Loop 1604 Northwest
Those who've not driven through the area in a while will likely be surprised to see the overall form of the overpass at New Guilbeau Road in place - including bridge support beams already in place - and the overpass at Shaenfield Road starting to take shape. The overpass at Braun Road is nearly finished (the biggest portions of work, at least) with the approaches to the bridge structure remaining.
Bridge crews have moved to the New Guilbeau Bridge, which had beams set to form the bridge itself earlier this month. Bridge deck panels are scheduled to be set on the northbound bridge through this week, with concrete crews following next week to pour concrete on the bridge deck. The southbound side will follow up, with the deck there being formed before Thanksgiving. That will leave the barrier, which should wrap up by the end of November.
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| Trucks loaded with bridge deck panels wait to be unloaded at New Guilbeau Road this week. |
Here's what that means for those driving the corridor: the New Guilbeau intersection should reopen for traffic - in full - by Christmas. That's a moving target that's still subject to change, but if things go well we could see traffic running through the New Guilbeau intersection in December.
The overpasses still won't be in use until summer 2016, at the earliest. Before those can be put into use new exit and entrance ramps need to be built. While crews are starting to do that work north of Braun Road, the completed overpass at New Guilbeau is necessary before work in that area can come. By the way, that work north of Braun - particularly along the southbound frontage road coming from Bandera - will mean the entrance ramp from Bandera will close November 15.
Then there's the Shaenfield intersection. We won't have the actual bridge structure up by the end of November, but the retaining walls and the columns and abutments should all be put in place by the end of the month. That means in December we could see those beams set, deck panels put in place and concrete poured. A lot has to happen, but the good folks at Williams Brothers Construction are saying it's absolutely possible for folks to see the form of the bridge at Shaenfield by the end of this year.
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| Retaining walls forming the bridge approaches at Shaenfield Road are going up and getting higher every day. |
Meanwhile a hefty effort is going into work at the new connector from southbound Loop 1604 to eastbound Hwy 151. Crews are working on the southbound frontage road of Loop 1604 at Alamo Ranch Parkway, drilling bridge support shafts to form the overpass that will carry Hwy 151 over the Loop 1604 main lanes as well as the direct connector that will keep traffic from Loop 1604 onto Hwy 151 from being stopped at a traffic signal.
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| In the center, a row of drill shafts that will support the Hwy 151 main lane bridge over Loop 1604 are in place; on either side the columns that will support the southbound Lp 1604 ramp to eastbound Hwy 151 are also in place. Crews could be ready to set beams at this location as early as the first part of the new year. |
The overall project is on pace to be finished by the end of 2016, though project staff are hinting they could wrap up a little early.
I-10 Leon Springs
On this project we have some great news and some good news - we'll stay positive for both.
Good news first: starting November 16 (a Monday) Texas Sterling Construction will begin expanding the frontage road bridge over Leon Creek on the westbound side. This is the two-way bridge between Boerne Stage Road and Aue Road. During this work the bridge will be limited to a single lane and only travel one way.
Here's what this means for drivers in the area: Beginning November 16 traffic between Boerne Stage Road and Aue Road will be westbound only. This is a temporary situation, though it will last through the end of the year. Traffic between the westbound exit ramp to Ralph Fair Road and Aue Road will continue to be two-way.
Now for the great news: We have finally received word major utility conflicts that have held us up on finishing the new westbound frontage road between the current Boerne Stage Road exit ramp (which will be converted to an entrance ramp from Dominion Drive) and Boerne Stage Road have been cleared. Texas Sterling will be able to go full-speed on the new frontage road and turnaround at Boerne Stage Road, meaning we are that much closer to being able to convert the frontage roads between Dominion Drive and Boerne Stage Road to one-way.
That conversion is not set to happen until the intersection improvements at Boerne Stage Road and at Dominion Drive are complete. Don't expect the frontage roads to switch to one-way until after the new year at the current work pace. A firm date for completion of the work approaching Boerne Stage will be known later this week.
Overall project completion for this job is summer 2016.