Mail Bag: Chrostopher and AJ discover our Mail Bag....

When will you address the absolute nightmare at Fair Oaks Ranch bridge due to the closure of the frontage road? What is the progress of the work being done at Old Fred? You have been radio silent these past two weeks despite numerous calls.
- Michael
Where are the police that have been helping direct traffic on the FOR bridge during rush hour? They have disappeared this week this causing major delays once again. If I can’t get to work, I can’t pay taxes to fund this disaster you call road construction.
- Tina
So ... truth. We have received a number of phone calls and emails about the Fair Oaks Parkway overpass. On our end, we take one or two of those and reach out to project staff to have the issue addressed. We file away those couple of communications - and the dozen or more that follow - and move forward. We work to communicate as much as we are able, but cannot always keep up with the demands of some areas in our 12-county district.
We apologize that means the Fair Oaks community felt we were ignoring them. We assure y'all that was absolutely not the case. Our communications team simply has a larger swath of area to focus on - 12 counties! - with similar communication demands and we work hard to try keeping everyone we can in the loop on their projects.
All that said, a good bit of the issues y'all were seeing should have calmed now that Sundt has finished work on the frontage roads requiring the closure that complicated that area. What's more, you're about a month from being finished totally with work at the FOP intersection itself. We hope to have the frontage roads converted to one-way soon, which will open up the capacity of the frontage roads. It'll also mean the new exit ramps will be open, storing the traffic waiting at the FOP intersection onto the frontage road and getting that traffic off the main lanes.

Not a question today, just a compliment. I travel west on 151 every morning (between 0610 and 0710) and since the new flyover to NB 410 opened, it has been much less congested just as your folks planned. Thank you! It has reduced my commute time as well as any stress. I'm sure it will also improve safety in the area. Thanks again!
- Roy

We're as glad as anyone to see a plan work out! We're hoping to see a similar improvement when the direct connectors at I-410 and US 90 are finished in the next 18 months or so. We're getting so close to all that happening!
Also, Roy, thank you for reaching out. Comments like these really mean a lot to our guys in the field (and yes, they do actually read these posts)!

I have a plethora of questions! Now that I found this page I'll probably be emailing you a lot! (Sorry in advance).
151/ Alamo Ranch: I just read on one of your blogs that ARP is owned by the city and not the state, thus y'all (basically) have nothing to do with it. Yet, I have also know that SH 151 is potentially planned to extend to/ through SH 211 AND that ARP is basically built as future SH 151 access roads. So... I don't get it. Is TXDOT planning to in the near (or distant) future acquire/ incorporate ARP into 151?
SH 211: Are y'all at least considering extending SH 211 north to I-10 and south to 35? I think it's phenomenal that there is this active planning to acquire right of way and build this highway AHEAD of the growth, knowing the highway will be desperately needed in the near future. However, it seems like it could never be realized to its full potential/ usefulness without these connections (especially to I-10). Would an extension to I-10 be incorporated into or connect to the future highway planned as part of the "Kendall Gateway Study"?
- Christopher

We're excited for the plethora - and we hope to answer them all! We make one simple promise, Christopher: we'll be direct and honest. The answers may not be what folks love to hear, but they will be completely and unabashedly truthful.
On to the questions you've got. We'll start with the Hwy 151-Alamo Ranch Parkway question.
It seems very logical to continue Hwy 151 through Hwy 211 following the path of Alamo Ranch Parkway. However, that's not the case today. Frankly we've been working to get lane-miles off our system wherever possibly rather than adding roads to our grid.
That said, if the county (owner of ARP right now) includes the turnover of ARP to TxDOT as part of a larger transportation funding strategy in the future we would be happy to listen. Something like that would require a lot of folks to say "yes", though, including (but not limited to) the Alamo Area MPO, Alamo Regional Mobility Authority and the Texas Transportation Commission.
But as of right now, today, this moment ... us taking on Alamo Ranch Parkway isn't something we have written anywhere in our scheme.
As for Hwy 211 ... right now Bexar County Public Works is working to connect Potranco and Culebra roads. Beyond that ... we haven't had any detailed conversations at this point. Our recommendation if you feel this is a solution we should move aggressively on: get involved with the MPO and make comments at the Kendall Gateway meetings. We'll pass along the idea to our planners to ensure it's on the radar, but it's really going to take some local calls to make something like this viable.

