The harsh realities of the new FM2499
I'm still impatiently waiting for the 99%-completed stretches of FM2499 to be opened. They promised late May. I know it's rained a ton around here, but the only work that has to be done (by my estimation) south of FM3040 is the leveling of the grass in some of the medians. And how would rain stop that from taking place? All the concrete is poured, as are all the fancy brick work in some of the medians.
The new road will help move traffic a lot faster, so hopefully we'll have fewer backups at the key intersections (namely FM3040 and FM1171). But there's a price to pay.
- Driving northbound, no more left turns into the Kroger shopping center. Same coming southbound -- no more turning left to go to Celebrity Bakery. You'll have to turn early and snake through the parking lots, or U-Turn at 1171 or Churchill.
- Where you can cross FM2499 (for instance, at Northshore Blvd.), you'll have to be able to cross both sides of traffic at the same moment. There won't be enough room in between the two sides of FM2499 to idle in the median safe-zone. I can't see how we'll ever cross FM2499, coming out of Northshore.
How will the FM2499 change things for you, for worse or for better?
Labels: FM2499
posted by Chip Mahaney @ 4:49 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
If there is enough room to make a left turn lane, then isn't there enough room going half way across FM2499 from Northshore?
Also, snaking through one shopping center to get to the next joined one is a small price to pay for safety. I know the businesses might complain a bit, but I can't count the times I've come out of Kohls or Sprouts, taken the back way behind the compass bank to churchill and used that new light to go across FM2499 instead of trying to turn left onto FM1171 to get across FM2499 during a busy day.
We come out to 2499 down at Surrey and we don't see any way we'll be able to safely sit in the middle for a left, either. It is so rare to be able to go all the way across in one shot as it is. I'm dreading that, but I will say the lights to the north and south of Surrey do give us a break now and then. We can go to the light at Aberdeen - during rush hour that light changes quickly but any other time of day there is a loooooong wait.
I hate to see a bunch of new lights on 2499, but if there begins to be an increase in accidents they probably will have to do it.
I was considering asking someone at the Town about all this - how will we safely make lefts on to northbound 2499 now?
And I didn't realize they were permanently removing the left into Kroger. Bummer. I am glad they are doing a turn to get into the Chili's shopping center at 2499/3040 at least. It is a PAIN to go there right now because I can't (legally) make a u-turn at 3040. (Shhhh, I've done it a couple of times, don't tell!)
At a homeowner's meeting, I was told that it's illegal to idle in the median anyway. You could get a ticket. I agree that it'll be harder to cross FM 2499 with two extra lanes of traffic to cross.
Turns at Northshore and 2499 were already unsafe. Many of us east of 2499 and south of 3040 are now using 3040 and Gerrault for southbound travel. When we have to use 2499 southbound, we should probably use the left turn lanes of 3040. It's very easy for us to enter 3040, even at rush hour.
For southbound 2499 traffic, turning east onto 3040 has been difficult. It always seems to be backed up. I think that's why so many drive on to Northshore to turn east. Are there going to be two left turn lanes from 2499 onto 3040? That's really what is needed there to eliminate southbound 2499 to eastbound Northshore turns.
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