This is a fairly recent view of the Lyndon B Johnson Fwy in Dallas, TX. Here I’m looking east on top of the pedestrian bridge that spans from the corner of Morningstar Ln and Templeton Trl in Farmers Branch, to High Meadow Dr and Cromwell Dr in Dallas.
This was once a much more quiet, eight-lane highway at surface level. The addition of the underground TEXPress lanes result in road and engine noise bouncing off the concrete walls and permeating through the nearby air.
The improvement in auto transit does not make for an improvement as a neighbor. In fact, it does not make for a good neighbor at all. Before this portion of the highway was reconstructed, my half-a-mile-away backyard was mostly a peaceful place, shaded by large trees and largely free from the constant hum of rubber on pavement. Sure, we could hear the highway if we paid attention, but it wasn’t the overbearing wall of noise that now exists.
From the LBJ TEXPress Website:
By employing new tolled TEXpress Lanes we offer drivers a choice in their daily commutes. And by introducing variable fluctuating pricing based on traffic demand, the LBJ Express enables drivers to maintain a more predictable rate of speed. The idea is CHOICE! You have safer, reconstructed general highway lanes, fully-optimized frontage roads, and new and reliable TEXpress Lanes that offer you a convenient trip from one end of the project to the other.
Speaking of CHOICE! What about public transit? What about cycling and pedestrian infrastructure? I635 seems like a perfect place to connect east and west train routes. I’d love to see TxDOT put forth some concerted effort into improving transit as a whole instead of focusing solely on private automobile transit.
I also wonder how green, living walls might reduce noise pollution? And how they might help improve air pollution? Can a certain portion of tolls be directed to making the highway infrastructure a better neighbor to the nearby people and businesses?
