The “Exit Test”:
Another way to show the discrepancy in road funding in our area is to look at freeway intersections. (In this case, our definition of “major road” is a road which is mentioned in a marked exit from the freeway – in some places due to the frontage-road-centric design of highways here, multiple major roads have the same exit).
Using a current list of exits, let’s look at Round Rock through Austin. To make things even more fair for the suburbanites, and not coincidentally to make it simpler for my transcription, I’m only going to use the part of Austin north of the upper/lower-deck split (which leaves out the densest part of Austin where 100% of the exits are for locally-funded roadways).
Round Rock:
- Exit 256: FM 1431 (state-system)
- Exit 254: Business Route IH-35 (state-system) and FM 3406 (state-system)
- Exit 253A: “frontage road”
- Exit 253: US 79 (state-system)
- Exit 252B: RM 620 (state-system)
- Exit 252A: McNeil Rd (local-system: Round Rock)
- Exit 251: Business Route IH-35 (state-system)
- Exit 250: FM 1325 (state-system)
Out of 7 exits with a road mentioned, only one is for a roadway which is locally funded; while 6 are for state-funded roadways.
Now, the exits between Round Rock and the city limits of Austin:
- Exit 248: Grand Avenue Parkway (local-system: Travis County and Pflugerville)
- Exit 247: FM 1825 (state-system)
Finally, the exits which are for roads which cross I-35 within the city limits of Austin:
- Exit 246: Dessau Rd and Howard Lane (both local-system: Travis County and Austin)
- Exit 245: FM 734 Parmer Lane (state-system) and Yager Lane (local-system: mostly Austin)
- Exit 243: Braker Lane (local-system: Austin)
- Exit 241: Rutherford Lane (local-system: Austin) and Rundberg Lane (local-system: Austin)
- Exit 240AB: US 183 (state-system)
- Exit 239: St Johns Ave (local-system: Austin)
- Exit 238B: US 290 (state-system), FM 2222 (state-system)
- Exit 238: 51st St. and others: all local-system
- Exit 237: Airport Blvd (local-system west of I-35, state-system east of I-35 as Loop 111) and 38½ Street (local-system)
Out of 9 exits listed here, 8 are for roadways which are locally funded, and 4 are for roadways which receive state funding. (Obviously some exits are for both).
A reminder again: I used the part of Austin which has the MOST state-funded roadways in it (since I stopped short of the upper/lower-deck split two miles north of downtown where the arterials come fast and furious and NONE of them get state funding).
Resources used in this article:
- Exit list for IH-35 – this is a bit out of date now that US 183 and US 290 have direct connections, but the gist still applies
- State Loop routes – reference for Airport Blvd
