Thursday, July 23

Leon Springs work

With two projects moving simultaneously, there are more than a few moving parts between Dominion Drive and Ralph Fair Road along I-10. Here's a look at a few items of note:

Frontage road between Boerne Stage and Aue roads

Last week a portable changeable message sign advertising the temporary conversion of the frontage road between Boerne Stage Road and Aue Road to one-way was posted. The message stated the conversion would happen Monday - and that didn't happen.

The conversion will allow crews to reconstruct the bridge over Leon Springs, which will be built in halves. When that work is finished, the road will revert - permanently - to two-way. This is expected to begin (as of the current schedule) in August. The changed schedule is the result of pending utility relocations - a water line needs moved before work on the bridge can begin. Once we have a better grasp on the actual schedule, we'll post a notice right here.

Eastbound entrance ramp from Ralph Fair Road

We've gotten a multitude of calls and emails asking about the "new" eastbound entrance ramp from Ralph Fair Road. Some of these emails beg for some explanation so we're all on the same page. Honestly, this communication break-down is on our end for not showing exactly what's happening.

First, and foremost, the ramp you're using now is a temporary ramp. It's only going to be in operation a short while. The intent here is to allow crews with Texas Sterling Construction to reconstruct the permanent ramp (in the old location) so it is fit to the new one-way configuration of the eastbound frontage road.

So, this change isn't permanent.

The barrier that's out there is required to maintain project area safety. That said, engineers are re-evaluating the placement of the barrier in the field. If adjustments can be made, they will be. Because of the speed of the roadway we cannot use shorter barrier (that low-profile barrier is only rated for roads with top speeds of 45 miles per hour).

Bottom line: we're taking a long, hard look at this. But what we've got out there is temporary as it stands, and we're pushing the contractor to finish the permanent ramp quickly to get folks back onto the ramp they're intended to be on.


Ralph Fair Road bridge

The bridge is nearly finished. In fact, we're waiting for just a few touch-ups to wrap the project up and should have everyone in final configuration by the end of the month. Mostly, we're waiting for striping to get all the lanes painted to their final configuration.

For those wondering what the lane arrangement will be, here's the final layout:
This cross section shows the lane layout of the new Ralph Fair Road bridge, seen from the vantage point of the Walgreen's at the intersection of I-10 and Ralph Fair Road.
Here's the rub, though: we won't be able to put the bridge into its final final configuration until Texas Sterling finishes the work on the eastbound frontage road between Ralph Fair Road and Boerne Stage Road. Right now we've only got one lane on that frontage road, so we can't very well have two left turn lanes! On a temporary basis the southbound center lane of Ralph Fair Road, which will eventually be an optional left/straight lane, will be a thru lane only.