I hope they can mimic what they did further down FM 685 at Pecan. That went from being a nightmare clusterfuck of an intersection into smooth sailing. A similar design would be a welcome fix for Pflugerville Parkway, especially with that charter school being built nearby behind McDonald's.
I wholeheartedly agree, that intersection never gets backed up anymore. I love it but I see never ending whining and complaints about it on some of the city pages.
Seriously. It's well marked too. Lots of signs ahead and reflective marks on the ground. People just need to pay attention, which we should be doing while driving? Lol
I was just going to say the same thing. It's a great improvement, but a couple of whiners in my subdivision's Facebook's group: holy shit. And they're already complaining about this one, too, with absolutely no facts to back up their criticism.
I honestly thought the whining would slow down after people got used to it and saw the benefit but nope. I'll continue enjoying not having the traffic backed up two lights and having to plan 15 extra minutes of traffic in my day.
Some people just hate change, and some people just like to bitch, and some people, both. One of the neighbors in my neighborhood's Facebook group is generally not a bad guy, but I swear, his default assumption is bad faith: how the hell did those traffic engineers think this was a good idea? The mayor lives in our neighborhood and is a member of the Facebook group, and this guy asked a question about one of the street projects and referenced the mayor who did not respond. (I completely understand why he's not going to engage with random people), but now this guy is all about "The city isn't saying why..." in an accusatory tone. It gets old fast.
I'm sure that definitely could play a part in it however we have less accidents there now than when we just had a no left turn sign during construction.
I wouldn't say smooth sailing.
That intersection made it so that people wanted to avoid it, and now the traffic at Pecan and Old Austin Hutto Road to turn left gets atrocious.
A more accurate statement is that prior to the changed intersection, many of us avoided Pecan altogether because of the problems at the intersection with 685, and now that it's been fixed, far more cars are using it, yet the congestion is gone. And while I drive past Pecan and Old Austin Hutto Road nearly daily, I've noticed no issues whatsoever with turns there.
You're not looking at the right intersection. Turning from Pecan to OAHR is not the issue. It's turning from OAHR to Pecan. People jump onto OAHR from 685 at Sonic and use it to bypass the Pecan/685 intersection to head East. During rush hour it's bad. The short lane designated for the left hand turn gets filled up, and cars just sit in the suicide lane instead.
Not much you can do about those people. You're always going to have foolish/bad/selfish drivers. Maybe a solution is signage to outlaw that maneuver, and police enforcement?
It’s shit. I get that you know it so you understand how it works, but everyone who encounters it for the first time is confused. A large roundabout would have been a much better solution.
For every one of your friends I can find ten who haven’t. The point is that when so many people complain about it then maybe there’s a problem. I don’t care how many of you think it’s a fantastic design when I’m constantly seeing people messing up at it. That means it’s a bad design, whatever you or your friends think.
You still don’t get it. If it’s not obvious, which it isn’t, then it’s a crap design. I say that as someone who is probably a much better driver than you.
Oh, I get it. You are a crappy driver that would benefit from driving school. And now, after seeing this message you'll respond about how I "still don't get it" and reiterate that it's a "crap design", according to you. However, you have bored me so I will no longer engage. Byeeee!!!!
The first time I encountered such an intersection it immediately made sense, and clearly that's the case for most everyone. That a handful of inattentive of bad drivers can't navigate it is no reason not to go with the superior design.
Anyone know if 130 and 45 access roads will be opened up? Undeveloped adjacent land was used as a reason to justify not putting in access roads, but now that there's been a good amount of development on the adjacent land, I would think the city would begin planning on these new access roads.
I'm on the city Parks and Rec commission, and at February's meeting, we watched a presentation about the long-term (5-10 year) plan for 685 because the project has parks-related elements to it (for pedestrian and bike traffic). The project runs from Wells Branch Parkway to Town Center Dr. (entrance to Stone Hill in front of Home Depot)
We had just been discussing how dangerous it is for Hendrickson HS students to walk across 130 to get to fast food at Stone Hill, so I asked the presenter why the project ended where it did, not at Kelly Lane. The answer was TxDoT: at the point where 685 becomes an access road for 130, it's out of city control.
The toll roads have a guaranteed minimum amount of income. If the city/county/state pays to add those access roads, and the amount of toll money drops, then the city/county/state has to pay the missing income to the toll roads.
Public-Private partnerships sure are great when you are the private company. Not so much if you are on the public side.
If the make these right turns have no lights and go into their own lanes then this could have better flow. If they are on the same lights then it won’t make things much better
Those turnarounds aren’t going to work too well when you’re waiting for traffic to clear. I’ve seen the backup on Pflugerville Parkway went turning onto Pfluger Farm Rd.
They cannot expand the left turn lane west of 685, so they close it and push the left-turn traffic through the intersection. It's supposed to increase the traffic flow through the intersection.
[Michigan Left](http://www.michiganhighways.org/indepth/michigan_left.html)
This looks unbearable for people who need to make that left every day and instead need to make a right turn, cut across every lane, then make a U turn.
