That other direct connector is about to open (and other fun stuff)

Pardon our shameless cliffhanger, but we won't get to the good stuff until later.
This morning's conference call revealed some big-time closures over the upcoming weeks. We'll give you the Cliffs Notes from what we had:


I-10 at Camp Bullis

Full closure of the westbound main lanes beginning Friday night, May 18, and continuing through Monday morning, May 21. We'll have a full closure of the eastbound main lanes June 1-4. During both closures we'll have Camp Bullis closed under I-10.
These closures are to set bridge support beams for the expansion of the main lanes. Traffic will exit Camp Bullis, continue through the intersection and re-enter the highway.
We are ensuring proper coverage by off-duty police to control traffic at the Camp Bullis intersection.


US Hwy 281
On the southbound frontage road of US Hwy 281 at Loop 1604, the left-turn lane will remain closed continuously through May 26. The south-to-north turnaround remains open.
This allows crews to work on bridge support structures overhead.


I-35 at New Braunfels Ave
We have one more bridge pour coming, but no timeframe yet from the contractor. We're working to get that so we can get the notice out and finish this project up.


Loop 1604 northwest
Expect routine overnight closures at Wiseman Boulevard while crews reconstruct the intersection and install new signal poles.
Nightly closures of the US Hwy 90 main lanes at Loop 1604 will happen through the next week or so; we'll also close nightly the west-to-east turnaround at Loop 1604. All this is for bridge work.

By the way, that little spot on the northbound main lanes of Loop 1604 just north of Marbach, where traffic squeezes down to a single lane, should open back up to two lanes by the middle of May. Webber Construction ran into a utility conflict while doing some road expansion work and have gotten that conflict resolved. Look for that to open up and provide the relief folks have clamored for by the middle of this month.
Also ... that south-to-north turnaround at US Hwy 90 should be opened by the end of the month. We know it's a month later than we'd hoped; we ran into some issues with the new traffic signals system.
Thank you for your patience on this one, and thanks for not breaking out the hammocks when stuck in traffic.


I-410 at US 90
No major closures happening beyond the nightly closures of all main lanes of I-410 at US 90; we should be done pouring concrete there by the end of next week if all goes well.


I-35 SAMMC
Overnight work continues to finish the overhead highway lights mounted to the center median. We're also working on some ramps and the frontage roads. All of this should only impact overnight traffic.
On the bright side, Lane Construction is saying they should be finished with all work by the end of June.


I-410 at Hwy 151
Here's the big one:
The new eastbound Hwy 151 connector to northbound I-410 will open this weekend.

That's right; it's happening. And it's happening much earlier than expected. The overall project completion wasn't set to happen until the end of this summer ... but we're seeing enough light at the end of the tunnel to believe we'll have this one knocked out by mid-summer at the latest. We even reported an estimated completion of this one direct connector as the end of this month when we toured the project with our staff last month, and we still beat that expectation date.
If you ask us, that's pretty cool.
Of course, in order for us to get that connector opened up we'll need major closures on eastbound Hwy 151 and northbound I-410 starting Friday night and wrapping up by Monday morning.

The bottom line: Monday's morning commuters won't have to go through the intersections of Hwy 151 and I-410 or of I-410 and Military Drive to reach the northbound lanes of I-410. Traffic will be in its final configuration instead.
This leaves one last spot of work for the project: the southbound I-410 entrance from Culebra Road. You'll see increased effort on that ramp and should see it open up by the end of June if all goes well.
Once that ramp is done Williams Brothers will go back and lay the final surface of asphalt for the project. Yes, traffic is in its final configuration ... but the road surface itself isn't final. Please don't call us to tell us how bad it is - it's temporary until the project is finished.

Heads up! Major closures this weekend

So there's this major event coming up. What's it called ... Fiesta, is it? Yeah, that's it.
Well, we won't have any major closures interfering with Fiesta events, which means most of our projects are trying to get work done before Fiesta starts up. That means a second straight weekend with quite a lot of big closures you may want to be aware of.


US Hwy 90 at I-410
This closure is a continuous closure and actually started today. It's way easier to show you what it is than to describe it, so take a look:

The closure will last until Wednesday, April 18 while crews do bridge work overhead. Williams Brothers is dedicating crews around-the-clock at this location to get it reopened.
With it closed traffic will head north to Hwy 151, turn around and return to US 90 to reach its destination.


I-410 near Marbach
The southbound frontage road will close between Marbach Road and US Hwy 90 starting Friday night at 9. We'll have it all reopened by 6 a.m. Monday. Traffic will simply get onto the main lanes of the highway and get right back off if they need to.


