Comal County projects roundup

It's been a while - like, since at least last year. Isn't it about time we gave a run-down on the happenings in and around Comal County?
Here's a look:

Walnut Hill
To put it simply, Dean Word Company is nearly three-quarters the way done with the project. The most visible portion of the project, though - the full closure of Walnut Avenue between Grandview and Floral - has been stretched even further over the last month. Initially slated to reopen mid-December, we are now looking at waiting for late March to reopen the roadway. The biggest reason here is safety.
The original plan called for opening Walnut Avenue to one lane each way. Concerns of rubber-necking through a canyon with limited sight distances has led project bosses to work with city officials and come to a later opening agreement.
A lot of work remains, but construction is progressing well. Crews have begun setting up a sound wall along the canyon and are finishing up drain structures. Perhaps nicest for those living in the immediate vicinity, cleanup at the top of the hill has begun while crews prepare to do concrete work.


Loop 337 at Ridge Hill
The striping contractor is scheduled to come through early next week to restripe the roadway and provide for a new left-turn lane. We are also working to add a new ditch line to the project and fix the barricades that have occasionally drifted into the travel lanes.

FM 1101
To be completely honest, we're still waiting on a private utility to complete work they began more than a year ago. Current estimates place completion of the utility work sometime this spring. We will then move forward with the project.

US 281 at Hwy 46
The biggest thing to report her is we're more than 80 percent of the way finished with this project. This project has admittedly moved extremely slow and we are assessing the contractor, CRG, appropriate liquidated damages. With the walls nearly complete, dirt crews will begin grading the new turnarounds next week with the aim to start laying asphalt by the middle of the month. We are holding bi-weekly meetings with the contractor to keep them moving, and hope to have work complete in time for summer.

FM 306
Hunter Industries is moving along well, working primarily on drain structures and extensions to existing box culverts. As a relatively new project, we don't have much else to report at this time. This project is scheduled to finish up in 2017.

I-35 ramp reversals
The only thing we really have left at this point is a quick resurfacing of the southbound frontage road. That should eliminate the issues we have with the glare during certain times of the day.

Upcoming projects
Lots of work is coming on the horizon, but here are the highlights:

• Resurfacing of I-35 between Solms Rd and the river. This work should start late spring or early summer. This should only feature overnight work.
• Pedestrian and bike facility improvements along Landa Street. This work will begin this summer.
• Rehabilitate Hwy 46 between I-35 and FM 758. This is an extensive repair job that will start this fall.
• Reconstruct the I-35 bridge at FM 1103 and widen FM 1103 between I-35 and Steele High School. This work is programmed for early 2017.
• Loop 337 expansion. We're actually working to make this a one-piece project rather than complete work in segments as initially planned. We hope to begin work mid-2017.
• Expansion of Hwy 46 in Bulverde. This is currently planned for late 2017.

Upcoming meetings
You're getting everything with this post! Don't miss out on some MAJOR meetings we have coming up. Mark these on your calendar and be sure to join us to give your thoughts on some very important issues:

• Feb. 16, 6p-8p at Eden Hill. Open house forum regarding future work on Loop 337.
• March 1, 6p-8p at the New Braunfels Civic Center. Metropolitan Planning Organization presentation on projects being considered for federal funding.
• March 3, 5p-7p at Smithson Valley High School. Open house forum regarding the expansion of Hwy 46 in Bulverde.
• March 29, 5p-7p at Steele High School. Open house forum regarding future work on FM 1103.

Comal County round-up

It's been a while since we've written about the projects active in Comal County ... lots has happened! In addition to a project wrapping up, we've got one project about to start and another nearing completion.

FM 306

So we're finished with the overpasses between I-35 and Hunter Road, improving dramatically the drive from I-35 to the Gruene area (and beyond).
With that project behind us we're ready to get going on the next major project in the area. Hunter Industries, the company that built the overpasses on and widened FM 306 up to Hunter Road, will widen FM 306 to Hoffman Lane. The look and feel of the finished product will match what's there up to Hunter Road. For those not familiar, that means two lanes in each direction with a center left-turn lane where needed.
Work on the new FM 306 project is already starting up, and folks should start seeing crews on site within the next few weeks. The project will wrap up in 2017.

