In my case, medians kill business because I avoid the area entirely.

maroon barchetta said:

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AgProgrammer said:

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I'd be willing to bet most anything that left turns on to busy roads result in more accidents than right turns AND that those accidents are worse for left turns than right turns.

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Can't wait for the day when we're all going around, just making right turns, because the government has decided we aren't capable of making left turns anymore.

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I did that once when my clutch went out.

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my olds cutlass transmission was going bad and there where times I couldn't go in reverse, I had to plan out parking to either pull out head first or hopefully push back with one foot on the ground and the car in neutral

saltsman said:

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How, exactly do medians kill business? It's not like traffic is only going one direction all the time.

Let's say I'm out to pick up some tacos at this place up on the left. I'm headed east, but the median requires me to make a u-turn at the light. I say forget it, so I'll pull into this taco place on the right. I still bought tacos. For that taco stand on the right, medians increased their business. In the big scheme of things, it's a wash. I get that medians are disrupting old habits, but I can't see how they are actually discouraging people from buying tacos if they really want tacos. The only business they may be actually reducing is body shop business.

The same logic applies with the bypass. If I want to go to Sam's Club and am driving south, I still have to exit,U-turn and drive back north a bit. It's not that big of a deal. Back when the bypass was added, were people pissed they can't just drive across the median and down the embankments at will?

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Bypass was added before TexAgs and social media, so probably not.

Your "taco place" example is laughable. Businesses offering identical products/services do not often exist, in a convenient area.
Ace Bolt & Screw as an example... northbound Texas Ave traffic has to go another half mile, to the 32nd Street intersection, for a U-turn, or a convoluted alternate route. THEN if you want to continue a northbound trip on Texas Ave, nope, no choice but go southbound, for another sketchy U-turn, or ....just screw it, I'll wait, or find an alternative source...or order it online.
One example of many businesses losing customers. Find us one example, of a business stating "medians helped my business".

There's a story in the Eagle today about medians to go in on South College. Interestingly, there's a quote from TxDot about the cities working together, and with TxDot, to coordinate placement.

I had a fascinating hour long conversation with a TxDot engineer a few months back, who indicated that a) they don't like to do "contested" projects, that b) they've always wondered why the cities and state reps weren't more active in traffic planning and c) he thought the process could benefit from more transparency and cooperation. I strongly agree.

It seems as if, before the public outcry about medians, local leaders always just assumed, to a large degree anyway, that TxDot was going to do what it was going to do and we were powerless to change it. I'm told that's not completely true.

We have innumerable traffic committees and I'm sure those on them do good work, but more proactivity and more cooperation and more site specific workshops are needed around this. At the very least citizens would get greater input and heads up, rather than seemingly sudden announcements that a project is about to commence. By then it's too late to move the needle.

My $.02 and something to work on in 2024.

Respectfully…

I can tell you that I have quit going to the Sonic on Texas by Walmart because it's become such a pain in the ass to get into. Unless you are coming from one particular direction, it now takes a series of u-turns and driving behind Walmart to get to.

Mediums are the band-aides for traffic growth. The more congestion the higher the accident rate. I feel for a business that is hurt by new medians. They formed their business plan with open access, only to find a barrier between them and their customers. On the other hand it is the customers that forced the medians (due to their poor driving skills). What I am saying is that there is plenty of blame to throw around.

It seems some businesses have survived Covid only to be shut down by an overreaching and overly zealous government agency.

This is awful.

GSS said:

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Your "taco place" example is laughable. Businesses offering identical products/services do not often exist, in a convenient area.
Ace Bolt & Screw as an example... northbound Texas Ave traffic has to go another half mile, to the 32nd Street intersection, for a U-turn, or a convoluted alternate route. THEN if you want to continue a northbound trip on Texas Ave, nope, no choice but go southbound, for another sketchy U-turn, or ....just screw it, I'll wait, or find an alternative source...or order it online.
One example of many businesses losing customers. Find us one example, of a business stating "medians helped my business".

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Plus, take a look at the curbs where people are trying to make these u-turns. Tire marks all over the place. I've seen people u-turn, hit the curb, back up (on Texas Avenue!), and try to go forward. What a circus.

So the consensus is, I guess, that medians kill impulse buys.