I-410 at Hwy 151

This one is exciting - and means good news!
All lanes will close at Hwy 151 Friday night and reopen by 7 a.m. Saturday while crews resurface the road. at the same time the westbound main lanes of Hwy 151 will close at I-410. Expect a doozy of a detour ... but it'll be overnight only.
Now for the good news part:
When things open up we'll be opening the brand-new southbound I-410 connector to westbound Hwy 151.
You can read that again to be sure you got it clearly. We'll go over details during a guided project tour Thursday, but it should open Saturday. To say we're a little excited is, well, a drastic understatement.


I-10 at Dominion Drive
We'll have the main lanes down to a single lane at Dominion Drive beginning Friday at 9 p.m. We'll have everything reopened by Monday at 5 a.m. This is to do work similar to what we did last week at Camp Bullis, though we don't expect the delays to be as long as they were last weekend.
This means we'll have Dominion Drive closed at I-10 through the weekend as well. Traffic off Dominion Drive (or Stonewall Parkway) will turn right onto the frontage road and turn around at the next available cross street to reach its destination.


I-35 at Eisenhauer
We'll have the northbound lanes closed here for some road work starting Friday at 9 p.m., and we'll reopen things by 5 a.m. Monday. We're nearing completion of all work on this project along I-35 ... so there shouldn't be too many more weekends to sit through like this out here.


I-35 at Walzem
This is a ramp closure only. We'll have the southbound ramp to Walzem closed for some resurfacing and striping. This will start Friday at 9 p.m. and run through the weekend until Monday at 5 a.m. Considering the closure we've got on northbound I-35 at nearby Eisenhauer, it'd be wise to exit early to reach Walzem.

The big'uns to look for in December

Our contractors are working at blistering paces on projects district-wide to ensure we have no closures impeding holiday travel after school districts let out for the Christmas break. That happens, for nearly all major school districts in our area, at some point the week of December 18-22.
In order to ensure the work we do between about December 18 and January 2 is done without closures you'll see a flurry of overnight closures and at least three semi-major closures in the San Antonio area.
Check our weekly lane closures report for overnight closures. Here is a brief list of our biggest closures to be aware of:

• Friday, December 1 at 8 p.m. until Monday, December 4 at 5 a.m. I-410 main lanes and frontage road, both directions, at US 90. All lanes will close while crews set steel bridge support beams overhead. Southbound traffic will exit westbound US 90, turn around at Hunt Lane and return to southbound I-410. Northbound traffic will exit eastbound US 90, turn around at Military Drive and return to northbound I-410.
• Friday, December 15 at 8 p.m. until Saturday, December 16 at 6 p.m. I-10 main lanes, both directions, at Fair Oaks Parkway. All lanes will close while crews pour concrete to form a bridge deck overhead. Traffic in both directions will exit Fair Oaks Parkway, continue through the intersection and re-enter the highway.
• Friday, December 15 at 8 p.m. until Monday, December 18 at 5 a.m. I-35 main lanes, both directions, between George Beach and Randolph Boulevard. Alternating lanes will close, two at a time, while crews resurface the road. When the closure is picked up the capacity of I-35 will be increased by one lane in each direction (main lanes traffic will be in its final configuration).

Please plan accordingly.

Mail Bag: new signal in New Braunfels, turnarounds at Marbach, 410-151 intersection

First, I want to say I am happy to see a traffic light at the intersection of Hwy 46 and FM 758 in New Braunfels! I travel through this intersection twice a day and it is very dangerous attempting to turn left onto 46 from FM 758. I would like to ask if we will see a flashing yellow left turn for 758 bound traffic from 46.

An instructive gif we used when we turned away
from the left turn yield on green arrangment in San Antonio.

I can already see a red left turn light there causing unnecessary congestion/delay and even making access to Clear Springs restaurant an issue for opposite 46 traffic.
- John
To paraphrase our traffic operations engineer: Yessir! This signal cycle will include a flashing yellow arrow signal. For those who don't know what that means, the flashing yellow arrow allows drivers taking a left to proceed cautiously if the coast is clear. This allows a better traffic flow and minimizes the need for long green time for a secondary movement at a signal.
Timing of the signal, once it's been installed and good to go, will be managed by our friends with the city of New Braunfels.

Closure of the turnarounds at Marbach was very bad planning. It is creating very bad traffic jams on the access roads. I can't believe this bad situation is going to last more than a year.
- Ed

We understand it's difficult, but it's necessary. With the amount of overhead work we're doing and the fact we need to work on the bridge support shelves (called abutments) it's simply impossible to keep the turnarounds open at a location like this. The closure is pretty standard for any construction of the type we're doing.
To mitigate the impact we are working with San Antonio Transportation and Capital Improvements, the city department with oversight for traffic signals and other roadway issues, to optimize the signal timing at the intersection to handle the additional traffic.
As for the duration ... well, we could have them opened back up a LOT faster if we were able to build the bridge all in one shot. That would mean, of course, fully closing I-410 for about eight months while we totally rebuilt the bridge. We'd carry all the main lanes traffic on the frontage roads through the Marbach intersection.

