Office space is spreading out, so traffic will too

[Slick Vik]

 

If office space in the Houston suburbs happens at two times the pace of already clogged areas, we’re not really reducing anything in terms of traffic. We’re just moving it somewhere else. Maybe those roads have the capacity. But probably they don’t. Freeways are already gummed up in pretty much every major area of the Houston region.

 

When the Sam Houston Tollway becomes as hectic as Loop 610 and the Grand Parkway becomes the new Sam Houston, is that an improvement? Maybe then, we won’t be talking about how people avoid downtown and The Galleria. We might be talking about people avoiding downtown, The Galleria, The Woodlands, Sugar Land, Pearland, Katy and maybe some other places.

 

http://blog.chron.com/thehighwayman/2013/11/office-space-is-spreading-out-so-traffic-will-too/

 

[jgriff]

People don't avoid high traffic areas. If they did they wouldn't be high traffic.

[mkultra25]

People don't avoid high traffic areas. If they did they wouldn't be high traffic.

 

Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.

[lockmat]

If all new office space was going one place, like downtown, traffic going there would be much worse than it is now. I would think office space built everywhere does disperse it. However, if it was all built in one place, it would probably justify better mass transit.

[Sellanious Caesar]

The problem is that it would make sense if Houston was a small town like Oklahoma City or San Antonio. But Houston is a huge city with tens of millions of office space in several business districts with almost all either building millions more or high occupancy multifamily.

Meaning the freeways, highways, and ESPECIALLY surface streets along major intersections will be riddled with traffic at all hours of the day. I think this is great though! It will push Houstonians into desperation to push for immediate alternatives in transit and infrastructure. They'll collectively push for a regional transit plan with comprehensive blueprint.

[kdog08]

If all new office space was going one place, like downtown, traffic going there would be much worse than it is now. I would think office space built everywhere does disperse it. However, if it was all built in one place, it would probably justify better mass transit.

 

We need to stop thinking of DT as the single core, but DT, Uptown, TMC, and Greenway Plaza as the core. I'm sure spread out office space does disperse traffic, but it's only temporary as this metro had added a million plus people per decade for 3 straight decades. Dispersing traffic only makes it more expensive once it catches up with us. 

[brian0123]

We need to stop thinking of DT as the single core, but DT, Uptown, TMC, and Greenway Plaza as the core. I'm sure spread out office space does disperse traffic, but it's only temporary as this metro had added a million plus people per decade for 3 straight decades. Dispersing traffic only makes it more expensive once it catches up with us. 

 

Couldn't agree more. We can't control what office parks popup where in this town, but we can focus on (and promote) the areas that are most suitable to handle more, dense loads in the future. If Exxon wants their workers to suffer 10 years from now in gridlock... so be it. It's better for the city to focus on "the core" and connect those areas like they are trying to do.

 

Plus, the burbs are fickle as people move on to the next "new place" and trying to accomodate them will be an ever changing target. The city isn't going anywhere so it's best and cheaper to focus resources in denser areas that will be here 100 years from now.

[LTAWACS]

If all new office space was going one place, like downtown, traffic going there would be much worse than it is now. I would think office space built everywhere does disperse it. However, if it was all built in one place, it would probably justify better mass transit.

Exactomundo.