SH 288 Express Lanes Stated Preference Survey Report
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. SH 288 Express Lanes Stated Preference Survey Report Appendix D: Survey Comments November 2012 DATA ANALYSIS SOLUTIONS Before clicking the “End Survey” button on the last page of the survey, respondents had the opportunity to leave open‐ended comments. These unedited comments about the project and the survey itself are included in this appendix. A total of 556 comments were submitted. 1.0 OPEN ENDED COMMENTS . Study on commuter rail along coridor could help relieve congestion as well as reduce the regions carbon footprint more effectively than expanding roads. I am strongly opposed to paying tolls for what should be a public road. I would be in favor of raising taxes as an alternative to toll roads. Widen 288! Use common sense. Tolls can cause gridlock too! . Will this new toll road be like beltway 8 where we have paid for it 3 times and more. Thank you for at least starting to address this need. I have lived in Pearland for 30 years an I am considering moving because of the traffic and congestion. No plan will not be an option, and just acknowledging that there is a problem and saying oh well is not an option. make bridges to get on beltway 8 from sh 288 . The Hardy Toll Road is approx. 26 miles and costs about $2.60 to drive from Downtown Houston to Montgomery County. I consider that to be a reasonable fee. Anything over $2.50 on Hwy 288 from Hwy 6 to US 59 would be cost prohibitive. The state already owns the right of way and should partner with Metro to limit the cost. I don''t mind tolls if they''re reasonable. Toll roads should revert to standard roads once paid off!! They shouldn''t be a continuous source of taxes and revenues!! I voted for the initial creation of the toll road authority on the basis that it would go away eventually!!! . I''d rather have a rail system in place to carry a lot more people and cut down on emissions. Tnere are too many cars on the road with ONE person in them! Houston has to increase it''s mass transit system! I''d ride a train everyday to work if it was available! Wake up Houston! . I would prefer to have mass transit as an option(train or park and ride) but express lanes would greatly improve traffic flow into Houston. We need feeder roads because the backups are caused due to entering and exiting vehicles. Tolls are fine, but they never go away, even after the improvements they "pay" for are long paid off. 2 STEPS TO MAKE 288 COMMUTE BETTER: 1. create a feeder, and get rid of as many merging lanes as possible. 2. increase and impose speed limit during rush hour, especially on the outer 2 lanes. there''s way too many people on their phones texting in the left lane going 55mph. more lanes won''t fix that!!! . please do not build a toll road on 288, it will be a nightmare just like 10 . It is a crime that there is no mass transit in this corridor. Just by extending Metro or light rail to Broadway or 288 could take as many as 400 cars per hour off the road. In addition to toll lanes this project should add at least two free lane each direction. Also the Feeder should be extended from the beltway all the way to 610 each direction. There is open land in both directions to make this happen. No other main HWY going in/out of Houston has less than four free lanes in addition to a toll lane. To say that Brazoria County is one of the highest growing populations in TX, we should at least have the same amount of lanes if not more than the Katy express way. I think toll express lanes are a waste of valuable lane space. People don''t use them. I won''t use them. 288 has some definite bottleneck points that can be addressed through proper lane planning, making the toll express lanes unnecessary. Bottom line: I would much prefer the road to be properly designed, and I WILL refuse to use a toll lane. If the lanes are toll lanes they need to be very reasonable in cost, i.e., < .50 for traveling North in the mornings and < .50 for traveling South in the evenings. Otherwise don''t tear up SH 288 and create more of headache to drivers with ongoing construction. That is crazy. Give us the toll way already. we pay taxes which are suppose to build our roadways..tolls seem like a money grab . please help the congestion. public transportation would be great! . My daily travel time on 288 varies significantly. In order to have a more consistent commute time, I have had to alter my working hours so that I can leave my house later to avoid significant delays in the morning. I am very much in favor of more reliable, dependable commute times and am willing to pay the required toll fees to ensure a more consistent schedule in the mornings. I would NOT want 288 to become a concrete jungle similar to I‐10. The beauty of the project should be highly concidered ‐ IE ‐ Trees / Plantings / Grass / Green Space. Resource Systems Group, Inc. SH 288 Express Lanes Stated Preference Survey Report November 2012 Page D1 . I would love to see a Park & Ride in Pearland (FM 518 & Hwy 288) as this will alleviate the morning traffic as well as being more environmental friendly. Also, if we can have an HOV lane on 288 it will definitely help with the traffic as well. I leave my house do early to avoid the congestion that starts after 0600. I am expecting a HOV lane instead of toll lane for 288. Would love to have some type of park and ride option in this area. Increase number of on‐ off ramps and always have U turn at every intersection. I would like a lane increase, but do not support the toll ways. If there could be more lanes as part of the highway it would loosen up the congestion. However, I feel that the toll road will not loosen the congestion significantly because very few people will be using it since they have the option to drive without paying a toll.‐ EXAMPLE: katy freeway toll road isn''t used as much as the actual freeway. I dont believe toll lanes are the best option for 288.A lot of traffic is slowed down by traffic enforcement in the afternoons on 288.also a lot of people coming from pearland going to the medical center. I think a mass transit option would help traffic more then toll lanes. Light rail it. Reliable and widespread public transportation needs to be supporteed for health, evironmental and energy dependency needs. I would only pay a minimal fee on a daily basis to use the toll. It is not worth $30 or more per month for me to save 10 or 15 minutes. service roads needed now. The Texas Lottery was approved with the understanding that the income from ticket sales would be used for Education & Texas Roads. Where is that $ going to? . Has lite rail been considered? . I strongly feel transportation dollars being used for the Grand Parkway (Hwy 99) should be re‐focused for improving Hwy 288 and reducing congestion to the Houston CBD. The Grand Parkway will result in increasing urban sprawl and environmental harm. Hwy 99 Segment B and C are wastes of limited transportation dollars. Thanks . Can''t we just paint in a HOV lane in the shoulders for free travel for carpoolers? . Where 288 splits into 59 and 45 ‐ those lanes need to be restripped BADLY. When it rains, drivers cannot distinguish where the lanes are and I have nearly been sideswiped several times. These lanes have been like this for the past three years. This is a safety concern and traffic hazard. Why not a regular HOV lane? . Some sort of rail or bus service would be far preferable to the addition of toll roads. The growth of the area indicates that more is needed than just adding some one‐way, part‐time tollways. While the quickest option to provide some traffic relief would be best to implement soon, the entire corridor needs massive improvement to supprot the current population and forecast future expansion. The primary option for which should not be limited to tolls. Unless I can get on the free at the closest entrance to my house and be guaranteed I won''t hit the pedal before getting to my exit, I would not consider a tollway a preferred option. Instead it would be a considered alternative based on conditions of the situation. Just add an additional regular lane in each direction between Hwy59 and FM518 (in Pearland) on 288. DO NOT ADD A TOLL LANE ‐ I WILL NOT USE IT. I''d rather pay an extra $.05 in gas taxes on every gallon than pay a toll to drive on a freeway. This hasn''t worked on Katy Freeway. Why are you blindly trying to apply it here? How about a park and ride to TMC? How about true frontage roads with proper highway exits between hwy8 and 610? Meaning, proper accl. and deaccl. lanes for traffic to merge onto 288. I just see more of the same ignorance with this project. If you make the tolls to high people will not use them as there are still alternate ways into Houston.