Quote:
Originally Posted by M1EK
Again, both electricron AND SecretAgentMan are being purposefully misleading here. You don't need 2 tracks worth of space to double-track an active freight line; you need 3 + some safety margin (since you're continuing to use the existing line which is running right down the middle, you're basically picking one side to run 2/3 of a 3-track alignment).
Anytime you hear them talk about how easy it is to fit 2 tracks in, remember this. They're not being honest with you. Fitting 2 tracks in if you can close and remove the old track down the center would be pretty easy. Fitting 2 tracks in if you can at least not run trains on the existing track during the length of the project would be hard. Fitting 2 tracks in with live freight running AND freeway traffic a lot closer than it is today is nigh-impossible; the kind of construction project we likely don't have the will to initiate.
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There you go again!
There is such a thing called
phase construction. You never need to lay three tracks. What you do is lay the new track next to the existing track maintaining
minimum clearances, after opening the new track up, you close and move the existing tracks to maintain the
standard 14 feet clearance. Only after moving the existing tracks, will you have two set of tracks open for use.
From TXDOT:
http://www.texasfreeway.com/Austin/p...p1/loop1.shtml
This view shows just how narrow the right-of-way is for central Loop 1. The corridor with is only 172 feet (52m) wide, but 60 feet (18m) is used by the railroad, leaving only 112 feet (34m) for the freeway main lanes.
Then view TXDOT's plans for the MoPac Freeway:
From south of 35th Street to south of Windsor Road
ftp://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-...1/s4rdpp01.pdf
From north of 45th Street to south of 35th Street
ftp://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-...1/s3rdpp02.pdf
You can find links for drawings for every section at
http://www.dot.state.tx.us/project_i...1/drawings.htm
You can also read the lastest newsletter at
ftp://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-...s_issue_02.pdf
What I want to point out, is that a minimum of 60 feet is reserved for the UP rail right-of-way in the median throughout the corridor. Double tracks, as I have written so many times before, only requires 28 feet, 8 inches of clearance. There's still a total of 31 feet 4 inches of median left to be used as a buffer.
TXDOT isn't taking land from the median to add lanes to the freeway. They're adding lanes where the right hand shoulder is today, as I suggested several posts ago.