Walnut Ave

 Though folks can't really see the progress each day, we're moving along pretty well. One of our two large retaining walls that will hold up the area we're expanding the roadway through the canyon area is nearing completion and the other is about halfway finished.
The toughest part of any road job is getting the drain system put in - most of that is finished. We've got a few items left through the canyon area, but that will be taken care of as the retaining walls near completion.
The big-ticket item is the opening date for Walnut Avenue - that is, when we anticipate reopening the road for through traffic. For that, we are currently on schedule for the end of the year.
Overall project completion is scheduled for summer 2016.

Conrads-Kohlenberg

Those driving the area often have found southbound exit 191 - that is, the southbound exit to FM 306 - closed earlier this month. This will allow Dan Williams Company to wrap up some of the frontage road work closer to FM 306. The new exit will be opened in mid-October.
In the meantime, traffic is using exit 193 (the exit for Conrads-Kohlenberg) to reach FM 306. The detour only adds time spent on the frontage road, and requires no real route change for folks.
The work being done out there is actually about the entrance and exit ramps; we're "reversing" the ramps. That is, where the exit ramp was a new entrance ramp will be; where the entrance ramp was a new exit ramp will be. The idea is to improve traffic flow and allow a bypass for those who would ordinarily have to go through the intersection of FM 306 to reach their destination via the I-35 main lanes.
The project is on target to wrap up later this year.

Comal County roundup

We've got some stuff happening in the New Braunfels area, but it's best to show rather than just tell. Take a look:

Comal County roundup

If anyone else thinks it been far too long since a run-down on Comal County projects has been posted, well ... so did we. Without further ado:

Walnut Avenue

If you've not heard by now, Walnut Avenue will close between Grandview and Floral for the remainder of the year. This is  more than the daily closures drivers have been seeing with the ongoing utility work that's progressed to the top of the hill. That closure has pushed traffic onto Fredericksburg Road to get around; our detour suggests using Landa Street to Loop 337.

Of course, local residential and business access will be maintained; you'll still be able to reach those businesses along Walnut. Through traffic will be restricted, however.

With the road closed, Dean Word Company will have more open access to widen the road through the canyon portion of this project. There they are building a huge retaining wall on the downhill side of the road, which they'll then backfill with tons (literally!) of dirt. It's called a "mechanically stabilized earth" wall, and will hold up the additional width of the roadway.

This diagram, published by cenews.com, shows how a mechanically stabilized earth wall works. An MSE wall will hold up the expansion portion of Walnut Avenue through the canyon between Grandview and Floral.

Loop 337

The expansion of the bridge over I-35 at Loop 337/Rueckle Road is within a week of being finished and all lanes in use. An elevation issue (of only an inch or two - which is a bigger deal than it sounds like) between the old turnaround bridge and the existing bridge prevented us from opening it when we had hoped a cuople of months ago.

With the specialized crews on site to make appropriate adjustment, we're only a matter of days from having traffic on all lanes of the bridge.

I-35 ramps between FM 306 and Conrads-Kohlenberg

About five months ago, Dan Williams Company began reversing the ramps between FM 306 and Conrads-Kohlenberg. Basically, that means the entrance ramps will be switched to exit ramps, and the exit ramps to entrance ramps.

Crews will be ready for the first big move on this work next weekend. For more, watch the video:

FM 306

At this point, it's almost all bridge work that remains. We've got crews pouring concrete at the overpass near Hunter Road, mainly to form the approach slabs for the bridge deck. Meanwhile, on the overpass near Goodwin Lane, we're preparing to pour the bridge deck itself. We still have a lot of curb work and a median to build, then we'll need to finish tying the second halves of the bridges into the halves that are already constructed.

Hunter Industries wants to be finished with the project by the end of the school year - still ahead of schedule, though later than they'd have initially liked to be finished when work began in 2013.

FM 1101

We are still waiting for utility adjustments to be complete before turning loose Hunter Industries on this project to widen FM 1101 between Hwy 46 and FM 306. This expansion will include a center left-turn lane, sidewalks and a larger shoulder area for safe bicycling.

As of now, crews are expected to be able to start work in April. 

Comal County round-up

Recent weather has pushed back some huge milestones across Comal County - particularly in and around New Braunfels - but big developments are still taking shape. The result is a flurry of activity inside a two-week window, set to start late next week.

