Driving in South Austin is sometimes a big pain. We were going somewhere on Sunday and driving back on I35N to get to 290 West/Ben White to get to 360 to get home. There is a ramp from 35 to 290 West but it does not connect, so instead we have to wait through two lights (one at 290/35 and the other one at 290 and Congress). I can’t imagine how long it takes to traverse these two lights during rush hour traffic in the morning. There is a similar issue at Mopac and 290 that I am not sure will ever get solved.
I bring this up because on Saturday we were driving to IKEA in Round Rock and took Toll Road 45 to get there. On the way back we got off 45 and saw that the toll road wanted to keep going. I assumed (wrongly) that 45 would go alongside or merge with 620 and be a freeway for a little longer. So I searched up the web and found this interesting article. I also emailed Ben Wear of the Austin American Statesman and he told me that the article still holds true. The Toll Road authority did not ever negotiate to get the land to make 45 stop at Anderson Mill. The reason it could/did not is because of the number of business/homes that would have to be demolished for the road to have right of way. Cedar Park did not like this as a substantial part of their tax base was on the north side of 620 and it would lose tax revenue on this deal.
Another question to the readers is, Has their ever been a traffic jam on Toll Road 45. I find it hard to imagine. I do drive it only on weekends, but I hardly see any cars on the road. We use it often as its a quick shortcut to North Austin to visit friends where we used to live. I imagine a lot of the “Dellites” in Steiner Ranch use 45 to get to work, but wonder who else.
Another note/thing we saw that I think is crazy is the number of Chase Banks in Austin. There is one inside both HEB’s on 620. There is a freestanding Chase Bank outside the HEB at 620 and Anderson Mill. There is another Chase Bank near the Walmart on 620. The latest one I see now is the one almost finished at 2222 and Jester at the new Ladera Bend. Wow 5 Chase Banks in a small area… do we really need that many?
8 responses so far ↓
1 Anonymous // Mar 18, 2008 at 3:28 pm
My husband and I were wondering how in the world can so many banks in the same location stay in business
2 anon // Mar 18, 2008 at 4:39 pm
My husband and I wonder the same thing (about the number of banks), especially since Austin Telco offers better service and rates.
3 Nicole // Mar 19, 2008 at 7:44 am
FYI- toll 45 can take you all the way to the airport. I take during heavy traffic times. The toll road is empty and you can travel comfortable the whole wayand no stop lights. It takes about 50 minutes.
4 Anonymous // Mar 19, 2008 at 10:45 am
I travel to north Houston about once a month and usually take 183 to 290E. There are quite a few lights, so I was wondering if the 45 toll drops you off on 290 going that way? Or if its best to just stick with my regular route…
5 Anonymous // Mar 20, 2008 at 10:50 am
Yes 45 does drop you off at 290. However if you exit Parmer and then take a left, it takes you to 290 a little faster. When I go to Houston, that is the only way I will go.
6 Jen // Mar 21, 2008 at 11:15 pm
I took 45/Tx-130 to the airport yesterday and I swear, there were only about 10 cars seen the entire time!
What’s with the Chase banks? I noticed the new one at Jester too, where all the beautiful trees are being torn down for condos.
7 Anonymous // Mar 22, 2008 at 5:21 pm
So does one just take 45 toll going east to the airport? We just moved here and stll are getting aquainted with the area. Which exit do you take??
8 Dellite // Mar 23, 2008 at 11:52 am
I am a Dellite and my wife and I use the tollway to go to the airport as well.
The tollway never backs up in the morning heading to Round Rock; though the streets leading up to the toll road are heavily congested as we all know. Coming home on the toll road is a little different story, the one lane exit onto 620 at the mall can send a single file line back to where the 183a ramp splits off, but wait times are still manageable.
I don’t think the toll road would need to be extended to Anderson to resolve the traffic problems on 620, if we could some how have better more creative entrance / exit areas onto 620.
As for going to the airport; if it’s a quit weekend we take the 2222/360/290-71 to the airport, but if it’s a busy day then the toll way around is VERY nice (about 45 mins).
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