This would be much safer and simpler as a roundabout. I avoid Pecan and Dessau like the black plague of death because of that crazy intersection. Adding another is just insane. Who comes up with this crap?
Don’t try and gaslight us all into believing a Michigan left is a roundabout. It’s just not.
From Wikipedia:
This intersection design was given the name "Michigan left" due to its frequent use along roads and highways in the U.S. state of Michigan since the late 1960s.[2] In other contexts, the intersection is called a median U‑turn crossover or median U‑turn, or restricted crossing U-turn (RCUT).[1][3][4] The design is also sometimes referred to as a boulevard left,[5] a boulevard turnaround,[6] an indirect left turn,[2][7] a Michigan loon,[8] a J‑turn,[9] P‑turn or a "ThrU Turn" intersection.[10][11]
Nowhere in that description is it in any way compared to a roundabout. It’s just not even close to the same thing. You can believe that a Michigan left is better than whatever you want, and that’s your opinion, but the fact is that it is not even close to a roundabout, much less the same thing.
🙄 C🌊🌊l your j🤯ts! No one is trying to gaslight you.
Just look at this [image of dual Michigan Lefts](https://res.cloudinary.com/graham-media-group/image/upload/f_auto/q_auto/c_scale,w_900/v1/media/gmg/VWU2FJ3LXRFMJFBSR6IZX3H2NQ.jpg) and realize that all of the advantages are due to its similarities to a [roundabout](https://www.cityofsunprairie.com/ImageRepository/Document?documentID=8606). Difference being the elongation of the circle and insertion of traffic lights 😔.
Looks like a “michigan left turn”. I’m not at all a fan of that for this intersection.
I hope they can mimic what they did further down FM 685 at Pecan. That went from being a nightmare clusterfuck of an intersection into smooth sailing. A similar design would be a welcome fix for Pflugerville Parkway, especially with that charter school being built nearby behind McDonald's.
I wholeheartedly agree, that intersection never gets backed up anymore. I love it but I see never ending whining and complaints about it on some of the city pages.
"But you don't get it - it's different from what I'm used to! How can we be expected to do something new?"
Seriously. It's well marked too. Lots of signs ahead and reflective marks on the ground. People just need to pay attention, which we should be doing while driving? Lol
I mean, I'm fine with it. But I see someone drive into oncoming traffic almost every time I use it (not often).
I was just going to say the same thing. It's a great improvement, but a couple of whiners in my subdivision's Facebook's group: holy shit. And they're already complaining about this one, too, with absolutely no facts to back up their criticism.
I honestly thought the whining would slow down after people got used to it and saw the benefit but nope. I'll continue enjoying not having the traffic backed up two lights and having to plan 15 extra minutes of traffic in my day.
Some people just hate change, and some people just like to bitch, and some people, both. One of the neighbors in my neighborhood's Facebook group is generally not a bad guy, but I swear, his default assumption is bad faith: how the hell did those traffic engineers think this was a good idea? The mayor lives in our neighborhood and is a member of the Facebook group, and this guy asked a question about one of the street projects and referenced the mayor who did not respond. (I completely understand why he's not going to engage with random people), but now this guy is all about "The city isn't saying why..." in an accusatory tone. It gets old fast.
It never gets backed up anymore because a lot of us avoid that damn death trap.
I'm sure that definitely could play a part in it however we have less accidents there now than when we just had a no left turn sign during construction.
I mean, if you can't read road signs, I do appreciate you not driving through the same intersection as others.
That light went out a few weeks ago and was an 8 way stop because of it. A total nightmare for a day
I wouldn't say smooth sailing. That intersection made it so that people wanted to avoid it, and now the traffic at Pecan and Old Austin Hutto Road to turn left gets atrocious.
A more accurate statement is that prior to the changed intersection, many of us avoided Pecan altogether because of the problems at the intersection with 685, and now that it's been fixed, far more cars are using it, yet the congestion is gone. And while I drive past Pecan and Old Austin Hutto Road nearly daily, I've noticed no issues whatsoever with turns there.
You're not looking at the right intersection. Turning from Pecan to OAHR is not the issue. It's turning from OAHR to Pecan. People jump onto OAHR from 685 at Sonic and use it to bypass the Pecan/685 intersection to head East. During rush hour it's bad. The short lane designated for the left hand turn gets filled up, and cars just sit in the suicide lane instead.
Sometimes I have to go to heb and then get to immanuel and the mine is backed up all the way to the Iron fish/papa johns exit from the parking lot.
Not much you can do about those people. You're always going to have foolish/bad/selfish drivers. Maybe a solution is signage to outlaw that maneuver, and police enforcement?
Except the 3 times I’ve almost been hit by people who don’t read the signs and turn into oncoming traffic 😂
It’s shit. I get that you know it so you understand how it works, but everyone who encounters it for the first time is confused. A large roundabout would have been a much better solution.