Here's a run-down, in no particular order:

Lp 337 (Rueckle Road)

For two months folks have been using a finished product that expanded Lp 337 between I-35 and Altgelt Road, but barricades have remained blocking a portion of the overpass bridge. This has limited traffic from the northbound frontage road to a single left turn lane and traffic crossing the bridge over I-35 to a single lane.

The goal of the project, however, was to expand the bridge to allow for two through lanes plus a left turn lane for traffic coming from Rueckle Road and headed north (or west, depending on your perspective) on Lp 337. That was hampered by a slight elevation difference between what used to be the south-to-north turnaround bridge and the existing overpass bridge. The difference, which is only a matter of an inch or so, was noticed when the concrete barrier was demolished as part of the project requirements.

The specialized subcontractor for the work to correct the elevation difference, which happens to fall right in the middle of the wheelpath of one of the lanes, was scheduled to solve the issue this week. Cold and wet weather has pushed that back, and they are now expected to be working on the bridge by the start of next week.

Once work on the bridge begins we'll need about a week to have everything opened up. Call it a St. Patrick's Day gift.

FM 306

Hunter Industries continues to work toward  completing the expansion of the roadway and construction of overpasses at the UPRR crossings near Hunter Road and Goodwin Lane in time for summer. Right now that's exactly what will happen.

Crews have been pouring concrete to form the concrete barriers along the overpass near Hunter Road and are working to do the same near Goodwin. This may require temporary or sporadic closures as trucks enter or exit the roadway, but nothing lasting or long-term at all. At most, these closures will last 10 minutes.

Hunter is on pace to have the work complete by the end of the school year (and start of the summer river floating season).

FM 1101

The expansion of FM 1101 between Hwy 46 and FM 306 has been on hold nearly six months while we await utilities to be moved out of conflict. The deadline for that is in April, and we'll then release Hunter Industries to begin work.

The project will last about a year and a half, with most of the work happening during the summers of 2015 and 2016. Since three schools are along this work zone, it's critical we reduce our impact during the school year.

The final product will feature a new center left-turn lane, expanded shoulders for bike use and sidewalks.

I-35 ramp reversals

Dan Williams Company is running slightly ahead of schedule and is ready to open the new northbound entrance ramp from FM 306 around St. Patrick's Day. This new on-ramp is located near Conrads-Kohlenberg and will require the current exit to Conrads-Kohlenberg to close. Traffic to Conrads-Kohlenberg will exit FM 306 and pass through the intersection.

Naturally, that means an uptick in traffic at an already stressed intersection. However, the north-to-south turnaround at FM 306 will open - permanently - and the intersection should see some relief.

The new exit ramp, located near FM 306 (designed to capture the truck traffic headed to the WalMart transfer warehouse), is set to open by the first weekend of April.

Meanwhile, Dan Williams is beginning to set up for work on the southbound side. This is about two months ahead of schedule. They have more work to do on the southbound side than they did on the northbound side, so drivers shouldn't expect such an early finish on the southbound side. We initially planned about six months for each side. We are sticking with the six-month schedule on the southbound side for now.

Walnut Avenue

The city of New Braunfels has approved a proposal brought by us on behalf of the contractor, Dean Word Company, to close Walnut Avenue completely between Grandview and Floral avenues. That closure should take place the week after St. Patricks Day.

Once Walnut Avenue is closed, Dean Word will begin expanding the road through the canyon and will install storm drain features on the uphill and downhill sides of the canyon. The phase of work - and the closure - is expected to last about nine months.

The closure will shorten the overall project duration, however, by about six months. Work began earlier this year and will wrap up before the summer of 2016.

U.S. 281 at Hwy 46

We have received occasional calls asking about the progress on this project that constructs turnarounds for U.S. 281 traffic at Hwy 46 in Bulverde.

CRG is the contractor out there, and they are indeed running behind schedule. As is typical in a situation like this, TxDOT is assessing liquidated damages against the contractor to the tune of a little under $1,000 per day. This is the strongest leverage the department has to help motivate a contractor to accelerate production of a project.

Lately the delays on the project have been due to an equipment breakdown that took several weeks to get repaired. Once the machinery that broke down was ready to work again, weather tackled the area and stopped any productive work from happening.

Project managers are pointing to a completion date early this summer, if all goes well.

