According to jibin123, Abilene is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Taylor and Jones County. The city has 125,000 inhabitants and an urban area of 177,000 inhabitants (2021).
Introduction
Abilene is a small city in central Texas, located approximately 280 kilometers west of Dallas and 640 kilometers east of El Paso and is the main city between these two agglomerations. Abilene is located on the prairies of central Texas, at the transition from Central Texas to North Texas and the Texas Panhandle. Abilene is located in a sparsely populated area, other major cities are several hours away. Abilene has been unaffected by the stormy demographics in other major Texas cities. After World War II, the population grew strongly from 26,000 in 1940 to 90,000 in 1960, but then growth stagnated, and population growth has since been below the US average and certainly below the Texas average. Particularly after 2000, growth was nil. Abilene was originally a railroad hub and distribution center for rural Texas. After the Second World War, defense became the largest employer, which also explains the significant growth between 1950 and 1960. Abilene is less affected by immigration from Latin America than other Texas cities. The center of Abilene is considered one of the most boring in the country. Abilene has one of the lowest cost of living of cities in the country.
Road network
Abilene has a reasonable road network for the size of the city. There are three freeways around Abilene, Interstate 20 being the region’s main and only through highway. Along the west side of Abilene is a freeway bypass, over which US 83, US 84 and US 277 run. The eastern ring is formed by Loop 322. The western bypass has 2×3 lanes, the rest has 2×2 lanes. There are no highways serving downtown Abilene, the only Texas city that doesn’t have a highway running downtown. Most employment is therefore elsewhere. An important railway line cuts the city in two.
History
Abilene’s motorway network was largely completed before the 1990s. I-20 was built in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as the western bypass of Abilene. In the late 1990s, the Loop 322 on the east side of Abilene doubled from a super two to a freeway. Due to the low population growth in recent years, there are no plans to expand the highway network. Abilene is one of the few Texas cities without a stack node.
Traffic intensities
Congestion is an unknown phenomenon in Abilene. Commute times are among the shortest in the United States. Traffic intensities in the region are low, also in urban areas. The busiest point is US 83/US 84 (western bypass) south of US 277 with 61,000 vehicles per day in 2010. The busiest point on I-20 has 37,000 vehicles. The busiest point in Downtown Abilene has 22,000 vehicles.
