Lots of cops on the way up kept the going slow. I ran into a stealth constable SUV on the toll road in town within minutes of leaving the house and seconds of the entering the freeway going about 15 over four lanes over from him. I immediately backed off and set pace about 5 over, which was still faster than him. We soon met together in the middle lanes and he got over behind me, likely to run plates. But he didn't hassle me, and we split at I-35 and went on our separate ways. I did manage to cruise with one cop for about 30 minutes at ~8 mph over the speed limit. I set cruise and he finally outpaced me with a couple of additional vehicles. We were already going over 80, so I didn't feel the need to push it. I finally got into Fort Worth and ran into some serious traffic. I managed to turn around and detour through town, unhindered the rest of my journey.
Cruising home was fine until I passed the Toll Road 130 North of Georgetown. We quickly ground to a halt. It wasn't a sudden stop, but once we stopped, we stopped for nearly 30 minutes. As we started moving very, very slowly I made my way over to the right hand lane for an exit in about 3/4 of a mile. We moved about 10 car lengths in 10 minutes and then stopped for another 15 minutes. After seeing two trucks cross a pretty steep the grass to the frontage road, I was sorely tempted. The second of the two trucks seemed to have a very smooth path, so I finally followed along a shallower path after contemplating getting stuck for 5 minutes. Part of my decision to go was the fact that this truck I was going to follow had decided he wanted into the right lane and was blocking the left lane of the frontage road, leaving me the perfect opening. I cruised slowly down and across this ditch (
https://www.google.com/maps/@30.5286...9Y8Q!2e0?hl=en), which is deeper and steeper than it seems in the google street view. I took a path pretty much in line with the green exit sign on the other side of the highway. I mowed through the tallish weeds without any unexpected noises or bumps. I start to slip a little going back up the slope on the other side when I hit a patch of dirt, but I was able to push through it without any real issues even with very worn tires. Safely on asphalt again, I turned left across the highway and took some back roads up to the toll road and turned right to head home. I passed over I-35 and looked north to see the NB traffic absolutely stopped and the SB lanes absolutely empty.
I checked the Z when I got home and only found a few crispy wisps of grass in the undercarriage as evidence of my adventuring.
Quote:
Originally Posted by local news
Some major delays on I-35 in Round Rock this afternoon after a crash involving an 18-wheeler and nine other vehicles. Round Rock police say the collision happened at about 2:15 p.m.
An 18-wheeler traveling northbound on I-35 blew a tire causing it to hit the center median.
The truck took out two light poles and the driver lost his load of metal parts on the southbound side of I-35.
The debris caused nine other cars to crash.
No children were injured as a result of the collision, but five people, including the tractor trailer driver, had to be transported to the hospital with minor injuries.
At one point, the traffic on the northbound side of I-35 was backed up 12 miles from the scene of the crash.
|
The SB I-35 lanes just opened up about 45 minutes ago.