Comal County roundup

One of the adverse effects of holiday-shortened months and having a lot going on elsewhere is an utter lack of updates on project in outlying areas. In this case, the several major projects in Comal County - particularly around New Braunfels - have been moving right along and we need to tell you about it.

FM 306

Last week, just before Thanksgiving, Hunter Industries set bridge support beams over the railroad crossing near Hunter Road to form the backbone for the eastbound bridge, then reworked the intersection at Hunter Road.

While this meant a minor traffic nuisance for the two days crews were out there, it marks another major step toward getting finished with the project overall. Hunter's plan is to have the Hunter Road crossing finished first, though crews will continue working on the overpass at Goodwin as well. Once the overpass near Hunter Road is finished focus will shift to the Goodwin overpass.

The hope is to have the overpass near Hunter Road finished and in use around the New Year, and to have the overpass near Goodwin Lane finished near the end of the school year. Overall project completion is scheduled before the end of the school year.

Loop 337

Another Hunter Industries project, we're falling victim to weather right now. If Hunter Industries had their way, we'd be finished with everything by now ... but cold temperatures and wet weather (much-needed wet weather!) has dampened our ability to lay asphalt and paint the roadway.

Crews were scheduled to do the last bit of asphalt and all the roadway striping last week, but weather pushed that work back. As soon as we get a stretch of weather that's warm enough and dry enough to finish things out, we'll do that.

Again, we were hoping to have the project finished by now (even though we have until January to finish up), and we're trying to have the work done very soon.

I-35 ramps

The project to reverse the entrance and exit ramps between Conrads-Kohlenberg and FM 306 is underway, with Dan Williams Company working already to construct the new northbound ramps. The overall plan is to develop the northbound side first, then move over to the southbound side. Each side should take about six months.

This project is one of our top generators of emails right now - there are several who seem concerned about the length of the northbound entrance ramp from FM 306. The barricade set up in the shoulder area has taken away the shoulder, which was being improperly used by traffic as a defacto acceleration lane.

Here's the thing: entrance ramps are actually designed so that traffic can get to appropriate highway speeds before reaching the lanes of the highway. Ramps are designed to help accelerate - they are acceleration lanes, in and of themselves. 

But that's not how they're being treated. 

At any rate, folks believe a safety hazard exists so we have our engineers digging through options. We've got four options being examined, and we hope to have settled on one of those four by the end of the week.

Walnut Avenue

Right now the work on Walnut Avenue, between Kerlick and Landa, is being done by NBU and is all utilities work. NBU reported this morning they are on schedule to finish their work by the start of summer. TxDOT work will begin early 2015.

FM 1101

Right now this one is all utilities. Specifically, a certain telephone company has lines in the way and we're waiting for them to move out of the way. Hopefully those lines may be moved before we get started (early 2015) so we don't encounter any delays.

US 281 turnarounds

Nearly a year ago we gave the go-ahead to CRG to begin constructing turnarounds on U.S. 281 at Hwy 46. Almost immediately after setting up the work area, CRG realized they wouldn't be able to construct the project the way they had bid it. They halted work and began acquiring the resources (including equipment and personnel) to construct the project the way we designed it.

That process was lengthy ... and CRG went back to work just this fall. As of the end of November they've finished about half the work scheduled for the project, and they are on target to finish the work before the end of the school year.

As for the delays, those are being appropriately handled between the contractor and our area office.

New I-35 project: ramp reversals between FM 306 and Conrads-Kohlenberg

Last week Dan Williams Company began a $5 million project to reconfigure entrance and exit ramps between FM 306 and Conrads-Kohlenberg in New Braunfels. The work will take about a year to complete.

The idea here is to free up the intersection of FM 306 and I-35 by allowing traffic headed for locations along the access roads in each direction to skip the intersection itself. This will particularly help traffic along the northbound access road at FM 306, where large trucks headed to a transfer station along the northbound access road are currently bogging down traffic.

Overnight closures are being used to allow crews to set up the work area. Once the work zone is set up and barricades are in place, Dan Williams Company will be able to move in equipment to begin excavation. 

Crews will work on the northbound side first then move to the southbound side, spending about six months on each side of the highway. The old ramps, currently in use, will not be closed until the new ramps are complete. We are also working on the turnarounds. Work on the north-to-south turnaround is first, and will mean the turnaround will be closed for about six months.