As with all construction projects, I know things change as progress is made. What are the current timelines for the I-10 corridor projects? Namely:

• Ralph Fair to Fair Oaks
• Old Fred intersection
• Fair Oaks intersection
• activation of one-way frontage roads through Fair Oaks
• HOV lanes (I remember reading that this project will be opened in phases with first section to take a year, but progress seems to be moving rather quickly.)

Is there a webpage where I can read about the planned stages?
Thanks!
- AJ
Hey, AJ! You've reached out via email, but we're going to answer all these questions on the blog so all can benefit. You can look at the details of what we're doing on each project online here.
As for updated timelines, this blog is the go-to source. With that in mind, here's the latest schedule:

• Ralph Fair to Fair Oaks will wrap up this fall
• Old Fred intersection is open for business, though we still have that signal to install and have our traffic division turn on
• The intersection of Fair Oaks itself is set to be finished by Independence Day, but we have to wait for the frontage road conversion to open the intersection to full capacity
• We're still nailing down a firm timeframe for the frontage road conversion and hope to have something firm to discuss next month; right now we're leaning toward opening things in four stages with the Old Fred intersection being the divider ... the determining factor will really be the new exit and entrance ramps
• The expansion of I-10 to include HOV lanes between Ralph Fair and La Cantera is still on its initial pace; they expect to open up one lane each way as soon as 2019, with final completion and that fourth lane opened early 2021

I noticed the 2015 animated video showed two "managed lanes" on each side and the 2017 video shows one HOV. Any background on the change?
- AJ
We're guessing you're talking about the I-10 project on this. Honestly, we don't build where we're not wanted and, in this case, the local input was such that we change the plan from two managed lanes each direction to a single HOV lane and a traditional non-tolled express lane.

Why is the bridge over the Guadalupe River on 281 Spring Branch closed and when will it open again? Are repairs going to be made? Nothing has been done in weeks except traffic is now down to one lane over the River. You need to notify folks if roads are going to close.
- Trudy
We're totally reconstructing the southbound bridge, Trudy. It'll take us a while to get it all done out there - we've been trying to keep in touch with local media to keep folks up-to-date. When we shut down the bridge we found some pavement failures we didn't expect. Those are now fixed so we've moved our contractor on to the actual bridge.
As for the work ... we're tearing the bridge down to its skeleton, basically, and reconstructing everything around the frame. It won't be expanded with this one, but will be upgraded significantly.
The bridge will remain closed for the duration of work, which will be over a year.

What are the planned closures for I-10 west out of San Antonio [both NB and SB] the weekend of Memorial Day, specifically Saturday May 26, 2018 after 5:00 pm - need to get into and out of Boerne and Cordillera Ranch.
- Linda
We didn't have any closures! We actually avoid any major closures on major holiday weekends, period.
We're sorry we didn't reply sooner, Linda. Mail bag questions are collected and answered on this forum and not a place we offer immediate answers with direct emails. In the future you can check our weekly closures post online, or follow us on Twitter for real-time issues or answers.

Thank you for finally making a promise date, and opening up the WB access road at Old Fred on the 25th.
- Dave
We're as thrilled as anyone to see that kind of progress. We're hoping to keep the momentum! Right now Sundt is focusing on the new exit and entrance ramps so they can begin a successive chain of frontage road conversions. We're hoping to have all the major work done out there by the end of summer, though it's likely you'll still see equipment moving around into the fall just a little bit.
Bottom line: we're with y'all on this one. Fast is good when it comes to project delivery, and we're pulling all the levers we can to make it happen!

Is I-10 East still scheduled to be closed starting June 1? I saw something about it on your blog post from earlier in May. Just wondering if that is still the plan.
- Brad
It is - check out our latest closures list for updated plans.

Mail Bag: Why we use asphalt and not concrete

What work is currently happening at the turnaround by Ramsgate? Currently seeing it closed daily during the day.
Also, huge props to whoever finds the gifs for the blog!
- Kevin

Well, shucks. Thanks! We have fun with the gifs (and other graphics and references). We hope all y'all do as well.
The work at Ramsgate is a maintenance job to repair the concrete retaining wall and the bridge rail at and near the turnaround bridge. The work should be wrapped up by the first part of June. We know it's throwing off a few folks and their commutes - all highway maintenance tends to have that effect - but we're working hard to stay in touch with the USAA communications team to keep them in the loop. They are the top contributor to the traffic at the turnaround, after all, so we're doing what we can to coordinate the work with the good folks over there.


