I-35 Construction?

[texman]

If anyone has driven I35 lately, I'm sure you've noticed the excessive amount of construction from Dallas to Austin. I drove it this weekend and the traffic was a nightmare, especially when they knocked it down to one lane. Is all this from the recently passed highway bill Bush signed last year? Whats up with this?

[Tnekster]

I was reading an article put out by TxDOT last week. It is a continuation of the planned expansion of I-35 to three lanes between Austin and Dallas.

[eirin]

That sounds good. Maybe if we have three lane freeways between cities in Texas, we can get the trucks out of the left lane. They drive me crazy...

[RobertB]

That sounds good. Maybe if we have three lane freeways between cities in Texas, we can get the trucks out of the left lane. They drive me crazy...
Maybe you can explain to me what the big deal is about trucks in the left lane. I have never had any problems with trucks or with the truckers. In fact, I find them to be the best drivers on the road. Which you would expect, of course, since it's their job. But for some reason, they get no respect -- forced out of the left lane, given a reduced speed limit even though they're safer by far than the 4-wheel bozos who get to go faster.

Why all the hate for the truckin' man (and woman)? Are people still upset about the CB Radio craze or something?

By the time we made it to Tulsa town we had 85 trucks in all
But they's a roadblock up on the cloverleaf and them bears was wall to wall
There was smokies thick as bugs on a bumper - they even had a bear in the air
"Calling all trucks," I says, "here's the Duck, we're about to go a huntin' Bear"
'Cause we got a great big convoy, rockin through the night...

[rantanamo]

Maybe you can explain to me what the big deal is about trucks in the left lane. I have never had any problems with trucks or with the truckers. In fact, I find them to be the best drivers on the road. Which you would expect, of course, since it's their job. But for some reason, they get no respect -- forced out of the left lane, given a reduced speed limit even though they're safer by far than the 4-wheel bozos who get to go faster.

Why all the hate for the truckin' man (and woman)? Are people still upset about the CB Radio craze or something?

By the time we made it to Tulsa town we had 85 trucks in all
But they's a roadblock up on the cloverleaf and them bears was wall to wall
There was smokies thick as bugs on a bumper - they even had a bear in the air
"Calling all trucks," I says, "here's the Duck, we're about to go a huntin' Bear"
'Cause we got a great big convoy, rockin through the night...

They often forget the size of what they drive and change lanes like they're in a Ferrari. They often forget than when they maek car-like movement, they're moving a lot of air and cause lots of turbulence for other drivers. A trucker once blew me off the road while passing me like his rig was a corvette. The gush of wind pushed me sideways into the grass.

[3rd time the charm]

Didnt myth busters do a show about being blown off the road by an 18wheeler and found it as a myth?

[RobertB]

Didnt myth busters do a show about being blown off the road by an 18wheeler and found it as a myth?
Well, I keep hearing that MythBusters leans a bit too much towards the "blow stuff up" good-for-TV stuff. Though it's not as bad as a UK show called Braniac, which got in trouble (among those who care) for faking a cesium-water explosion (http://www.badscience.net/?p=262). In theory, cesium should be even more reactive than sodium (have you read about the Apocalypse on Lake Texoma (http://www.theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/Stories/011.2/BobE.html)?), but in reality, it's not (bigger atom = fewer atoms per gram = less H2 release). That wasn't good enough for Braniac, so they blew up a bathtub using more conventional means and blamed it on the cesium.

Er, back to trucks. :) Even in small cars, I haven't had a problem with being blown away. On the other hand, I'm always watching very carefully for the truckers, because I want to make their job easier, so I'm probably more ready for the wind gust than the average driver.

As for Ferrari-like lane changes... more than likely, the trucker had to change lanes to avoid running into the back end of some idiot in a four-wheeler that darted in front of him. Throwing the contents of the trailer around is NOT a financially rewarding activity.

I guess most people want to be able to drive like idiots. In a world of four-wheeled vehicles, I guess it works out. But you can't drive like a brainless fool around an 18-wheeler. So I guess that's the trucker's fault. :(

[3rd time the charm]

I ride a motorcycle and have never been blown off the road, if a 500 lb bike plus a 170 lb driver, if it was not enough to knock me down I doubt a 2000 lb car with a 200 lb driver would have an issue. Now if the 18wheeler made contact... thats a differnt story.

