Monday, October 16

Mail Bag: Hwy 151 at Hunt Lane, traffic counts and the future of 1604 and 151

Where can I find statistics that will tell me the approximate increase in vehicles or road usage over the last 10-15 years invarious areas of the city or county?
- Canny

So, we have maps showing the average number of trips on our roads ranging back to 2010, but not before then. You may want to check with the city or the county for traffic counts on roads not part of the TxDOT system.
When you do check out our map, keep in mind the blue numbers show the average daily traffic at that spot.

When is the Hunt Lane exit on 151 going to open?
- Sarah
What's going on with 151? Hunt Lane exit has been closed for almost 3 months when it should have been closed for 1 month. Also, it looks like they are ripping apart the walls of the highway exits. Please explain to us what it going on. My entire neighborhood is getting annoyed and confused.
- Fred

The latest schedule shows opening by Thanksgiving. We still have a retaining wall to finish up and lay asphalt out there. If Williams Brothers Construction is able to continue at their current pace we are only a matter of weeks from being ready to open things back up.
I was wondering why the lights on Alamo Ranch Parkway were not sync'd to allow traffic to flow better. Seems like you have to stop every time.
- Chris

We know you hate the answer, but those signals aren't under TxDOT control. They belong to Bexar County Public Works - they should have more information than we do about the timing strategy of that signal.

I know the original plans for the 151-1604 interchange did not include a flyover between 151-West and 1604-North. Is there any possibility of one in the near future?
- Peter

Great question, Peter. We just brought a consultant on board to study a variety of options for this location - we have to look at options with a variety of budget levels - and will begin fleshing these options out. We do not yet have funding for anything right there, but that could come as the need is quantified and the options identified clearly.
The bad news: any changes are at least a few years out, so you won't see anything coming before 2020 (barring some sort of miraculous windfall). We do want your neighbors to know we are mindful of the issue, though, and we are working on a solution.

I love how 24 hours a day 6 days a week has turned into a few minutes a day, five days a week for the 1103 bridge replacement. Heck, now you have even changed the closures to 9 am to 5 pm, hardly the 24 hours a day you advertised.
- Laughable

To be honest, Laughable, this one is the fault of our communications team. During our preconstruction meeting we asked whether we would be working around-the-clock and thought we were told that would happen. The contractor has the ability to work either day or night, and crews will be splitting time between both overnight and daytime shifts. If they work overnight, you won't see anything during the day - and vice versa. While we'll have a smattering of both, it won't be around-the-clock work as initially published.
This was a misunderstanding on our part - we are sorry.
Either way, we're still making headway on the project and will wrap up spring 2019.