I travel Wurzbach Parkway to work. I see signs that talk about road closures beginning May 14. Can you tell me what to expect next week. Should I use 410 to travel to work?
- Rebecca
Rebecca, we're sorry this answer didn't come in time. We understand the work on Wurzbach has wrapped up at this point.
The closure was on Wurzbach Road and was done by the city of San Antonio, not us. They did a heckuva job getting word out and tried to be sure folks knew in advance of the closure.


Have they determined what caused the longitudinal cracking on I-10? I'm no engineer, but from the photos, it looks like when the contractors excavated material from the roadway edge, they failed to support that edge as it bore the weight of the Jersey barriers. Recent heavy rains probably didn't help either, eroding the exposed base material and surrounding soils.
- Mark

You kind of hit the nail on the head, Mark. The contractor is using, per plans, soil nail walls to support the edge of our excavation. In this instance the equipment for those soil nail walls bogged down and Flatiron's excavation team got a little ahead of things. This is a gamble literally every contractor takes on a project like this, and more than 99 percent of the time it pays off and we see no problems.
As you pointed out the rain didn't help here, and we saw a failure. It wasn't catastrophic, but any failure has potential of becoming that way. We worked hard to prevent the catastrophic failures that could have caused safety hazards.
Here's the silver lining: the delay is extremely minimal. Flatiron lost about a day and a half of production and that's it. On a three-year project that's amazing.
The long-term, permanent fix for the issue is literally designed into the construction plans. When it comes to roadway failures on a construction project, this was pretty much the best possible scenario.


Regarding the nearly complete NE 410/35 project between George Beach and Walzam, I give the project an A-. I no longer fear for my life on south bound lanes as the Rittman traffic no longer tries to zip across 5 lanes of traffic to get to 410 South and traffic seems to move pretty well through that section (the clog is now between Walzam and O'Connor on Northbound).
My only complaints are minor and as you have pointed out before, not necessarily needed. That is the street lights. Many in that section still don't work and one pole in front of Texas Thrift blinks constantly. And having some sodium lights and some LED is kind of tacky. Other than that, great job on this project!
- Jeff
Thanks, Jeff! We'll take it!

It kills us the project took as long as it has to finish, and we've done some internal reviews to see how we can prevent a lot of the delays we've seen on the job for future projects.
Having the new lanes open has been a huge milestone for us - and the big reason for the job in the first place. Well, those and the ramp revisions we've done along the corridor. With a little luck we'll have everything in place and be done - like done done - by mid-summer.
The includes the lights which, as we've said, will be burning as soon as we can get them connected to power. Thanks for your patience on it!


I know there a lot of construction going on 1604 between 90 and 151. Same thing for almost every intersection that have lights except Wiseman. It looks like they are not working on it and look pretty much the same for like couple months. Any idea what going on?
- Daryl
We had some work on retaining walls and drain structures that kept us from digging into Wiseman the way we've done at the other intersections over the last two months.
That will change here in the next couple of weeks, and southbound Loop 1604 will switch onto the frontage road just south of Hwy 151 here in June. That will let Zachry Construction go nuts on the new overpasses. Once the new southbound overpass is ready we'll flip traffic over - Zachry has been working on ways to provide incremental improvements to traffic as they're available (Webber also) on this project, effectively fast-tracking an already aggressive schedule.


The WB I-10 frontage road closure at Old Fred has caused the traffic to back up at the Fair Oaks Ranch bridge almost a 1/4 a mile. Having one exit/entry for 4 major neighborhood was the worst idea ever. Please open up the frontage road M-F 7-9am and 4-6pm. What is being done to alleviate this? This cannot be the norm for a month or more.
- Christina
This closure HAS to be a constant closure. Opening intermittently as you've suggested simply isn't physically possible. To install the pipes we're putting in the ground the road itself was torn up for about 500 feet.
Sundt is working to get this work finished quickly and should have it open by the end of this month. We know it has been really, really rough this month and we thank everyone for their patience.