The last major rain event saw pretty bad puddling on the southbound I-410 exit for Hwy 151. What are you doing to fix this?
- Several

We added new asphalt to reverse the flow of water, and so far it's been working wonderfully. The water now runs to the area between the frontage road and exit ramp and drains to the north on up to Leon Creek. Barring a major rain storm, which brings puddling everywhere no matter what we do, we shouldn't see any major issues at this location as long as this temporary ramp is still in use.
Long-term, the exit ramp for Military Drive and the Westover Marketplace shopping center will move back to the north of Leon Creek. That's still on its way.

Closurepocalypse over; get ready for Closuregeddon

Last weekend we had major closures on US 90 at I-410 and on I-10 at Fair Oaks Parkway. Both went relatively smoothly (though that stretch of I-10 had a hiccup after our work was done with a big rig overturning Sunday).
If you avoided these areas per our recommendations, GREAT JOB!
Well ... we're doing it again and you probably want some information on what to expect for this weekend. We're calling it Closuregeddon, after last week's Closurepocalypse.
Here you go:

One closure we don't mention in the video you should probably take note of: I-35 between Walzem Road and Thousand Oaks. We'll have all lanes, both directions, closed Saturday (November 18) between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. This will allow crews to work on overhead highway signs. This is a closure you'll want to avoid as well.


Closure moratoriums coming
We're just putting this out there - please spread the word.
We will have NO planned construction-related closures between noon November 22 and 10 p.m. November 26. You'll also see NO planned construction-related closures between 6 a.m. December 15 and 10 p.m. January 2.

Steel beams to be set over I-410 ... at US 90

Williams Brothers Construction will place steel bridge beams over I-410 at US Hwy 90 over the next two weekends, requiring a near complete shut-down of the busy interchange each weekend.
The beams will form the future eastbound Loop 1604 ramp to northbound I-410.
There's no quick-and-easy explanation of these closures, so we'll be very deliberate covering each direction. Please pay attention to the specific direction you may be traveling (look for a video of this next week).

Nov. 10-13 closure
Beginning Friday, November 10 at 8 p.m. all lanes - frontage road and main lanes - of US Hwy 90 will close at I-410. The main lanes of I-410 will not be affected.

• Eastbound traffic will take southbound I-410 to Valley Hi, turn around and return to US Hwy 90.
• Westbound traffic will take northbound I-410 to Hwy 151, turn around and return to US Hwy 90.
• Southbound I-410 traffic to westbound US 90 will not be affected.
• Southbound I-410 traffic to eastbound US 90 will exit Valley Hi, turn around and return to US 90 via the northbound frontage road of I-410.
• Northbound I-410 traffic to eastbound US 90 will not be affected.
• Northbound I-410 traffic to westbound US 90 will exit Hwy 151, turn around and return to US 90 via the southbound main lanes and frontage roads.
• All other directions will follow their normal paths.

All lanes will be reopened by 5 a.m. November 13.

Nov. 17-20 closure
Beginning Friday, November 17 at 8 p.m. all lanes - frontage road and main lanes - of I-410 will close at US Hwy 90. The main lanes of US 90 will not be affected.

• Southbound traffic will exit westbound US Hwy 90 to Hunt Lane, turn around and return to I-410.
• Northbound traffic will exit eastbound US Hwy 90 to Military Drive, turn around and return to I-410.
• Eastbound US 90 traffic to northbound I-410 will exit Military Drive, turn around and return to I-410 via the frontage road.
• Westbound US 90 traffic to southbound I-410 will exit Hunt lane, turn around and return to I-410 via the frontage road.
• Southbound I-410 traffic to eastbound US 90 will exit US 90 west and turn around at Hunt Lane.
• Northbound I-410 traffic to westbound US 90 will exit US 90 east and turn around at Military Drive.

All lanes will be reopened by 5 a.m. November 20.

Overnight work, too
The steel beams, once set, will need to be welded into place and have the temporary bracings removed. This will take about a month to accomplish with overnight closures employed to get the job done. These closures will be confined to the main lanes and be in one direction only, with the exception of two or three nights of work over the heart of US 90 and another two or three nights of work over the heart of I-410.
The nights with full closures in both directions will be announced via social media as they are scheduled.
As a rule of thumb, expect closures on US 90 every night between November 13-22 and November 27-30. Expect the same activity on I-410 between November 29 and December 22. If you noted the dates overlap a bit, let us put your mind at ease: we will NOT close both US 90 and I-410 at this location simultaneously.

