When local transportation planners announced that they would ask the Internet for suggestions on what to call the new managed lanes on LBJ Express, it seemed like a bad idea.
But Andy Rittler, corporate affairs director for the project, tells us we were wrong. Over the course of the six-week contest, which ended yesterday, there were more than 3,200 suggestions, only a small fraction of which were profane, vulgar, attacked elected officials, or were otherwise offensive.
Naturally, we wanted those suggestions, but Rittler balked, noting that offensive entries will be immediately weeded out. Instead, he offered some of his personal favorites. They are, in alphabetical order:
635 FAS TRAK; Alley Oop; A$AP LANE$; Big Tex Express; Blue Bonnet Expressway; Boot Scooter; Cash & Dash Lanes; CHOICE PLUS EXPRESS; Cowboy Express; Dallas Happy Tails Toll; Davy Crockett Rocket Lanes; Flexpress; Giddy Up Lanes; Lady Bird Lanes; Lone Star Express; TEXpress; Wheeee!!!; Wormhole Express Lanes.
Some of the suggestions, such as Lady Bird Lanes, surfaced several times, presumably because of their position underneath LBJ. (Yes, we went there).
From here, officials with the North Tarrant/LBJ Express projects will whittle the 3,200 names down to a top 20, which will be considered by an official Name the Lanes selection committee.