In your May 1 post, you talked about the traffic lights, but since you were talking about Buckskin, were the lights there? If so, what about the Fair Oaks Parkway lights?
Also, you talked about quadrants and stages, neither of which means anything to me without a definition. Also, the map showed some orange sections of roads with some white markings around them. What do they mean?
- Al Koppen
We are building traffic signals at Buckskin Drive. The construction contract doesn't have us turning them on - that will fall to our traffic operations folks.
Sounds convoluted, we know. It has to do with the warrant for the signal, which you can read all about here. Right now we don't have a warrant for the signal - mostly because the intersection doesn't completely exist. Once the intersection opens we're confident the warrant will be met, but we technically have to wait for that to happen.
Traffic signals are indeed being built at the Fair Oaks Parkway intersection and will become active here in June (based on the current schedule). The signal configuration will be identical to that of the current Ralph Fair intersection.
As for quadrants and stages, we apologize if that graphic wasn't clear enough. Here it is, once again, for your benefit:

The orange areas are the areas where work is being done. You'll note the white/orange markings are construction barricades, indicating the area is blocked off for construction.

Every intersection mimics the x-and-y axis planes we learn about in math class growing up. Each intersection has four quadrants. In the graphic to the left, these are labeled as Quadrant I (quadrant 1), Quadrant II (2), Quadrant III (3) and Quadrant IV (4). The first quadrant is where the X and Y axes both have positively valued coordinates. The second quadrant is where the Y axis coordinate is positive but the X axis coordinate is negative. The third quadrant features two negative coordinates and the fourth quadrant features a positive X axis coordinate and a negative Y axis coordinate.
Most of the time, when we talk of intersection quadrants, we talk in terms of direction so we can keep things simple
 For the intersection of Old Fred/Buckskin Drive and I-10 that means a north quadrant (where the work is happening right now as noted with the long horizontal orange mark), a south quadrant (basically between Buckskin Drive and Indian Hills), an east quadrant (the one that was closed for like four months) and a west quadrant (the one we opened up most recently).
We're sorry this description wasn't clear enough in the first post and hope this explanation helps you keep everything straight.


Regarding the 10 east frontage rds. In particular the frontage road intersection with FM 1516 and Green Rd:
It seems this one-way conversion has greatly inconvenienced people that live and work on Green Road. I often see people going the wrong way on the access road the short distance to 1516 so they can use the underpass to go west on 10. There is also a large dirt area in front of the truck dealership that has become an impromptu thoroughfare to cut over to 1516 from Green Road in addition to cutting through the truck dealership parking lot.
Is there a solution or idea in place to alleviate this inconvenience?
- Marshall
First of all, shame on all those drivers who are making illegal and, more important, unsafe driving decisions. Seriously - all that is to save what, two minutes of drive time? Five?
The long-term fix is to complete the project. That'll open the frontage roads to two lanes (still one-way) and an increased traffic volume here will prevent this heinous behavior. The wider frontage roads will mean effective turnarounds and an easier path to get to the main lanes.
In the meantime, stepped up law enforcement may help those sacrificing the safety of everyone around them for their own convenience make better choices.


I noticed all the new overpass additions/reconstructions have been done with concrete main lane approaches (Old Fred Rd/Buckskin and Boerne Stage/Scenic Loop. Why isn't the entire project from Ralph Fair to La Cantera not being completely converted to concrete? It lasts so much longer with less maintenance. This patchwork appearance looks cheap and out of date.
- Pete
You're absolutely right, Pete. Concrete paving has a better lifespan, requires less maintenance and has a bit simpler repair than traditional asphalt roads.

They're also exponentially more expensive up front.
There's a definite case to be made the cost for concrete paving is lower in the long run - say, over a period of 30 or 50 years - but that doesn't help us get the project done today.
The business savvy folks out there can see the difficulty here. In many industries it might make sense to go with the larger up-front expenditure to save money over the course of time. If we met our break-even point in the next three to five years the concrete option would probably make sense on all our roads.
That's not the case, though. Right now, as inexpensive as asphalt is, the break-even point is decades away.
Bridges and approaches have been and will continue to be done with concrete for a number of reasons. On stretches of road built on top of ground we can use the traditional asphalt, so that's what we're doing.


