We just don't want to confuse this project with the county's work on Boerne Stage Road - which is using the same contractor and is scheduled to finish later this year, according to their latest posted report. So we'll call the Boerne Stage Road project - which is being done by Bexar County Public Works, not TxDOT - the Boerne Stage Road project. We'll call the I-10 project between Dominion Drive and Boerne Stage Road the I-10 Leon Springs project.
Alrighty, with that business aside, we'll move on to actual work on the project.
Obviously there's a ton of work going on along the new frontage road that's being built behind Leon Springs Elementary School. This frontage road will carry traffic along westbound I-10 to Boerne Stage Road, relieving traffic through Leon Springs itself, when we're all through with the work. This new frontage road work includes the construction of a west-to-east turnaround and some expansion of Boerne Stage Road at I-10. This is probably the heaviest work on the project, and will take about a year to finish up (we're a couple short months into that work at this point).
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| The bulk of work - and certainly the most obvious - is being done on Boerne Stage Road under I-10. |
Truth is, there's a major utility conflict at the intersection with an AT&T/Quest line running through the area. We've got some location information sent to a designer working on the utility's behalf, but right now the ball is in their court in terms of getting those utility lines moved. Meanwhile, Texas Sterling Construction is doing all they can at the area without the utility line relocation. Credit those guys for moving forward right now rather than just stopping and not doing much of anything until the issue is totally resolved.
Elsewhere on the job, dirt crews are preparing to do some widening work for a new east-to-west turnaround near Dominion Drive by the end of the month. Gas lines are being relocated across the job, though some conflicts with CPS Energy are being worked out before some of those lines (many of which were planned to be moved last week) can be worked on. Texas Sterling's schedule shows work on the new gas lines to be ongoing through the first part of June.
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| Low-profile barrier is set along the future west-bound frontage road just west of Dominion Drive to facilitate work on drain structures and retaining walls. |
A new park-and-ride location is being finished up along the frontage road between Boerne Stage Road and Ralph Fair Road. This is a permanent location for the park-and-ride, which was displaced by the new westbound frontage road. We're struggling to do the asphalt work with the seal coat priming with the weather we've had recently; we simply can't do it with rain. Once the primer is down a few days need to pass without wet weather. Then Texas Sterling's subcontractor will lay the asphalt down and have the new park-and-ride finished and in operation.
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| The new park-and-ride, located along the frontage road between Boerne Stage Road and Ralph Fair Road, is being built here on the left side of the road as you travel west. |
Texas Sterling has plans to begin work on a culvert along the frontage road between Boerne Stage Road and Ralph Fair Road as well - this work will be almost right where the westbound exit ramp lands onto the frontage road and right where the eastbound entrance ramp begins (on the frontage road). Traffic patterns through there will mean traffic along the frontage road will need to yield to traffic from I-10, but expect to see some added orange barrels before that work starts. TSC expects to have dirt crews digging before the holiday weekend this month.
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| As TSC moves to this location, where the westbound exit ramp to Ralph Fair Road dumps into the frontage road expect to see the westbound lane shifted to the left, yielding to traffic exiting from the main lanes. This configuration should only last a few weeks. |
As a reminder for those driving through the project area, speed limits have dropped (it's a safety thing). On the frontage roads between Boerne Stage and Dominion Drive, speed limits have been reduced to 45 miles per hour. On the main lanes of the highway, the speed limit is being dropped to 65 miles per hour. Keep in mind this is an active work zone, and if you receive a reminder from a law enforcement official and he or she notes on that reminder there were workers present, the fee for such a reminder will double and cannot be negotiated by taking a defensive driving course. For real - look it up! The easy way to stay out of trouble is to simply slow down.
This project is scheduled to finish mid-2016.