Tackling the traffic problem in Austin

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The Central Texas commuter crunch happens like clockwork with drivers stopped in rush-hour delays.

According to the Texas Department of Transportation, it is costing you more than just time: An average of $6.2 billion a year for the delay.

Look at it this way: Austin transportation officials report, every 20 minutes, the city adds another driver to its roads. By the end of the year, that is 26,000 new drivers.

"Do you want some more chocolate milk?" Tame Gunn asked one of her hungry Denny’s customers.

Taking an order comes with the job description, but giving traffic directions is one of those perks people come to expect from Gunn.

"During 5 o'clock traffic, people that do know about the alternate routes, that's even starting to get congested," said Gunn.

The other options for her commuting customers are filling up fast. Thirteen Austin-area roadways rank in TxDOTs list of the state's top 100 most congested.

"Makes me want to yank my wheel into oncoming traffic," said Matthew Sommers, a driver outside Gunn's restaurant.

Some of those, like No. 44, should see improvements as soon as April. MoPac from US 183 to Highway 290 is set to add managed lanes. That means the more cars, the more money you pay to be in those lanes.

No. 45, a northern stretch of Interstate 35 from US 183 to Howard Lane will have a wider southbound frontage road, a deceleration lane, and an interchange at Parmer Lane.

At No. 49, US 183 from MoPac to Interstate 35 will also have managed lanes from Lakeline Boulevard to the interstate.

TxDOT said it will take upgrades to those roads before crews can begin work on the most congested of all: No. 26, Interstate 35 from Highway 71 to US 183.

"We can't start shutting down lanes around the clock on the interstate until we have some place for traffic to go," said John Hurt, TxDOT spokesperson.

With more than 200,000 vehicles a day on this main artery through Downtown Austin, widening the lanes here is not an option.

"You've got the University of Texas," said Hurt. "You've got some historic cemeteries. You've got hospitals."

Adding another upper deck or an HOV toll lane are proposed solutions, but they could be 10 to 15 years away with projected hundreds of millions of dollars TxDOT does not have.

"The day where we can all get into our car by ourselves, one person, drive to work, drive home, I think is coming to an end," said Hurt.

Just ask Gunn. Her Denny's is in the center of that stretch, and she leaves for her 8-to-5 job there an hour and a half early to miss the mess.

"It's bumper-to-bumper," she laughed. "People are nuts for using 35."

That delay costs drivers more than $28 million a year. TxDOT said a 28-minute trip now during rush hour will take 45 minutes in 20 years, if the problem goes unsolved.

"I just wish that one day I could just get in my car and have a nice day on 35," said Arthur Orta, another driver and customer of Gunn's.