As discussed above, the politicians (city, county, state and tollway authority) have started up on Tavo. From my experience of participating in the management of large events, here are some ideas as to the issues facing Tavo. I hope this all makes sense to everyone without a map. I started to work off a map, but got lazy (plus I have a funding request being reviewed this week that I have to revise by midnight so those who count can present it in Monaco Monday morning.)
Water, Sewer and Solid Waste
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Fairly easy, the water lines are already being positioned. This is more an issue for the research/office park than the track. However, Tavo will be responsible for implementing (i.e. paying for) the work within the track.
Storm Drains
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Again, Tavo will have to build retention pools and all of the drainage within the track area. The county will have to provide the offsite connections (and will attempt to hold Tavo hostage for as long as they can).
Electricity/Communications (telephone, cell phone and internet)
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The only break Tavo will get. These providers will do all improvements to distribute their service throughout the property. Kicker will be the hook-up charges for the telephone and internet.
Parking
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The issue is the parking requirements, not who will pay as this is all for Tavo’s account. The issue for Tavo is how much permanent (i.e. concrete) v. temporary (Tavo says not field which means to me some type of pavestone). The outlying issue is environmental as the tree huggers will want as little concrete as possible.
Anyway, the typical parking space is 9x18 (counting half the driveway). For an estimated 100,000 spectators Tavo will probably have to show around 1 vehicle for every 2 fans (have to account for all of the service and team vehicles). 50,000 spaces equates to almost 200 acres of the facility devoted just to parking.
This will be a big ticket issue, but lately several stadiums have been able to fund parking by establishing “parking companies” and issuing revenue bonds to cover the parking cost. Red’s people should be all over this.
Roads
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The contentious issue due to cost. At issue (and what will be argued) is public funding for what will be a commercial enterprise. I will go road by road. Unless otherwise specified the number of lanes means the total number – so 4 lanes means 2 in each direction, etc..
FM 812
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-- A minimum of 4 lanes from 183 all the way to Highway 21
-- The part between 130 and Elroy 6 lanes divided (see below for the reason)
McAngus
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-- A minimum of 4 lanes from 973 all the way through the property
-- Make a direct connection with 812 at 973
-- Go under new 130 service roads
-- Residents/tenants on Bacon Strip, Towery and Vega will have to be accommodated
-- This will be the road for the service vehicles (shuttles, media, team vehicles) so somewhere there will be a security checkpoint.
130
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-- Build 6 lanes of service road between 812 and Elroy
Elroy
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-- A minimum of 4 lanes from 183 all the way around to 812
-- The part between 130 and 812 6 lanes divided (see below for the reason)
Fagerquist/Wolf
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-- A minimum of 4 lanes from Elroy to Highway 21
Circulation
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Keys:
-- Keep service vehicles and the fans separated.
-- One-way traffic around the perimeter. With the divided perimeter roads divided, the inside lanes can be used for the immediate entry into the property with the outside lanes being allowed to keep moving (the whole key to parking). As those in the outside lanes near their entry point they will move over to the inside lanes. Keep the pattern throughout the event. (Some traffic engineers will say different entry and exit directions. This isn’t the best as it confuses everyone. Learning one way is the easiest.)
-- All employees park off property and are bused in. Not only takes vehicles off the perimeter roads, but it helps with employee security.
The above is just a small part of what has to be accomplished before the race – which is why every day lost now only compounds the timeline issues.
One interesting note: only certified law enforcement personnel can direct traffic on public roads in the State of Texas. The Central Texas law enforcement community is going to be big winners in these events. (However it also means that if you see a guy in the road with just a flag and no uniform, blow past him as he has no police powers.)
