOT finishing this project before the end of time? It might be the stubborn resistance of property owners who will have their land claimed under the right of eminent domain. The Constitution’s Fifth Amendment — which has more to say than protecting Americans from self-incrimination –also says that citizens deserve “just compensation” if the government seizes their property.

The state will have to claim a lot of private property if it intends to build those loops.

Too damn often these days, I get caught in the middle of a serious traffic jam, either westbound in the morning or eastbound in the early evening. My late wife used to wonder: Where are all these people going? All I know, I would say, is that they’re all here right now.

The freeway loops are designed to allow through-traffic to venture off of US 380, saving the existing highway for local traffic.

I’ll admit to having high hopes of living long enough to see this project completed. Those hopes now are all but dashed. State traffic planners keep yammering about transferring project money elsewhere … and we have that eminent domain issue lingering over us.

Meanwhile, I’ll just keep gnashing my teeth waiting for the stopped traffic to get moving … anywhere!

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A small pleasure, but still …

Having my wife home after a three-week hospital stint has taught me to appreciate the little things I often take for granted.

One of them is not having to run around in heavy traffic to and from our house in Princeton and the hospital in McKinney.

If you know a thing about traffic in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, you’ll understand that it can be frustrating (to say the very least), especially if you need to be somewhere quickly.

I did discover a couple of alternate routes between the house and the hospital. They are relatively traffic free, but I still needed to navigate my way through rural areas with which I was unfamiliar … until now!

That particular daily routine is a thing of the past. I am pleased to declare that I intend to stick around the house as much as I humanly can while tending to my bride’s needs.

The little things … there’s nothing like ’em.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

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Smooth drive into downtown Dallas

I made a trek Tuesday morning from my home in Collin County to downtown Dallas.

Along the way I was struck by a couple of thoughts.

One was that, “Dang, it’s nice to drive along the Central Expressway during morning rush hour and not have to slow down.” Previous trips along U.S. 75 from Princeton to the heart of Big D would last as long as 90 minutes; the trip includes plenty of serious slowdowns and occasional traffic stoppages. I made this particular trek in less than an hour.

OK, I get that it was just the second workday between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, which means a lot of traffic was, shall we say, elsewhere. School is out. Kids are with Grandma and Grandpa, along with their parents.

The second thought was whether it is a precursor for what might lie ahead if businesses have to shut down — again! — in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We’re in the midst of another spike in infections from the Omicron variant. The first business shutdown in early 2021 was no picnic for businesses that had to close their doors and keep employees at home. It was a picnic, though, for those who had to travel through the Metroplex during that time.

Our highway network often is choked with traffic during rush hours — morning and evening. I relished the drive this week. I don’t expect to relish it very much in the future.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com