One of the remaining hurdles to be crossed between the F1 promoters and the AHJ (Authorities Having Jurisdiction) is the traffic plan. Everyone understands the need to move all competitors, vendors and attendees to and from the site safely and in a timely manner. It is also understood that the site must be prepared for a major incident that impacts the group as a whole. A plan must be in place that satisfies these concerns and has a reasonable chance of managing any conceivable probability. The plan must also insure that the event will not be a commercial failure due to undue delays that may sour the attendee’s personal experience and impact the future attendance at the event.
The City Council tabled an agenda item scheduled for the Dec. 14th meeting, an item that was meant to address the F1 traffic plans. The item was moved into the New Year, but the exact date has not been determined. One may ask why that happened. In the opinion of many observers, the answer may be the absence of a dedicated project management effort, an effort that considers everything from circuit homologation to hot dog sales. Tilke may be too focused on the details of what goes on inside the fence to manage the things that happen elsewhere i.e. the City Council, etc.
The AHJ needs to have proposals mooted to them that can be approved without taking any gigantic risks. The traffic proposal previously submitted by FTP did not satisfy the staff of the AHJ, did not make anyone in Government comfortable, and basically was a “do nothing to the roads” plan. The plan suggested that traffic management, mainly done via shuttle busses and offsite parking, would be all that is necessary.
It is clear, to anyone who is reasonably well informed, that this will not work. Instead, the real issue is who will pay for the necessary improvements. Will the developer pay for the improvements, or will the public pay for the improvements?
I do not intend to get into a discussion about the philosophies regarding public funding for private development, but instead will look at the issue from a practical point of view regardless of who pays the freight.
In my opinion the roads that immediately surround the F1 site are inadequate for the demands of a major racing series. I cannot cite any studies, but I have been to racing events in six countries and more than 25 locations in the US. I have driven around the site, looked at the existing roads, and I recognize that the road infrastructure is inadequate. It barely satisfies the current daily demands.
Here is an overhead view of the site. The tract shown in blue is the property being developed for the F1 circuit:
Click To Enlarge
It is apparent that the designers and engineers agree about the inadequacies of the roads. They have designed a much more realistic solution and that solution is included in their project package. FM 812 is the southern road that connects the property to HWY 130. It is currently a 2 lane highway. Take a look at the proposed entrance to the F1 site at FM 812 as contained in the FTP blueprints below:
Click To Enlarge
This design is a proper solution to ingress to the site. Applying this design westward on FM 812 to Hwy 130 would benefit the F1 facility, the public at large, and the town of Elroy. The argument is about who would pay for it.
Regarding Elroy road, the road improvements designed for FM 812 should be used on Elroy road as well. This would insure that the two main arteries entering the facility have been maximized. Everyone should agree that this improvement would help all parties involved.
The roads shown in red on the overhead view of the site are all roads that should be included in the improvement plans. Elroy and FM 812 up to the entrances of the facility are a "must do" in my opinion. The roads that connect these two points around the eastern edges of the property should be highly considered for improvements as well. They are very important opportunities to create an overall traffic solution.
Airhog111 has suggested that the combination of roads shown in red could be used in a circular fashion to route the traffic flow around the site. All traffic would travel in the same direction regardless of where the vehicle entered the flow or where it exited the flow. Lanes could be designated for those vehicles turning into or out of the "circulation" in much the same way an European traffic circle operates. He also suggests that McAngus, not included in the circumfusion, could be designated as the ingress and egress point for all road based emergency vehicles. That route would be reserved for emergency vehicles and all other official traffic.
That is a good idea, but that would require upgrading all of the roads that circumfuse the site. It is the best solution but will never be agreed to by the parties involved because of the costs.
Suppose a miracle happened and an agreemnt was reached that would include many of the suggestions included above?
Let's assume that the promoter would assume the costs based on the assumption that a Utility District would be established in the near future and that district would reimburse those costs over the long haul. Ok.