Sonic is on the wrong side, I guess I'm not hungry after all? I'll skip this meal and just not eat at all?

Ace Bolt and Screw on the wrong side, that will take 2 extra minutes. I guess I'll order online instead and wait two extra days.

Sounds odd to me -- but convenience is a thing.

AgProgrammer said:

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I hate that the new turn lane medians are sticking out in the left lane down Harvey, etc. The turn lanes inside of the median are wider than the actual lanes now.

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The one that bothers me most is the one on Texas where they added a new median to block left turns from Valley View to head north on Texas. It sticks out into traffic at least a foot and you can see the leading edge is totally black from tire hits and a good chunk of concrete is missing from all of the rims that have been destroyed there.

Last summer I contacted TXDOT and they said they are "aware of the issue and working to fix it" however not only have they not fixed it, they haven't painted it yellow, put up a little orange pole, or attempted in any way to either fix it or make it more visible. In this snapshot you can see the distance from the old median to the tire tracks compared to the new. This is looking north from the southbound lane.



And now, if you want to leave Tractor Supply and head north on Texas, you can't turn left on Texas from Valley View and of course you can't turn left on Longmire from the frontage road (also blocked by a concrete median) so you have to exit to the left, then left on Valley View, left on Longmire, left on Harvey Mitchel (after waiting for the light), left on Texas (after waiting for the light).

saltsman said:

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So the consensus is, I guess, that medians kill impulse buys.

Sonic is on the wrong side, I guess I'm not hungry after all? I'll skip this meal and just not eat at all?

Ace Bolt and Screw on the wrong side, that will take 2 extra minutes. I guess I'll order online instead and wait two extra days.

Sounds odd to me -- but convenience is a thing.

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Your "consensus" is as laughable as your "taco places" example.
But keep twisting and perverting the facts, using two examples to dismiss the real impact of medians on businesses on Texas Ave, and other streets.
Where is the example of a business owner happy with the medians?

jimbo457 said:

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BaitShack said:

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In my case, medians kill business because I avoid the area entirely.

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Perhaps, If I may be so bold, you are the one killing local businesses.

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yes how dare the customer do what they want with their money.

maroon barchetta said:

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Saw someone pull out of Castlegate tonight and immediately u-turn around the median on Greens Prairie to head east.

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So what is more dangerous. U turns or left turns from side streets? (median issue)

rsa said:

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There seems to be a plentiful budget for building medians, but no funds to paint the darned things with reflective paint so you can see them at night.

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That is scheduled to be done in 2041. They are not in a hurry to complete anything...take a look that the decade long 2818 project.

It has been said, "The three most important variables for a business are location, location, location."

I interpret that to be "cost, visibility, and accessability." Medians change the location (accessability.)

jimbo457 said:

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BQ_90 said:

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jimbo457 said:

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BaitShack said:

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In my case, medians kill business because I avoid the area entirely.

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Perhaps, If I may be so bold, you are the one killing local businesses.

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yes how dare the customer do what they want with their money.

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This proves my point, the customer is making that decision, not the evil government with their medians.

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the customer isn't installing the medians that alters how the customer access the businesses

saltsman said:

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How, exactly do medians kill business? It's not like traffic is only going one direction all the time.

Let's say I'm out to pick up some tacos at this place up on the left. I'm headed east, but the median requires me to make a u-turn at the light. I say forget it, so I'll pull into this taco place on the right. I still bought tacos. For that taco stand on the right, medians increased their business. In the big scheme of things, it's a wash. I get that medians are disrupting old habits, but I can't see how they are actually discouraging people from buying tacos if they really want tacos. The only business they may be actually reducing is body shop business.

The same logic applies with the bypass. If I want to go to Sam's Club and am driving south, I still have to exit,U-turn and drive back north a bit. It's not that big of a deal. Back when the bypass was added, were people pissed they can't just drive across the median and down the embankments at will?

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I remember reading somewhere where the manager of Wolf Creek oil change said that there business went down about 1/3rd after the medians were installed.

The extra wide sidewalks on. It's sides if William Joel Bryan effectively eliminate an entire traffic lane. Ridiculous!

whoever decided to make WJB into a one lane road going in and out of downtown is a freakin genius