An event transpired in Kerrville the weekend of September 6-7 that is having a ripple effect on construction across the San Antonio District. That weekend, five road workers - including two TxDOT inspectors - we're seriously injured by a driver who was apparently driving under the influence of alcohol.
Working on roads is risky business to start - our offices are mere inches from traffic flying by at speeds in excess of 60 miles per hour - but it's often made riskier by the poor choices of individuals behind the wheel. Because of that risk, closures. On at least one project in our area will be adjusted to improve safety.
That project is on I-35 between Solms and FM 3009, and involves roadway base repairs and asphalt resurfacing. It's a job intended to fix and extend the life of the roadway.
In order to provide more protection for crews working on the roadway, main lanes of I-35 will close overnight (one direction at a time) starting Sunday night, September 21, at locations between FM 3009 and Solms Rd. This closure will start at 10 p.m. and crews will be out of the way by 5:30 a.m. the following morning. These closures will persist nightly through the week.
These closures will begin on the southbound side only and begin at locations near Solms Rd. As work progresses south, closures will be moved to locations further south. Closures on the northbound lanes are expected to begin near FM 3009 as early as September 28, with crews progressing north as work is finished. This means the overnight closures will continue on the northbound side Sept. 28-Oct. 3.
Specific limits of the nightly closures and any details regarding detour routes will be available later this week.
Update (16 Sept):
Between September 21 and 25 Angel Brothers will close the southbound main lanes between Schwab Road and FM 2252, with traffic re-routed to the frontage road. This will take all southbound I-35 traffic through at least two intersections, which will be directed by police. This closure is nightly only, from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m.
Between September 28 and October 2, the nightly closure will move to the southbound main lanes between FM 2252 and FM 3009. Again, traffic will pass through multiple intersections along the frontage roads and officers will direct traffic. The closure will start at 10 p.m. and the highway will reopen by 5 a.m.
Similar closures on the northbound side will start the night of October 5. More details regarding exact locations and the duration of the closure will be known in two weeks.
This major closure is being done to ensure the safety of road crews working for Angel Brothers and of TxDOT inspectors on the job. Initiating a full closure allows crews to work without worry of being hit by motorists moving through the work zone. The TxDOT area engineer in New Braunfels also expects this closure to improve the quality of the product and the speed of production.
Angel Brothers is repairing the road base along this corridor and resurfacing the roadway.