What happened to the project guide tour for the 410 to 151 flyover that was supposed to be out on Thursday per the report?
- Chris
We did it! We have it posted on YouTube as well. Take a look - although everything you're seeing is now wide open and in use (Chris wrote us a couple of weeks ago).


Someone posted this question on nextdoor.com, and I am curious as well (and would like the correct info instead of people's opinions on social media):
Anyone know why the several miles of asphalt that was laid down between Boerne Stage and La Cantera mall was all ripped out? Also, any idea how far back that puts the construction timelines?
- Leslie

We asked our project staff about this question and they said they don't have a long stretch of asphalt we've torn out on the main lanes of the highway. We think he question is likely a reference to asphalt laid down during a previous project. We've taken out parts of the shoulders to tie the existing road with the expansion to the inside and the outside of the road.
We've also got some spots we're putting some temporary pavement on each side of the road so we can shift existing traffic lanes over to give our crews some elbow room to safely build what we're building.
This project - to widen I-10 between La Cantera Parkway and Ralph Fair Road - is still running on pace to finish up early 2020. We've not had anything that's pushed our construction timeline back - not even the asphalt issue from earlier in the month.

The next stage of work on I-10 at Old Fred and Buckskin

This morning crews with Sundt moved into its final stage of the reconstruction of the intersection of I-10 and Old Fredericksburg Road and Buckskin Drive out in the Fair Oaks Ranch area. This stage should last through the end of the month - which means by Memorial Day weekend all the closed areas should reopen.

To date crews have rebuild two of the four quadrants, each in its own stage. Sundt has combined the third and fourth quadrants into a single final stage. When complete they'll be ready to install the traffic signal poles at the new intersection, which won't be turned on until after the frontage roads are converted to one-way.
With the temporary ramps now out of the way near Fair Oaks Parkway Sundt can move toward building the new exit and entrance ramps across the project. A total of eight exit and entrance ramps are to be constructed on this project and will need to be done before we can convert the frontage road to one-way.
We are hoping to have those ramps finished and the frontage roads converted by the end of this summer.

That Fair Oaks Pkwy bridge is about to be done

We're going to go ahead and bury the lede on this post. If you want to get down to the brass tacks of what's going to impact you, skip down to the bottom where we'll talk about the major closure coming the weekend of April 27-30.
Before we get that far we want to address a few quick questions. As always, we offer the same candor we are afforded.

Where is everybody? It seems like it's been months since anyone worked on that bridge or have seen anyone at all. Today is the 30th of March, and at noon nobody is working.
Maybe it's a perception issue you have, and that perception is that the project is delayed, abandoned, etc. I haven't seen any updates on it here in ages and according to this site it's completion is supposed to be Summer of 2018. You currently do not look like you're going to finish by that time period if nobody seems to be working on it.
Again, this may be my own perception issue, but a little more updates on this site and maybe having someone at the actual worksite could ease some people's minds on the constant traffic around the around easing up sooner rather than later.
- Gerard
Gerard, we are afraid it is a bit of a perception issue. RELMCo is still working on a pace that will have this project completed by early summer this year and are working mostly at night on the bridge. They do this to stay out of the way of traffic on the highways and the frontage roads. If you're on the road, they don't want to be - it's risky.
You're going to see us put traffic onto the new bridge the last weekend of this month. Take a look below for more information.

According to the bridge construction diagram, the old bridge at Fair Oaks Parkway will be removed, and a new westbound to eastbound turnaround would be built in the future. However, from the looks of the grading going on, the existing bridge will be used as the turnaround. What say you?
- Al Koppen
After putting in nice, long, straight entrance ramp to eastbound I-10 at Fair Oaks Ranch, they now tore it up!!! What's with that? More taxpayer $$$ down the sewer. The guilty party should be strung up!
- Al Koppen
A couple of days ago, I wrote asking why the recently paved new straight entrance ramp to I-10 at Fair Oaks Parkway was ripped up. Yesterday, the new one exiting westbound I-10 to Fair Oaks Parkway was torn up. Who did the planning on this project--some elementary school kids?
- Al Koppen
First of all, Al, we went ahead and published your questions as submitted so we can all see the approach being taken here. No, we don't have grade-schoolers running the project. And no, we will not entertain public executions as a punishment for our employees who do their jobs.
To answer your question, let's first establish a basis of understanding for what we're doing. Heck, we've even got pictures to do it.
First of all, we have two projects happening out here. One is to rebuild the bridge over I-10 to connect Fair Oaks Parkway and Tarpon Drive. This second project converts the frontage roads to one-way and relocates several entrance and exit ramps to accommodate the new overpass at Old Fredericksburg Road.