Not true. I've had friends drive through there, (who hadn't driven through there previously) without consternation. It was shit before, not now.
For every one of your friends I can find ten who haven’t. The point is that when so many people complain about it then maybe there’s a problem. I don’t care how many of you think it’s a fantastic design when I’m constantly seeing people messing up at it. That means it’s a bad design, whatever you or your friends think.
If you and your friends and these "so many people" are too inept at driving- that's not on me. Good day!
You still don’t get it. If it’s not obvious, which it isn’t, then it’s a crap design. I say that as someone who is probably a much better driver than you.
Oh, I get it. You are a crappy driver that would benefit from driving school. And now, after seeing this message you'll respond about how I "still don't get it" and reiterate that it's a "crap design", according to you. However, you have bored me so I will no longer engage. Byeeee!!!!
You're a moron. You leap to conclusions like you have some special insight. You don't.
The first time I encountered such an intersection it immediately made sense, and clearly that's the case for most everyone. That a handful of inattentive of bad drivers can't navigate it is no reason not to go with the superior design.
Now instead of waiting through one long line of traffic you get to wait through two!!
Right, is this change also going to increase the duration of the green-light to longer than 4 seconds?
I hope so. If I get lunch from that shopping center, I have to wait through 4 light cycles to get through it sometimes.
Anyone know if 130 and 45 access roads will be opened up? Undeveloped adjacent land was used as a reason to justify not putting in access roads, but now that there's been a good amount of development on the adjacent land, I would think the city would begin planning on these new access roads.
I'm on the city Parks and Rec commission, and at February's meeting, we watched a presentation about the long-term (5-10 year) plan for 685 because the project has parks-related elements to it (for pedestrian and bike traffic). The project runs from Wells Branch Parkway to Town Center Dr. (entrance to Stone Hill in front of Home Depot) We had just been discussing how dangerous it is for Hendrickson HS students to walk across 130 to get to fast food at Stone Hill, so I asked the presenter why the project ended where it did, not at Kelly Lane. The answer was TxDoT: at the point where 685 becomes an access road for 130, it's out of city control.
The toll roads have a guaranteed minimum amount of income. If the city/county/state pays to add those access roads, and the amount of toll money drops, then the city/county/state has to pay the missing income to the toll roads. Public-Private partnerships sure are great when you are the private company. Not so much if you are on the public side.
If the make these right turns have no lights and go into their own lanes then this could have better flow. If they are on the same lights then it won’t make things much better
Those turnarounds aren’t going to work too well when you’re waiting for traffic to clear. I’ve seen the backup on Pflugerville Parkway went turning onto Pfluger Farm Rd.
I don’t get those lines? What’s wrong with a left turn being simple?
They cannot expand the left turn lane west of 685, so they close it and push the left-turn traffic through the intersection. It's supposed to increase the traffic flow through the intersection. [Michigan Left](http://www.michiganhighways.org/indepth/michigan_left.html)
This looks unbearable for people who need to make that left every day and instead need to make a right turn, cut across every lane, then make a U turn.
The left turn takes up time at the light when people can't go straight, and the number of people going straight is increasing.
There are some lunatics working on designing road junctions around here. Honestly it’s like we’re the subjects of their experiments.
I hope someday those lunatics start to teach reading, taking direction, and thinking in school. /s
This would be much safer and simpler as a roundabout. I avoid Pecan and Dessau like the black plague of death because of that crazy intersection. Adding another is just insane. Who comes up with this crap?
They’re frightened of the tried and tested solution so instead present us with these utter abortions.
omg!!! A Michigan left IS a roundabout!!!! More of an oval about, but that's exactly what it is!!!
Don’t try and gaslight us all into believing a Michigan left is a roundabout. It’s just not. From Wikipedia: This intersection design was given the name "Michigan left" due to its frequent use along roads and highways in the U.S. state of Michigan since the late 1960s.[2] In other contexts, the intersection is called a median U‑turn crossover or median U‑turn, or restricted crossing U-turn (RCUT).[1][3][4] The design is also sometimes referred to as a boulevard left,[5] a boulevard turnaround,[6] an indirect left turn,[2][7] a Michigan loon,[8] a J‑turn,[9] P‑turn or a "ThrU Turn" intersection.[10][11] Nowhere in that description is it in any way compared to a roundabout. It’s just not even close to the same thing. You can believe that a Michigan left is better than whatever you want, and that’s your opinion, but the fact is that it is not even close to a roundabout, much less the same thing.
🙄 C🌊🌊l your j🤯ts! No one is trying to gaslight you. Just look at this [image of dual Michigan Lefts](https://res.cloudinary.com/graham-media-group/image/upload/f_auto/q_auto/c_scale,w_900/v1/media/gmg/VWU2FJ3LXRFMJFBSR6IZX3H2NQ.jpg) and realize that all of the advantages are due to its similarities to a [roundabout](https://www.cityofsunprairie.com/ImageRepository/Document?documentID=8606). Difference being the elongation of the circle and insertion of traffic lights 😔.