Summer 2017 Mobility Matters

Over the past generation, student travel to school by walking and bicycling has changed dramatically. Approximately 13 percent of students ages 5 to 14 walk or bicycle to school regularly, compared to 48 percent in 1969.

Simultaneously, childhood obesity has more than tripled, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and recently only one-quarter of US youth met the recommended 60 minutes of daily physical activity. Safe Routes to School (SRTS) is a nationwide initiative dedicated to reversing these trends and encouraging more children to walk and bicycle to school. To meet these objectives, the movement employs solutions represented by the “five E’s”: Engineering, Education, Enforcement, Encouragement, and Evaluation.

As the transportation organization responsible for the future of mobility and reliability in a region of 11 million people over the next 25 years, it is sometimes important for the North Central Texas Council of Governments to stop and take a pulse of where we currently find ourselves. 

We are at a major crossroad, or “fork.” The Dallas-Fort Worth region has led the mobility revolution in the US over the past 20 years with multimodal financially innovative transportation projects. Now, we have a federal government that wants to put this partnership in a 3-D printer and go nationwide and a state government that has adopted a more cautious pay-as-you-go approach. Yet, innovation continues, led primarily by regions such as North Texas. Local leaders recognize a need and work collaboratively with State and federal officials to develop multimodal innovative solutions.

The thoughts of a previous logistics executive may be instructive as we navigate the current realities of transportation planning. Yogi Berra, who lived 90 great years before passing away in 2015, won 10 
World Series titles and was an 18-time all-star while a member of the New York Yankees. Those fortunate enough to watch Berra play during his big league career remember him as one of the best catchers of all time. Since he retired in 1965, most of us recall only his witty sayings. What we can learn from him today?

“Every project we’re building I was part of at least planning when I was in that area office,” he said. “It’s good to see a lot of the things you worked on come to fruition, be funded and built.”

To the south, the Horseshoe, the reconstruction of connections between Interstate Highway 35E and IH 30 in downtown Dallas, is one of the more significant projects and was recently completed. He pointed to the Horseshoe as an example of a project where construction and operations were blended, resulting in fewer disruptions to drivers.

“We can’t be siloed,” he said. “Doing our traffic control, we’ve got to think about operations.”

This is true of improvements to surface streets, also. For example, when rebuilding an intersection with dedicated left turn lanes, those lanes should not be closed during construction, he said.

“We’ve got an intersection with left turn lanes, [and] when you go to rebuild it, you take out the left turn lanes,” he said. “That’s when you need them the most.”

A few miles to the north of the Horseshoe, the first phase of the 35 Express project is expected to conclude this year. The TEXpress Lanes are already open and have made an immediate impact.

“Offering drivers an alternative, the ability to pay to guarantee the speed, I think that’s a great thing for the region, similar to the LBJ Express Project,” he said. “We’re not finished with the 35 Express by any means. This is only Phase I, but I think we can already see it’s going to be a huge improvement to mobility.

“Not only the [TEXpress Lanes], but the additional general-purpose lanes that we’re adding in Denton County are going to be huge relief to the traffic up there.”
 

Phase II of the project will involve upgrading the TEXpress Lane capacity, allowing them to operate in both directions all day long. Selman wants his engineers to figure out how to configure construction zones so that they cause as few disruptions as possible.

Advances in technology will help create better construction-zone experiences. For example, it is important to maintain traffic flow by continuing to use traffic-light timing devices.

“When you have to go to fixed time, that just kills an intersection’s operations,” he said. “We’ve learned over time that you keep those technologies in place during construction. And I think we’ve made a difference in a lot of places by being able to do that.”

It is important to instill these lessons into the designers being trained now so the improvements that have come in highway construction can continue, Selman said.

This is done by giving today’s young engineers exposure to different disciplines on a rotation basis, allowing them to see what it’s like to design, construct and operate highways. While Selman is responsible for highway projects in the Dallas area, he must also think regionally. Since 2015, he has served as a member of the Regional Transportation Council, the 44-member transportation policymaking body for the 12-county area.

The most challenging aspect of serving on the RTC is trying to find the funding to keep the system running smoothly, he said. 

In addition to what’s being built now, there are several future projects that could provide substantial benefits to the eastern portion of the region. The potential conversion of US Highway 380 into a freeway, a new north-south highway in Collin County and the LBJ East project are just a few of them. But resources remain limited, and Selman and his colleagues on the RTC must find a way to complete them.

“Everybody wants more money,” he said. “You have to take the allocation you have and build the right project and the right solution. We don’t have the money to build projects that don’t solve congestion.”

With his training and professional experience, Selman is uniquely qualified to help drive this process both today and in the future.