Northbound I-410 closure this weekend

We've gotta be honest - this one got jumbled in our schedule a bit. This alert should have gone out at least two days ago. It didn't. That's entirely on us and a schedule oversight this week.

Williams Brothers Construction will close all lanes of northbound I-410 between US Hwy 90 and Hwy 151 Saturday at 2 a.m. until Monday at 5 a.m.

This closure follows a brief overnight closure of southbound I-410 between Hwy 151 and US 90 starting tonight at 8 p.m. going until about 2 a.m. tomorrow. Only one direction of traffic will be closed at a time.

Here's the closure narrative in our traditional format:

• Friday, October 6 at 8 p.m. until Saturday, October 7 at 2 a.m. Southbound main lanes between Marbach and Valley Hi. All lanes will close while crews work on center median barrier. Traffic will exit Marbach, continue along the frontage road through Marbach Road and re-enter the highway before Valley Hi.
• Saturday, October 7 at 2 a.m. until Monday, October 9 at 5 a.m. Northbound main lanes between US Hwy 90 and Hwy 151. All lanes will close while crews reconfigure the road. Traffic will exit US Hwy 90, continue along the frontage road through the Marbach intersection and re-enter at the next available ramp. Traffic will remain in the right lane until after Hwy 151.

During the closure of the northbound main lanes the turnarounds at Marbach will close and left turns onto or off of Marbach at I-410 will be heavily restricted by the off-duty officers controlling traffic at the intersection for the weekend. If you're looking to turn left onto Marbach off of I-410 you may want to find another way. If not you'll end up staying on the frontage road to the next available turnaround to return to the intersection. If you're in the southbound lanes that means going all the way down to Valley Hi to turn around.

The turnarounds will remain closed until the new bridge is complete spring of 2020.

This weekend’s closure allows Williams Brothers to shift traffic toward the center median over the Marbach Road overpass bridge. The Marbach Road overpass bridge is being reconstructed and widened to accommodate lanes headed to and coming from two new direct connectors being built at the intersection of I-410 and U.S. 90. A similar shift with accompanying closures on the southbound side will come October 20-23. With all lanes running in the middle of the bridge Williams Brothers will be able to reconstruct the outer portion of the bridge.

The reconstruction work starts by demolishing the outer edge of the existing bridge. Williams brother will tear out the edge of the northbound bridge October 13-16 and will wreck the edge of the southbound bridge October 27-30. Both weekends Marbach Road will close under I-410 and the frontage road on the side of the demolition activity will likely have some corresponding closures. Those details will be published in our weekly closure report.

You catch all that? Here's a little easier way to look at it:

• October 7-9 - Full closure of northbound main lanes between US 90 and Hwy 151
• October 13-16 - Full closure of Marbach at I-410, closure of northbound frontage road (will still have one lane open)
• October 20-23 - Full closure of southbound main lanes between Hwy 151 and US 90
• October 27-30 - Full closure of Marbach at I-410, closure of northbound frontage road (will still have one lane open)

Work on the $72.4 million project started January 2017 and will wrap up mid-2020.

Some updates on the two I-410 interchange projects

Josh Carrasco, we promised you a post on this project last week and failed to deliver. Please let this post make up for that and serve as a humble and complete apology - we are hoping our information here is more up-to-date and gets you the details you were hoping for.
We have two projects running concurrently at major I-410 interchanges. The first began in 2015 at the intersection of I-410 and Hwy 151. The other began last year and is at I-410 and US 90. Both projects are really similar; we're adding a westbound connector to northbound I-410 and another connector from southbound I-410 to the eastbound cross highway.
On both projects we're also making some changes to the way the frontage roads along I-410 operate (and on the cross highways), and that's the work leading to some of our questions and delays. Making the fact we have two projects running right over one another is made easier by the fact we have the same contractor working both projects - Williams Brothers Construction - which keeps coordination efforts between the two jobs at optimal levels.
At any rate, without further ado here's a brief report of what we've had going.

Westbound Hwy 151 to I-410

Last week drivers who drive eastbound Hwy 151 to I-410 wrestled with a temporary transition as the auxiliary lane that's normally between the on-ramp from Hunt Lane and the exit ramp to I-410 was converted to a normal acceleration lane. After the initial transition the morning of June 9 we had several signs placed along the road to alert drivers of the change. The transition allowed Williams Brothers to build some drain structures across the existing exit ramp.
That work finished a little faster than initially expected (it took one week rather than two) and traffic is now back to normal with the auxiliary lane back open.