Of the $5 million total project cost, $4.2 is direct construction costs to the contractor. The rest of the price will cover engineering and administrative fees. No additional right-of-way was needed for this project. Most of the work will be behind barrier, and beyond the closure of the turnarounds traffic won't be interrupted much through the duration of work.

Comal County round-up

Lots going on in and around Comal County in terms of highway projects ... here's a look:

Seguin Avenue

Last week (Wednesday) we formally and ceremoniously celebrated the completion of the Seguin Avenue underpass. On hand were representatives of Austin Bridge & Road, the contractor who built this project. As you may recall, this is the same contractor who built the original project back in 1935.

The event was hosted by the city of New Braunfels, and Mayor Barron Casteel reminded folks just how long the project had been in the making - at least since he was still in school, referring to his college days. He thanked Rep. Doug Miller, who helped secure the funds for the project through the Texas Proposition 12 grant from the Texas State Legislature.

With other civic leaders - those from the Daughters of the American Revolution, the New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce and others - around, the underpass was toasted. TxDOT District Engineer Mario Jorge lauded some of the engineering of the new underpass - including the nearly 800,000-pound steel structure that now carries rail traffic safely over Seguin Avenue and the 140,000 gallon detention pond under the roadway that will store stormwater to keep the road open through all conditions.

The Loop

Hunter Industries will close portions of the intersection of Loop 337 and Altgelt Lane over the next two weekends. These closures will keep one lane going in each direction, but will squeeze traffic quite a bit. Folks are advised to find alternate routes where they can.

This will allow road builders to reconstruct the intersection. Once this work is complete (mid-September) traffic on Loop 337 between I-35 and Altgelt will shift onto the new asphalt on the south side of the road. Crews will only need a few weeks to rebuild the road on the north side of the road, and work should be ready to wrap up before Halloween.

FM 306

Another Hunter Industries project, this one hit a snag a few weeks ago in waiting for some utilities to be moved. AT&T has been on site regularly, and report they should have their work finished by mid-September. Once that work is finished, Hunter's bridge crews will go to work on the drain structures at the Hunter Road overpass.

While Hunter waits for AT&T to get out of the way, they are working on embankments and structures for the future eastbound lanes of the bridge. They've also got the turnarounds nearly complete at Coleman and at Goodwin Lane, and local traffic may begin using those immediately. This should be helping traffic move through the project a little more smoothly.

If it weren't for the utility adjustments, this project may be finished in time for the holidays. Instead, we're still on pace to be finished early in the new year - which is still ahead of our initial schedule.

U.S. 281 Spring Branch

The temporary (and, by temporary, we mean at least 2-3 years) fix for the U.S. Post Office problem is underway. Hunter Industries (yes, those guys again) is building a "detour" around the building; the northbound lanes of U.S. 281 will simply scoot left, then right again around the building.

Crews are also finishing up work north of the post office, completing the future northbound lanes of the highway. If all goes according to plan, we'll be moving northbound traffic onto the northbound lanes at the Coyote Ridge area and up through to FM 306. As the southbound lanes are finished - traffic in both directions are using the southbound side for most of the project - this will effectively split traffic to its final path.

To be clear: we won't have two lanes in each direction until work is complete (end of the year). Until then, we'll have a single lane each way, but those lanes will be on the final location of the roadway.

On the south end of the project (more or less from FM 311 south to the river) we're hoping to have traffic moved over nearly as quick; we have a few utilities to adjust and some finishing touches to some bridge structures to wrap up.

Again, all told ... we're hoping to be finished with this project around the end of the year.

Upcoming projects

• The Walnut Avenue expansion - we're calling it the "Walnut Hill" job - should start up this fall (likely late fall, like November). Right now we're still getting utilities cleared out of the way.
• The I-35 Conrads/Kohlenberg project - which will realign the entrance and exit ramps between FM 306 and Conrads/Kohlenberg on the northeast end of the county - could start as early as October.
• FM 1101 between Hwy 46 and FM 36 is getting a continuous center turn lane, sidewalks and some space for bikes (handy with three schools along the route). Though the project can start in November, we're expecting the start date to perhaps push back to January. Right now utilities are being moved.