You can see how all this lays out, with both projects together, here. For just this intersection, here you go:

The ramps you're seeing, Al, are associated with the bridge construction. Building a bridge over a major highway means several major highway closures, which you've no doubt driven through. As we explained when the project started, we built temporary ramps designed to occasionally carry the main lanes traffic off the main lanes, through the intersection and back on.

Because of those temporary ramps we were able to see delays stay, for the most part, under 15 minutes during major closures on this project. Other projects along the corridor, where construction of such ramps was not possible, have seen delays creep to well over an hour.

Alright. So here's the rub with the temporary ramps: they were built smack-dab in the middle of the new ramps being built for the second project. That's why you saw them torn up - they need to go so we can build the permanent ramps. They were, once again, temporary ramps built relatively inexpensively to handle traffic only a handful of times, which they've done marvelously.

With the temporary ramps gone the good folks with Sundt Construction can begin building the new ramps, which should come online later this summer.
We hope that clears things up a bit for you, Al.

What's coming
Beginning Friday night, April 27, RELMCo will shut down the intersection of Fair Oaks Parkway, Tarpon Drive and the I-10 frontage road.
The main lanes will not be impacted by this closure.
We have to shut down the intersection for the weekend to reconstruct the weekend in one fell swoop. When we're done we'll have traffic on the new bridge and most of the asphalt work will be finished.

During the closure traffic will follow posted detour signs to reach its destination. If the graphic of the closure doesn't help, try this list:
Westbound traffic to Fair Oaks Parkway will use Leslie Pfeiffer
Traffic coming from Fair Oaks Village Business Park will still be able to head west only; to go east they can either head all the way to Balcones Creek and turn around
Traffic headed east along the westbound frontage road can reach Fair Oaks Parkway by using Old Fredericksburg Road and Dietz-Elkhorn
Eastbound traffic to Tarpon Drive will exit as normal, hook around and go west to Windwood Drive and continue to Tarpon Drive
Westbound traffic to Tarpon Drive will remain on the main lanes, turn around at Balcones Creek and approach from the eastbound side
Eastbound traffic to Fair Oaks Parkway will remain on the main lanes, turn around at Ralph Fair Road and approach from the westbound side
When all is said and done this weekend all traffic on Fair Oaks Parkway and Tarpon Drive will be on the new bridge.
This actually brings us back to Al Koppen's first question above. So you don't have to check back up there to review, he wanted to know about the plan to use the bridge being used now as the turnaround.
Well, the bridge now being used is actually the new turnaround. We moved traffic onto it back in August, then tore down the old bridge entirely.
Well, until we get the frontage roads converted to one-way that turnaround bridge simply isn't going to mesh well with traffic. That means it will be closed - temporarily - once we get traffic onto the complete new bridge.
Please, friends, get this message out:
The turnaround bridge will be temporarily closed until the frontage roads are converted to one-way traffic. That should happen this summer.

That's it for now
That's all we have for now. As always, let us know if we can answer any other questions by submitting through our Mail Bag located at the left of the page.

Major closures to watch for this weekend

The full closures report will come later - likely late tonight - but there's a slew of closures happening this weekend. These are the types of closures folks like to know about well in advance.


I-10
We'll have full closures of I-10 on both sides of San Antonio. Those passing through the region ... well, we're sorry. Both closures start 9 p.m. Friday and will wrap up no later than 5 a.m. Monday. We're hoping things don't go that long, but folks should expect it.
On the east side of town the closure will be the main lanes at Foster Road. We'll have traffic exit Foster Road, pass through the intersection and re-enter the highway. Thing is, the frontage road is just a single lane through this area. Expect this to be pretty slow in both directions.
On the west side of town the closure will be the main lanes at Camp Bullis. We'll have traffic exit Camp Bullis, pass through the intersection and re-enter the highway.


