Elevated Highways Are a Thing of the Past Facts About Fix 290's

							        TxDOT: Making Oak Hill                                                           Facts About Fix 290ʼs                                      Elevated Highways Are a
      Just Another Highway Exit.                                                         Parkway Alternative                                            Thing of the Past
                                                                              More business friendly: Parkways are supported by                     Other cities are actually
TxDOT proposes a 12-lane mega-highway                                         secondary roads, allowing easier, more direct                       removing elevated highways.
through Oak Hill with six elevated toll                                       access to businesses. Drivers at ground level can
lanes flanked by six more lanes at ground                                     see and exit to patronize the businesses that are a              Should we be building one?
                                                                              unique part of Oak Hill.
level. This project will destroy Williamson
Creek, divide our community, and hurt                                         Better traffic flow: A study by Smart Mobility, Inc.,       • In Milwaukee, removing the elevated Park East
                                                                                                                                          Freeway and building the new road at-grade “provides
business.                                                                     a transportation and land use consulting firm,
                                                                                                                                          an attractive new gateway to the downtown and is
                                                                              verified that a parkway design will handle current          helping to attract redevelopment activity.”
                                                                              traffic trends to 2030.
                                                                                                                                          • In Seattle, replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct “vastly
                                                                              Faster to build: A parkway design is simpler and            improves a regional destination for new businesses and
                                                                              will take less time to build. It also presents fewer        residents, enhancing both the local and regional
                                                                                                                                          economies.”
                                                                              environmental problems, which speeds the                                                       - Washington State DOT study
                 HEB
                                                                              approval process and may actually permit an                 • In San Francisco, replacing the elevated Central
                                                                              earlier start date than the current TxDOT design.           Freeway “has brought new vitality to the neighborhood it
                                Albertson’s                                   Fast approval, fast start, fast build, fastest solution     once divided. The aesthetics of the neighborhood have
                                                                              to Oak Hillʼs traffic congestion.                           improved, highway noise and air pollution have
                                                                                                                                          decreased, and new businesses have sprung up in the
                                                                                                                                          community.
                                                                              Lower cost construction: Fix 290 proposes a simpler
                                                                              project requiring far less concrete since the only          • In Brooklyn, replacing the elevated Gowanus Express-
 TxDOT’s “Vision” For Oak Hill - as wide as the length of a football field.   use of elevation will be for crossover bridges.             way would result in “reuniting South Brooklyn's neigh-
                                                                                                                                          borhoods and opening up its waterfront, and spurring
                                                                              Better for the environment: A parkway would save            local economic revitalization”
We think there is a better way.                                                                                                                                  - Albert Appleton, Regional Plan Association, NY
                                                                              Oak Hillʼs 300-year-old historic oak trees and keep
The Fix 290 Coalition proposes a better                                       Williamson Creek as a natural free-flowing creek,
                                                                              preserving it for the enjoyment of future genera-             Elevated highways are “a significant visual and
solution - to preserve Williamson Creek                                                                                                     psychological barrier”.
                                                                              tions.                                                                                           - Seattle DOT Director Grace Crunican
and the oaks for which Oak Hill is named,
to ease congestion, to improve business
                                                                               TxDOTʼs Elevated Plan For Oak Hill – 300+ feet wide, 50+ feet high
access and connectivity, to eliminate the
need for tolls, to handle through traffic,
and to get the project done quickly.

All Oak Hill needs to launch it into the
future is a limited access, ground-level                                                                               Williamson Creek

parkway with overpasses at major intersec-                                      The Fix 290 Alternative
tions.                                                                         •   Less Pavement
                                                                               •   Less Cost
                                                                               •   Less Environmental Impact
That's all.                                                                    •   Saves Oak Hill