Closures impeding Thanksgiving weekend travel?

If you're headed over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house this week the last thing you're going to want to encounter is highway construction.
We feel the same way. The following note was sent to construction supervisors across our district a week ago. This covers all projects in Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Frio, Guadalupe, Kendall, Kerr, Medina, McMullen, Wilson and Uvalde counties.

The overall gist of the memo is simple: we should have no planned lane closures on major roads during the Thanksgiving holiday travel period, defined as beginning noon Wednesday and ending 10 pm Sunday. This doesn't mean we won't have any work going on, but it does mean that work will be done without needing closures.
During the holiday week both maintenance and construction inspectors will drive through projects to ensure major issues that crop up are dealt with in a timely manner. Things they'll specifically look for are work zone signs, barricade placement and pavement markings.
Before the holiday break comes crews will dress up the project areas as much as is practical.
One thing drivers can expect to see is a continuation of detours for long-term closures, like ramps or other features that have been closed long-term.
If something weird happens through the week our folks in the field will pass word along so we are able to post on our Twitter feed and get that information out there. We know many folks aren't on Twitter, but all major news outlets are and they follow us. If something weird happens, the news outlets will know and will be passing word along to you.
This isn't the only period on our calendar with such closure moratoriums. We'll have a similar prohibition on closures running December 15-January 2. Some minor exceptions may be made, but those are extremely rare.
These closure restrictions are long-running norms for us in the San Antonio District, by the way, and are designed to keep us out of your way during peak seasonal traffic and to allows everyone to stay just a little more safe as we prepare for that extra time with family.
And for those of you traveling beyond our little slice of Texas, check www.drivetexas.org for major closures across the great state of Texas. Please make sure you do not check the DriveTexas maps while driving; that's a job for someone in a passenger seat.