The question now becomes "can it be done in time." No, of course not if the entire scope is to be realized. That leaves us with the question of what absolutely must be done before the first race.
FTP and the AHJ have their own opinions on that subject, and the answer will be forthcoming, but I will bet that the improvements to FM 812 and Elroy road from Hwy 130 to the site entrances will be the minimum solution agreeed upon.
To many of us it seems that these questions should have been answered long ago. The Formula 1 United States team, along with FTP, have done a pretty good job with most of their efforts, but it seems as if they have lost control of the traffic plan to the AHJ. That is dangerous and uncertain ground to be building one's foundation on.
Tomorrow - Part 3, The public safety plan, inside and outside of the facility
Here's a brain teaser for you. Let's say the area was developed for more housing like the previous plans instead of Formula 1. Who would of paid for the road improvements? I see other areas like Round Rock that have spacious 4 lane arteries in newly developed areas. Did Dell pay for those?
2. Why don't these types of improvements happen in Southeast Travis County? and why would FTP have to carry the full load like commissioner Gomez requested? I would say that FTP will use the roads less than 10% the first year and the county residents will use the rest. I live in the area and will use the roads 100% of the 1st year. As a taxpayer I will gladly approve road improvements. On Grand Prix weekend though, I will likely ride my bike!
Posted by: vfacundo | December 22, 2010 at 12:41 AM
I agree. But you are missing the point. The approvals required to get the public to pay are beyond the time frame of the project. The object is to find a way to make this happen and then spread the costs amongst those who benefit from it.
F1 brings 100,000 in in a few hours. A housing development does that over a longer period of time. The traffic plans are different.
Posted by: Flood1 | December 22, 2010 at 12:50 AM
I think you have missed the point as well.
Consider this.Originally this ste was slated for 1800 new homes.If all of those new homes were two car families that is 3600 cars.That is only 10% of the amount of cars expected for the GP.It is also very unlikely that all of these cars would be attempting to access the roads at the same time.The F1GP will result in 30000 vehicles attempting to use these roads within a one hour time frame.FTP must have known from the outset the road system was inadequate for their purpose and should have planned accordingly.
Posted by: sportsman | December 22, 2010 at 06:56 AM
Very good analysis. I believe that using Entertainment and Utility Districts pay for the infrastructure improvements is the proper way forward. Taxes on the ticket and parking revenue would pay off the bonds issued by the utility Districts. As is the case with general revenue bond funding road improvements, the property owners whose property is improved would be billed for their share of the improvements with the assessment fees applying against the utility district's obligations.
It takes time for these to be approved and enabling legislation in place. Unfortunately time has run out on the road issue so some serious creative thinking has to go into the first race. There are not enough busses in Texas to make any type of meaningful shuttle service work. (Remember you will be moving 100,000+ onto the site in the early morning hours (assuming the race is around 10am to cater for European TV) and then away after noon. A bad customer experience with the first race will take several races to overcome.
Posted by: Airhog111 | December 22, 2010 at 06:58 AM
Your analysis indicates you think the promoter proposes to use traffic management permanently, with no road improvements. Did I misunderstand you on this? Kimley-Horn's traffic management plan does not suggest that no improvements are ever needed - it simply states that access times for the inaugural event can be kept to just over three hours to completely clear the site, using traffic management alone. Travis County planners say about a mile of Elroy Road should be widened to four lanes for the first race. I think FTP clearly sees the need for major road improvements, and will be working with the county and state to get those done, including widening FM 812 to five lanes.
The road funding question does not need to be resolved immediately. Work on FM 812, a state highway, will involve strict r.o.w. acquisition procedures (appraisals, offer of fair market value etc.) and a full environmental review. The TX DOT has no funding for this work in it's present capital improvement plan, but that can be changed. Both the county and state should share in the cost of this upgrade because it will benefit the public every day of the year, not just race fans on a few weekends a year.