New ramps on I-410 between Hwy 151 and Culebra
We have a number of ramps we're working on along the I-410 corridor on both sides of the road. The first to become part of your daily life is the new southbound exit ramp to Military Drive - which also brings a nifty bypass to get traffic around Military Drive to reach the businesses at Westover Marketplace. That will also mean the closure of the current Hwy 151 exit. Here's a look at what that'll be like (click to enlarge):

Once the exit and its bypass are open and fully in use (could be as early as August, if all goes right) we'll probably convert the old exit to Hwy 151 to an entrance ramp for all that traffic from Culebra Road. The southbound on-ramp from Culebra will bridge over the exit to Military and, because of some issues with the fabrication of steel beams for that bridge, will not be ready until the end of this year.
On the northbound side there's that pesky exit ramp to Culebra Road that's been closed since November. This one has also been impacted by some beam issues and the resultant refocus on work in other areas, and we are hoping today to have things reopened before Halloween. Before we can do that we'll need to have the entrance from Military Drive opened, which bridges over what will be the exit to Culebra. The good news is once that entrance is done all we need to do is lay asphalt for the Culebra exit, which shouldn't take too long at all. Our field personnel is trying to press this work item so we get it done sooner than later.

Hwy 151 progress
We already talked about that interruption on the eastbound side of Hwy 151. On the westbound side we've had the exit to Hunt Lane closed since February. We are still on pace to have it reopened by the end of August as promised.

The direct connectors
The key components of the project are the direct connectors taking eastbound Hwy 151 traffic to northbound I-410 and southbound I-410 traffic to westbound Hwy 151. We had some issues with the steel beams required for the longer bridge spans - those are all ironed out now (see what we did right there?). Right now we are hoping to have the remaining bridge support beams set early 2018 and put traffic on the connectors mid-2018.

South of Hwy 151
This work is still in the earliest stages, though you'll likely notice we've already started building bridge support columns near the intersection of US Hwy 90 and I-410. We have a lot to do between now and getting  open to traffic those direct connectors from eastbound US 90 to northbound I-410 and from southbound I-410 to westbound US 90. That's expected mid-2020, by the way.
The biggest pinch point right now is the southbound frontage road between Hwy 151 and Marbach Road. We have a ramp closed in that area (the southbound exit to Lakeside Pkwy) and traffic is reduced to a single lane for a few hundred feet. Williams Brothers is working hard to widen the road and construct good curbs and sidewalks along the frontage road project-wide, but we ran into a utility conflict right there approaching Marbach. If things work out the way everyone on the project is hoping. we should be wrapped up with the frontage road work by the end of 2017.
Between then and now we'll also have a noise deflection wall built along the northbound frontage road between Marbach and Hwy 151. Folks in the area should expect to see that work happening rapidly through the summer.

Nine quick project updates

No matter what part of San Antonio you're driving in, chances are you're encountering a construction project. Though we have dozens of projects active right now, we needed to focus on the biggest jobs we have going.
If you've been bitten by the curiosity bug (or no someone who has), take a gander and share this with your friends. We're trying to keep each of these updates brief, so this should go pretty fast:


US 281
We ceremoniously broke ground on this project March 31 and have since been awaiting some paperwork that will allow Webber Construction to get rolling. That paperwork was resting with the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency, and we believe the paperwork is now on its way back to us. As soon as we get that paperwork in hand we'll be able to get working. Bottom line: we're hoping to be underway in June.


I-35 SAMMC
Some have called or emailed in regarding the southbound I-410 exit to Binz-Engleman, which has been closed since we moved traffic onto the new southbound I-35 connector to southbound I-410. Long story short we needed Lane Construction to rebuild the ramp to fit the new connector road, and that should be done here in the next few weeks (translation: mid-June).


1604-151
Work between Bandera and Culebra is long done, and now our work at the intersection of Hwy 151 and Loop 1604 is finished as well. In fact, lingering questions regarding the intersection of Alamo Ranch Parkway and Westwood Loop will not be addressed by our project; those will go to Bexar County Public Works instead. We are looking into some options for highway signs to get traffic from Hwy 151 to Culebra Road, though.


Loop 1604 Northwest
If you've not driven 1604 south of Hwy 151 lately ... well, you may be surprised by what you find. We've got Zachry Construction getting it done between Wiseman and Potranco, and Webber is at work between Potranco and US 90. Heck, they've been at it for six months already, and it's getting obvious. Webber is gearing up to set bridge support beams for what will be the southbound overpass at Potranco Road in the next few weeks, and Zachry continues to work hard to build those southbound lanes on the length of their project.