[RobertB]

I ride a motorcycle and have never been blown off the road, if a 500 lb bike plus a 170 lb driver, if it was not enough to knock me down I doubt a 2000 lb car with a 200 lb driver would have an issue. Now if the 18wheeler made contact... thats a differnt story.
As a motorcyclist, you're second only to the truckers in the level of disrespect from the four-wheelers. In fact, you may be #1.

I'd love to ride for weeks on one tiny tankful of gas. But when that tank is right between my legs, which are exposed to the bumpers and wheels of the Hummer next to me... I don't think I could maintain my composure well enough to even keep my balance on a motorcycle on a Dallas highway.

[VectorWega]

A trucker once blew me off the road while passing me like his rig was a corvette. The gush of wind pushed me sideways into the grass.

The gush of wind was in your head..it's called FEAR. Step aside when the big dawg drives by.

[rantanamo]

Didnt myth busters do a show about being blown off the road by an 18wheeler and found it as a myth?

I'm guessing they somehow proved that wind turbulence is imaginary and that race drivers who go into the wall due to turbulence from the front guy's wing should just get over their active imaginations? I'm guessing they assumed every driver would choose the correct steering correction 100% of the time? It would only take being any distance for a tire to hit a hole or rock or simply become oriented wrong with the direction of the moving mass to move it off the road.

[RobertB]

I'm guessing they somehow proved that wind turbulence is imaginary and that race drivers who go into the wall due to turbulence from the front guy's wing should just get over their active imaginations? I'm guessing they assumed every driver would choose the correct steering correction 100% of the time? It would only take being any distance for a tire to hit a hole or rock or simply become oriented wrong with the direction of the moving mass to move it off the road.
I don't think likening the drive to Austin to a trip around the track at Texas Motor Speedway is valid. When you're going over 100mph, you're pushing the envelope, and any deviation in the local environment can have disastrous consequences. That's why folks who disparage NASCAR & co need to think again.

If you're going 100mph on I-35 to Austin, you've got other issues that need to be addressed. Like how you're going to outrun the Highway Patrol and/or get out of jail.

It's very easy to let your mind wander while driving, and the little bump from the wind of a truck rolling by could indeed cause an overreaction that could have you leaving the pavement. The thing is, none of that is the trucker's fault, and could just as easily happen with wind gusts ahead of a thunderstorm. I'd be more worried about the bozo in his Hummer -- he didn't have to qualify for a CDL.


Important note: My use of "you" and "your" should be interpreted in the generic sense -- certainly not referencing rantanamo in particular! He's already shown a better understanding of his driving environment than most, just by discussing the issues.

[rantanamo]

Truckers know the speed differential that causes the most and least wind shear/turbulence from their vehicles. They also know the passing distance needed to minimize the effect. Do they? No. Causing a driver to make a correction is always dangerous to both vehicles. Perhaps I'm just an idiot.

And NASCAR is not valid, because their aero is specifically designed to reduce turbulent effects, allowing them to race close to each other. Much easier to make corrections in them compared to an open wheel car with irregular steering surfaces all over the car. Open wheelers also give off much more turbulence, which is why you more often see them sail into the marbles just off of air alone, where a Cup car has to usually be bumped out of the way. Passenger cars are more akin to an open wheel car because we have lots of open surfaces because you can't seal a passenger car as much. Cup cars are very closed and have fewer surfaces. Thats why many don't like the CoT. It has presented a lot more surfaces and is more turbulent to follow. Think about it. An open wheel car has to design even its undertray to be aerodynamic. A cup car can pretty much eliminate air going under them. Your passenger car is like that open wheel car.

[tamtagon]

So, when is I-35 planned to have three lanes all the way between Dallas and Austin?

There's a lot I like about the concept of building a cargo tollway from Laredo to Texhoma, primarily because of the near-complete separation of cargo and passenger traffic. The think passenger train service linking destinations between Monterray and Dallas would be underwritten by a cargo tollway -- that the train stations would in downtown locations which become dramatically more convenient to people driving along I-35. But, I dont think I could ever really support 100% a new cargo tollway parallel to I-35 without Legislative action to designate Rural & Wilderness boundaries flanking the I-35/Cargo Tollway corridor.

Anyway, when's I-35 getting opened up?

[ajmstilt]

I've been blown off the highway by a passing semi while on my old Goldwing. ('76 GL1000)

alot has to do with the aerodynamics of the vehicle and the speed of the vehicle. When I got blown off I was doing about 85, and the semi had to have been doing 95+ I think had the semi been doing 70 and I was doing 65 I'd of been fine. (had I been on my kawasaki (750 turbo) I'd of prolly been ok to since it had much more aerodynaimc farings)