Tuesday, September 15

I-10 Leon Springs plugging along

The new, widened Ralph Fair Road overpass bridge over I-10 is finished and opened to capacity; Sundt Construction managed to save us some time and money on the project overall. Most of that money savings was in an adjustment to the traffic control plan that kept two-way traffic west of the Ralph Fair Road intersection through the duration of construction.
The overpass bridge running Ralph Fair Rd over I-10 was opened by Sundt Construction in August.
The only remaining issue, based on calls we've fielded, is the timing of the traffic signals at that location. Those signals should be timed appropriately, but we will continue to monitor what's happening. Frankly, we do have a capacity issue - particularly with eastbound traffic coming through the intersection on both sides of the highway. That issue won't be solved by re-timing signals, but by converting the frontage roads to one-way all the way out to Fair Oaks Parkway. More on that in a minute.

The other traffic signal issue is at Boerne Stage Road. The issue that we've noticed is actually amplified by the installation of a new signal on Boerne Stage Road at HEB; this signal was installed as part of the Bexar County project expanding Boerne Stage Road, and was funded by HEB. The timing of that signal is not yet in sync with signals on the I-10 frontage roads at Boerne Stage Road. We are working with Bexar County staff to get those signals synced up (they actually talk to one another through wireless technology) to maximize efficient traffic flow.
This new signal on Boerne Stage Road at the HEB shopping center is still not synced with the signals on I-10 at Boerne Stage Road. Once this signal is synced,traffic woes in the area should improve.
The actual construction that's happening in the area - a project that converts the frontage roads of I-10 to one-way between Boerne Stage Road and Dominion Drive, including some intersection improvements at I-10 and Boerne Stage - is consistently moving along on pace to finish up in 2016. The only major snags we've run into with this project are utility conflicts. We have conflicts remaining with a private telecommunications company in a few locations, with water lines and with some power lines.

We've been working on these issues now for nearly nine months, preventing progress with construction in critical areas. That's not to say the project has been delayed yet - we aren't showing a delay at this point, but we could see one if we're not able to get moving on laying asphalt soon. Asphalt can't go down until some of the drain structures - including storm drain lines and inlets - are built. It's those structures that are hung up because of the utility delays.
The new westbound frontage road, running behind Fralos and Sonic and the Leon Springs Elementary, has been cut and, for the most part, graded. The significant road work here can't begin until all drain structures are in the ground; that means progress is in the hands of the utility companies setting in the area.
Most of these issues are located near the new westbound frontage road area, running behind the Leon Springs Elementary School and the I-10 main lanes, and at the area underneath I-10.

While waiting for these utility conflicts to be addressed, Texas Sterling Construction has been working out-of-the-box a bit, looking for areas to work in order to continue progress on the project. This means working on the frontage road improvements near Dominion Drive (crews will be installing decorative brick pavers at that location over the next few weeks) and near Leon Creek (bridge builders will start building bridge support structures next week).
Workers set brick pavers into the concrete median at Dominion Drive.
Bridge crews work on the eastbound frontage road bridge over Leon Creek; work on the bridge on the westbound side will begin late October.
All told, the current work will wrap up late summer 2016. Meanwhile, Sundt Construction is preparing to start the next project in the area - construction of a new overpass for I-10 over Old Fredericksburg Road. That project, funded by Proposition 1 money, will begin later this fall and will take about three years to complete.