Potranco Road
The medians are intended to restrict left-turn movements, so if your top complaint is that you can no longer turn left where you wanted ... well, that means the median is doing its job. Yes, the cuts in the median were carefully thought out (read more on this here). We are very near finishing work here, and should be wrapped up and have a final product for you by the end of the month, weather permitting.


UTSA Boulevard
This is another project that's wrapping up. We're resurfacing the project between Ximenes and almost I-10 right now and hope to be out of there in June. The city's portion of the project (between Ximenes and Babcock) still has work to finish, but our end of things is nearly complete.


I-10 Leon Springs
The new eastbound exit ramp to Dominion Drive is open (as of Thursday last week) and traffic is finally in its final configuration between Ralph Fair Road and Dominion Drive. We still have a few minor things to wrap up, but we should be out of people's way. Expect to see Texas Sterling begin putting the final course of asphalt on the road later this week, if weather cooperates. That process should take no more than two weeks to wrap up.


151-410
Yep, we've got a ton of overnight closures in this area right now. Crews are working hard to get whatever bridge beams set they can and are working particularly hard on the bridge structures making up the new exit ramps along northbound and southbound I-410 around Culebra Road. The northbound ramp to Culebra that's been closed since late last year is progressing, and should be reopened in August. Overall completion for this project is still set for next year.


90-410
Williams Brothers is moving pretty darned fast on this project and are focusing on the foundational structures near the intersection of I-410 and US 90 itself. As this work ramps up (and work on US 90 between Loop 1604 and I-410 winds down over the next couple months) expect to see things hit the intensity we're now seeing at 151-410. The two projects are, after all, pretty darned identical. By the way, that mess on the southbound side between Hwy 151 and Marbach is something we're trying to get fixed. The redundant exit ramps will be a major item we address with the project.

Mail Bag: driver responsibility, crash cushions, lane restrictions, I-410 work

So ... we've not done a Mail Bag post in a while, so we've got a lot of questions to go through. This is the first of two installments, which will all publish in the next week.

There seems to have been some lane changes on the I-410 S access road at Vista West Dr. It's gone down to one lane which is causing significant traffic backups in the morning. Is this temporary?
- Mike
So, the single lane is temporary while we've got construction going on right there (more in a moment). One thing that's not temporary is the elimination of the redundancy with the Lakeside Parkway exit (from which you couldn't really even reach Lakeside Parkway) and the Marbach exit.
The work is a major "operational improvement" (engineerese for "we're changing the way things work...") along I-410 between US 90 and Hwy 151. That work started with the new year this year (ahem, that's 2017) and will take about two and a half years to finish.
When we're all done you'll have a new lane in each direction on the I-410 main lanes between Hwy 151 and US 90. You'll have reconfigured exit and entrance ramps to allow a more fluid traffic flow along the corridor, which means the frontage roads are being adjusted. Oh, and we're making sure the curbs and sidewalks along these frontage roads are just right.
The cherry on top? New direct connectors at US 90, moving eastbound traffic on US 90 to northbound I-410 and southbound traffic from I-410 to westbound US 90. That means if you're commute goes between, say, Castroville and the Crossroads area ... it'll get a lot nicer when we're all done (at the end of 2019).

The I-10 westbound access road between Dominion Drive and Boerne Stage Road looks almost complete. Can you tell us when this access road will open both lanes?
-RobertBy now, Robert, you know we have things opened up to two lanes. We've posted on this a bit more earlier this month (you've likely seen it by now), but the bottom line is we'll have traffic in its final configuration by the first week of April. That's still on schedule, by the way!

I have two concerns. My first is about the intersection of the frontage roads of Loop 1604 and I-10. I've almost been hit multiple times as drivers get into the turn lane for the Top Golf entrance, disregard the pavement markings and continue straight to get to the I-10 frontage. The current markings aren't working, so I'm now avoiding the area. My second is about the park-and-ride at I-35 and Shin Oak. Apparently it has turned into a park-and-stay for 18-wheelers. This looks horrible and seems to have discouraged the few people who were actually using it as designed from doing so. Many years ago there used to be a sign that said "No Overnight Parking" there. What can be done about these two concerns?
- Steven
So ... it seems we have a law enforcement issue with the traffic ignoring the regulatory lane markers. We've been through a slew of different ideas with this area (the Top Golf driveway...), and right now we've done all we can feasibly do. The next steps require some serious concessions from the property owners we're unlikely to get - like permission to permanently close the driveway altogether.
As for the park-and-ride issue, this is a problem that occurs at every park-and-ride we have in the region. Heck, some folks have been known to park their cars and post them for sale at these lots, which we had to remedy by threatening folks to tow their cars. We're getting with our maintenance folks to try and re-post those signs if possible - it may help a little.

