ChopperChip's Blog

How would you like to go cruising on Saigon Rd?  Or how about Al-Salam Pkwy?  Brandon Todd was looking into this topic yesterday and indeed the Arlington city staff will be reviewing a proposal to see how costly the changes would be.  Here's more from Brandon:

 The idea is to sart off with a street sign "topper" and let homeowners get used to the new name, then eventually the name would change. It would need support from 80-percent of the homeowners on that street to get the name changed.  There's no information yet as to what streets would be renamed with one exception.  The name Saigon could replace Arkansas, from Center to HWY 360.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez would be a couple of other name change possibilities.  The city council may vote on it in the next month or two. 

It's been a llllloooooonnnnnnngggggg time since we've talked about the Southwest Parkway project in Fort Worth.  BTW-this is NOT to be confused with GREAT Southwest Parkway in Grand Prairie.  What we're talking about here is the first phase of a tollway project that cuts through  the west side of  Fort Worth.  A big hold-up to starting the project: Traversing Union Pacific  lines.  That problem is no more as the NTTA has been given permission to build a bridge over the railway.  Before long expect to see crews laying the ground work for the 8.7 mile project and the road is scheduled to open in 2012. 

After this part's done,  the next phase will begin.  It wil be known as the Chisolm Trail and will go 19 miles south into Johnson County to Cleburne.

I've had the occasion to travel westbound on I-30 after Good Day four times in the last couple of weeks.  Granted,  the rush hour is winding down at 9ish,  but the HOV is open at that time.  Of course I decided to count the cars in the carpool lane heading to downtown Dallas.  The count?

5, 4, 7, and 4.

For you folks that drive in from Arlington and Grand Prairie on a daily basis:  Do YOU see enough cars in that lane to make it viable?  I'd love to hear your thoughts.

The test (or diverson from work.  Whatever floats your boat!) keeps rolling on here on the traffic blog!  We've been talking about names and highways.  Here's another one to think about.  Hwy. 67 is also known as the Marvin D. Love freeway from I-20 to the I-35E merge, but what's the name south of I-20 to Wintergreen through Duncanville and the OTHER name 67 goes by through Cedar Hill?

The conversation is over and Dallas City hall has made a decision.  Here's a portion of the Good Day script of the story....

It's been a little over 6 weeks since the 310 overhead at the C.F. Hawn Freeway merge met an untimely demise.  In that time, the S.M. Wright merging bridge has been removed and for now the traffic flow in the area is moving along well.  With that said, please remember there's still A LOT of work to be done the next five weeks to meet the deadline of December 15th!  For the most part, work sessions are slated for off-peak hours but there will be times when work will HAVE to be done during high volume times.  Personally, I'm amazed at the fast track this repair work is on.  Wouldn't it be great if all road projects could move along this quickly?

I'm keeping it short and sweet for question #9.......

Which highway is the Purple Heart Trail???

I guess it was about a year ago when I blogged about the possibility of air-powered cars.  Bloggers overwhelmingly pounded the thought saying in essence that it would be impossible to replenish the compressed air supply into the newfangled cars.

Here's what I found today from www.Kiplinger.com and the topic is up for debate again!  Please continue on:

Air powered cars?  It may be available sooner than you think at a price tag that will hardly be a budget buster. The vehicle may not run like a speed racer on back road highways, but developer Zero Pollution Motors is betting consumers will be willing to fork over $20,000 for a vehicle that can motor around all day on nothing but air and a splash of salad oil, alcohol or possibly a pint of gasoline.

More from Kiplinger.com:

• Does It Pay to Buy That Hybrid?

• What You Need to Know About Leasing a Car Now

• Easy Ways to Save Money on Transportation

The expertise needed to build a compressed air car, or CAV, is not rocket science, either. Years-old, off-the-shelf technology uses compressed air to drive old-fashioned car engine pistons instead of combusting gas or diesel fuel to create a burst of air to do the same thing. Indian carmaker Tata has no qualms about the technology. It has already bought the rights to make the car for the huge Indian market.