"...improvements to FM 812 and Elroy road from Hwy 130 to the site entrances will be the minimum solution agreeed upon." A slight clarification - only about one mile of Elroy Road needs widening - from the intersection with McAngus Road to the track entrance. Elroy Road from McAngus west to TX 130 is already a four-lane. The immediate work on FM 812 will likely involve only widening near the entrance, including the double left-turn bay shown on the plans. It's designed based on state standards, so I expect the promoter will fund that intersection work, but not further upgrades to 812 without state and county participation.
Regarding the suggestion to use McAngus Road for emergency access, that road provides access only to the west parking area, and no interior roads will be built across the Dry Creek flood plain to the track area. Fans will walk across a pedestrian bridge, as shown on the Master Plan. McAngus has no interchange at TX 130, so it will serve traffic mainly going west into Austin, after it merges with FM 812 west of TX 130. Emergency access will be via Elroy Road and FM 812.
The city council's tabling a traffic plan item may have been because the county has the lead on traffic management in Austin's ETJ. I think the city's involvement is mainly police and fire support during the races.
I agree with you that upgrading Elroy Road the entire way around the track is impractical. That route serves a residential area on the east or southeast side of the track. It's narrow, poorly drained, and has minimal r.o.w. Any major work could have significant effects on residential properties and would likely be controversial and time-consuming. I'd expect that section of Elroy Rd. to be restricted to residents during the race weekends.
Posted by: Foran | December 22, 2010 at 12:58 PM
visit Sebring on a race weekend. Traffic is managed well under very simular conditions.
I've waited in line for maybe 30 minutes at the most.
I realize Sebring is a multi-day event with several supporting races and folks campout at the track. Why not do that at the USF-1 event?
Posted by: Roberto | December 22, 2010 at 03:06 PM
Thanks Foran for your comments. I do understand that FTP is just trying to satisfy a short-term concern and they know it's in their best interest to have a long-term solution. Regardless of whatever road improvements are included over the years, there will always be a traffic management plan and it will work much like the one described for the short term. I've been going to LSU football games for 40 years and there is still contra flow, bus transportation, thousands of campers, etc. And the traffic plan works, but I still expect to be around there for 3 hours.
The already improved section of Elroy Road is shown in green on my site plan.I took note of that when I last visited the site.I didn't mention that and I should have.The problem is that the ROW is only 65' and there are 5 parcels identified that must be acquired.
You are right about McAngus.
It is my personal belief that the plan originally submitted will not allow the site to be cleared in 3 hours or less. You seem to think it will. I hope so. If not, that's not a real problem for me, I will stick around for whatever they have planned after the race. Besides, I plan to attend in my RV, so I won't be going anywhere.
That wasn't the case in 1997 when I first went to Silverstone. What a nightmare! If a situation like that occurred at the inaugural GP in Austin, Americans would never come back.
For the event to succeed it must attract new fans, American fans, and really show some Texas charm to our foreign guests.
I do enjoy discussing these things with well informed people like yourself. Sometimes they are hard to find on the internet.
Posted by: Flood1 | December 22, 2010 at 06:52 PM
Roberto, when I attended Sebring in 2008, I stayed off site and drove into the facility everyday. Traffic was non-existent since most people show up early and stay several days camped around the circuit. Part of the Austin plan is to have 5000 camping spaces with about 20,000 people.
This will help the traffic concerns a lot, but Sunday morning before daybreak the roads will be packed with twice the traffic seen on Saturday.
I plan to be in the campground. That's a first for me at a GP. I usually stay in a $100 hotel that costs $350 bucks per night. LoL! Except in Monaco it was a $350 hotel that costs $750.
Posted by: Flood1 | December 22, 2010 at 07:02 PM
Flood1 thanks for the reply. On our Sebring trips we stay in Lakeland and drive down early each day. Good to hear that camping will be part of the infrastructure at the Austin venue.
Posted by: Roberto | December 24, 2010 at 10:20 AM