I've noticed that the collapsible guardrail end cap at the northbound Loop 1604 exit to Bandera is continually destroyed, fixed, and then smashed again. Is there any plan to smooth out or widen that area so that cars are not pointed directly at the barrier end cap when they exit? It seems like the exit angle is too tight or at least tighter than what people anticipate. It might just take a re-stripe of the area to flatten out the exit curve a bit. It's scary to take that exit if you're not anticipating being pointed directly at the barrier end cap. It feels like an emergency evasive maneuver to not hit it.
- Bob
This is a problem we're having at multiple locations - people keep forgetting to keep their vehicle between the lines and end up running into these crash cushions. We are repairing them constantly all over the region; it's not just at this location.
The major crashes we've seen at this location all involve failure to control speed (certainly that was the case with the first major crash on this ramp) and a failure to maintain proper attention. That means folks are distracted.
Certainly a crash cushion can sneak up on a driver when their eyes aren't on the road - and that's what's happening here, Bob. Folks simply aren't paying attention to driving. The motorized vehicle is the single deadliest weapon in America, and folks don't pay attention to what they're doing while wielding it. Scary!

Any update on what defines a "truck", in reference to the "No Trucks Left Lane" signs? I noticed that the regulation's language permits trucks to use the left lane for passing; if that is true, it almost makes that statute redundantly unnecessary since the left lane (for passenger cars and trucks) is for passing only anyways.
- Mark
Well, short of going to law school for this one, we've done a little digging and come up with better information than the last time we get on this topic. Here goes....
The definition of "truck" according to Texas Transportation Code is a motor vehicle that's designed and operated to transport property. If you want to read it on your own, look for Texas Code 541.001(21) here. Further definition of a "truck" for these restrictions typically does include a requirement of three or more axles - see the first paragraph of this TTC Minute Order from Hill County in 2012 for an example. You'll note the reference to "truck tractors", which is defined in section 22 of 541.001 referenced above.
While that minute order pertains to somewhere that's not San Antonio, the Texas Highwayman shows the history of the left-lane restrictions locally (which, by the way, began back in 2004).
The legal result? An emphasis on getting trucks out of the left lane with stiffer penalties. You're absolutely right about the left lane for the rest of us - it's really designed for passing only (note to you who like to hang out in the left lane ... you're doing it wrong). This whole "no trucks" thing simply adds extra teeth for those big wheelers.

I heard about a 3-car accident at westbound 1604 and Stone Oak, just before the exit to Blanco, on the news this morning and it reminded me of other major accident crashes at that location due to the merging traffic. I drive through there everyday and it always seems that something happens probably once every 2 weeks or so (probably more often than that), and I see y'all replacing the damaged guardrails probably once a month at that location. Forgive me, but it seems like a waste of money to keep repeatedly replacing the guardrails that often. I'm just curious if y'all had noticed that's an emerging trouble spot due to the recently constructed ramps, and was wondering if you had any thoughts on that, and if TxDOT (or the city) have any future plan of action?
- Mike
To be completely honest, Mike, the best plan of action is to ask drivers to follow those basic driving principles we all learn in drivers' education as new drivers - but somehow forget with experience.
The problem isn't highway design, it's rude and poor driving habits. As you'll note, Mike, we have other locations where these guardrails and crash cushions are being repaired on the regular. Heck, we have crews repairing these safety features at some location in our city pretty much every day.
That's unacceptable. For us, we're focused on what we call "vision zero". This is a collaborative effort with the city of San Antonio to help make our multimodal transportation routes as safe as possible. It's not something we can do on our own, though. Ultimately driver responsibility has to enter.
That's why you won't hear us referring to these collisions as "accidents" - because they're not an accident. Safety is no accident, Mike. It's very deliberate.
These crashes occur because a driver is being negligent. They are failing to control speed, driving while distracted or driving while intoxicated. They are being rude and following too closely, failing to yield or failing to merge properly. They don't signal. They ignore the world around them and just do them ... and that selfish driving behavior is killing folks.
We will continue to design safe roads and post the "instructions" of safe use everywhere. But we need drivers who won't ignore these instructions to keep the facilities safe.

2017: A year in preview

Last month we talked about what 2016 meant to us. Well, 2017 is a pretty darned special year. For those who don't already know, it's a pretty big birthday for TxDOT - but more on that later.