The air car can tool along at a top speed of 35 mph for some 60 miles or so on a tank of compressed air, a sufficient distance for 80% of consumers to commute to work and back and complete daily chores.

Courtesy of MDI

On highways, the CAV can cruise at interstate speeds for nearly 800 miles with a small motor that compresses outside air to keep the tank filled. The motor isn't finicky about fuel. It will burn gasoline or diesel as well as biodiesel, ethanol or vegetable oil.

This car leaves the highest-mpg vehicles you can buy right now in the dust. Even if it used only regular gasoline, the air car would average 106 mpg, more than double today's fuel sipping champ, the Toyota Prius. The air tank also can be refilled when it's not in use by being plugged into a wall socket and recharged with electricity as the motor compresses air.

Automakers aren't quite ready yet to gear up huge assembly line operations churning out air cars or set up glitzy dealer showrooms where you can ooh and aah over the color or style. But the vehicles will be built in factories that will make up to 8,000 vehicles a year, likely starting in 2011, and be sold directly to consumers.

There will be plants in nearly every state, based on the number of drivers in the state. California will have as many as 17 air car manufacturing plants, and there'll be around 12 in Florida, eight in New York, four in Georgia, while two in Connecticut will serve that state and Rhode Island.

The big issue facing the cars will be crash tests...and judging from the pic of the car I would say that it probably wouldn't fare well against an SUV or big rig!  With that in mind, would you snag one if  it were available?

The Cowboys get crushed and their playoff hopes fade.  What do we do?  Find something else to think about!  Here's a diversion for Monday morning.  Question 8 in our Name the Freeway Fun game!

Spur 580 and Spur 341.  Where are they and what are their street names?

It's been two months now since 121 opened from I-35E to Hillcrest.  When will the drivers in McKinney and Allen see the road extend to them?  As of now you still have time to get your toll tags.   Segment 3 from Hillcrest to Hardin will be ready in a mere 14 months and the 4th segment will be ready a year later (2011).

By now you've probably seen the billboards across DF-W.......no not the political ones!  I'm talking about the ads for new IMPROVED personal liscense plates!  If you haven't, here are some of the fine points in a recent press release: 

There are thousands of cool T plate combinations available right now at www.myplates.com.

Since launching in August, My Plates has sold more than 1,000 specialty license plates, including the T for Texas.  The new www.myplates.com website lets you create your own personalized plate combination, check its availability and order online. There’s even a way to print out a paper copy of the plate to test how it looks on your car.

This innovative public/private partnership is the first of its kind in the country. It gives Texans more opportunities to express their creativity while also generating new income for the state. A portion of the sale of each plate goes into the General Revenue Fund, which provides services that benefit all Texans. The contract guarantees a minimum of $40 million to the Fund over a five-year period.

Texas currently has the country’s lowest percentage of drivers with personalized license plates. Fewer than 1% of the 21 million vehicles registered in Texas have personalized plates.

The price of plates depends on the style and the level of personalization. Plates are divided into three series: Custom, Premium, and Luxury. Prices start at $95 a year, or from less than $40 a year if you buy a ten-year term. Before now, Texans had to renew specialty plates each year. With My Plates, you can also choose a five or ten-year option. My Plates will also offer holiday gift cards for its specialty license plates, another unique aspect of the program.

Besides the exciting new designs, the key difference in the new system is the ease of picking a plate, personalizing it and completing the order. My Plates has developed a user-friendly website (www.myplates.com) and has added a professionally staffed call center in Austin to handle orders through their toll-free number, 877-769-7528 (877-7MYPLATES). On the site, you can see all the color and design options, check availability of a letter/number combination and securely complete the transaction using a credit card.

So what do you think?  Would you pony up the cash for the plates?

If you're just joining us....Welcome to "Name that Freeway!"   I hope you have fun in this corner of the blogosphere.

The last few questions have focused on "Spurs" (we are in TEXAS so it makes sense to me!) and as promised we're going to continue the theme while moving over to Tarrant county.  Another theme that continues?  Northwest Highway!!  We blogged about the many A.K.A's of this winding road in Dallas county last week.  Moving through Grapevine, Northwest Hwy. has a spur number as well.  What is it?