Out with the old
This is the year we finally wrap up work on I-35 between Windcrest and SAMMC. This project, which adjusts a ton of ramps and adds an auxiliary lane in each direction, kicked off back in 2013, was initially set to wrap up near the end of 2016. A slew of issues, ranging from discrepancies in the plan sheets to resource allocation by the contractor to utility conflicts, have plagued the project throughout. Most of these issues have been addressed and, by year's end, we should have this project wrapped up. Once work is complete our auditors and project staff will comb through project schedules and our documents to determine how much of the delay is on our end (TxDOT) and how much is with the contractor (Lane Construction). After this review process (which happens with every project) appropriate liquidated damages will be assessed.
For those driving the area, though, the big news will be the relief from construction-zone traffic so long sought after. The first item that should open up is the new direct connector for southbound I-35 to southbound I-410. Traffic is already basically in its final configuration with the right-hand exit, but has been using the old connector bridge. With the new bridge in use we'll be able to take out the old one and construct the new northbound exit to Rittiman Road.
We should see the remaining exit and entrance ramps between Rittiman Road and Walzem reopen so all those ramp revisions are finished. That also means the auxiliary lane we've been working on should be ready for traffic, which should open up traffic flow quite a bit.
The final area of work is on the north end of the project with some ramp revisions at Randolph Boulevard.
Another long-awaited completion (this one impacted by heavy utility conflicts and resource issues) is the work along I-10 in the Leon Springs area. Texas Sterling Construction should wrap up work on the frontage roads between Dominion Drive and Boerne Stage Road by this summer, if we're able to keep our current schedule. The biggest work item remaining at this point is the new set of eastbound ramps between Boerne Stage Road and Dominion Drive. We've also got some sidewalk work on the westbound side to wrap up. Once those ramps and sidewalks are in we'll see a final layer of asphalt laid project-wide and be done.
The first major project to wrap up, though, is the work on the intersection of Loop 1604 and Hwy 151. We're still working on the finishing touches, but for the purposes of this post we can affirm we'll be finished up in a matter of a few weeks.
We'll also wrap up work along US Hwy 90 between Loop 1604 and I-410 this summer. The main feature of this project is its conversion of the frontage roads to one-way, though we're also replacing the bridges over Medio Creek on the frontage roads and main lanes and adding auxiliary lanes to improve some traffic flow along the main lanes. Oh, and then there's the new west-to-east turnaround at Loop 1604.
Though we've still got frontage roads squeezed to a single lane in some areas, we're nearly in final configuration. As we work to wrap this job up expect to see a ton of work going on between Hunt Lane and I-410, particularly on the westbound side.
By the way, we've got some new barrels and barricades on US 90 near Loop 1604 - these are associated with the Loop 1604 project near there, which includes a direct connector from southbound Loop 1604 to eastbound US 90.

In with the new
One project starting in 2017 will overshadow all the others: the expansion of US 281 between Loop 1604 and Stone Oak Parkway.
(Please: Don't break the internet with your rejoicings, cursing or other exclamations as you read that sentence....)
That's right, we're finally getting after that whole 281 thing. We're adding overpasses at Redland Road, Encino Rio, Evans Road and Stone Oak/TPC Parkway. The main lanes will feature at least four lanes in each direction, with two of those lanes being carpool and transit lanes. We'll also keep the frontage road capacity right at about what US 281 has right now. The whole project will take about four years to build and will ceremoniously kick off at the end of March (you'll see equipment moving around in May). Webber Construction is currently our apparent low bidder for the project with a bid of $192.3 million. That bid will need to be accepted by the Texas Transportation Commission later this month before it's official.
Oh, yeah, and as part of this project we're building those four other direct connectors at 1604 and 281 - the ones that weren't built when the RMA had the interchange built a few years ago.
We've got a similar project slated for I-10 between Loop 1604 and Ralph Fair Road this year. That project adds two new lanes in each direction - one each being a carpool/transit lane - and will get going late summer this year. This project should last about three years.
The first major project to get going this year, though, has been at the intersection of US 90 and I-410. This project started in January and essentially repeats what we're doing at 151 and 410. That is, we're doing connectors for eastbound US 90 to northbound I-410 and for southbound I-410 to westbound US 90, and we're adding a lane in each direction to I-410 while rearranging some of the entrance and exit ramps to improve traffic flow. Williams Brothers Construction - the same contractor working at 151 and 410 as well as on Loop 1604 at Hwy 151 - is building this $120.8 million job and should have things wrapped up in 2019.

Aaaand ... we're officially "old"
Schoenen geburtstag fuer uns! (Random: did you know German immigrants accounted for San Antonio's initial growth surge in the 1850s and 1860s? True story - street signs were even in German, English and Spanish at the time as a result!)
The Texas Department of Transportation will celebrate this year 100 years of delivering a safe, reliable and integrated transportation system to move people and goods across this great state. There are a number of milestones we'll be celebrating as the year goes by, and we'll discuss where we've come from and where we're headed. There's been a lot of learning in our century of service, and we're excited to share our lessons learned with stories of yesteryear.