I-410 at Hwy 151
Another full closure of the highway ... this will allow crews to set bridge support beams overhead. The good news: this one is overnight only, so daytime traffic will be unaffected. This is 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. each night. That's Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday night.
Since we'll have the main lanes closed, both ways, at Hwy 151, we'll exit all traffic at Hwy 151. Traffic will move through the intersection then re-enter the highway.


Hwy 151 between I-410 and Hunt Lane
So ... we have a lot of work going on at this interchange. The good news: when we're finished with the work on Hwy 151 this weekend traffic will be in its final configuration - minus the new direct connectors - and we'll be all but finished with construction on Hwy 151 through here. Daily commutes are about to get that much better.
Beginning Friday at 9 p.m. and running until 9 p.m. Saturday we'll have the westbound main lanes closed to restripe the road and remove barrier. Traffic will exit Hunt Lane, move through the intersections and re-enter the highway at the next available ramp.
Beginning Saturday at 9 p.m. and running until 9 p.m. Sunday we'll do the same thing on the eastbound side. Traffic will exit I-410, pass through the intersections and re-enter the highway at the next available ramp.
We'll have officers on hand to minimize the impact of traffic being diverted from the I-410 main lanes.


Northbound I-35 to westbound I-410
There are two interchanges with I-35 and I-410, and it can be confusing as to which we're talking about sometimes. To clear that up, just think of the Windcrest area near Thousand Oaks and Walzem.
We'll have the northbound I-35 exit to westbound I-410 closed all weekend. The closure will start 9 p.m. Friday and wrap up no later than 5 a.m. Monday.
Traffic will need to head north to Weidner and turn around to reach its destination. There are a few other ways to get around this closure, but that's the easiest to describe. If you're a local resident and know a better way, feel free to use it.


US Hwy 90 at Loop 1604
We're working hard to reconstruct the intersection of US 90 and Loop 1604 right now, including getting the new northbound Loop 1604 bridge at US 90 opened for traffic later this month. That means another in a long line of weekend-long closures in this neck of the woods.
The westbound US 90 frontage road will close 9 p.m. Friday and reopen by 5 a.m. Monday for this reconstruction. Traffic will head out on the main lanes to Montgomery, then turn around and head back to Loop 1604 to get where it needs to go. This includes folks headed to Kriewald from the main lanes of US 90.


Frontage road long-term stuff coming
We have two spots with long-term frontage road closures about to begin. Both are on I-10 between Loop 1604 and Fair Oaks Parkway.
The first is the west-to-east turnaround at Camp Bullis. That'll close Wednesday morning, April 9, and remain closed through mid-May. This is the first in a series of turnaround closures between Camp Bullis and Ralph Fair, so expect your turnaround closure to come up pretty soon if this one doesn't impact you. Without the turnaround, of course, traffic will simply use the signalized intersection to do its thing.
The other is the westbound frontage road - well, the frontage road on the westbound side - at Old Fredericksburg Road and Buckhorn Drive. The good news: that spot that's been closed is finally opening up over the weekend (we're told).
That means we'll need to work on another quadrant of the new intersection, which will start Monday morning. That new quadrant is that little slot on the Fair Oaks Parkway side of Buckskin Drive along the eastbound main lanes.
Sundt Construction is telling us they have significantly less work to do on this quadrant so it won't be a several-months-long closure like the last one was. They're talking about 4-6 weeks to do the work they need to do.

Mail Bag: 410 at 151 stuff, Westwood Loop questions again, Old Fred Road and more

When will the Culebra Road on ramp to southbound I-410 open up? So surprised to find it closed and nowhere to get onto 410 until I was almost to Marbach.
- Rena
We're still working on getting that timeline - it's our next priority on this project now we've got things on the northbound side moved around and the southbound exit ramp to Military Drive opened up.


Why is the under construction flyover from SH 151 to I-410 built with steel supports, while the flyover from I-410 to SH 151 in the opposite direction is built with pre-stressed concrete beams? There is obviously a reason, but it sure isn't obvious. I would really like to understand the rationale behind the different construction methods.
- Glenn
It's a pretty simple answer, really. We use steel beams on bridge spans over about 110 feet - particularly with a curved alignment such as on a direct connector. That's why the steel supports are deeper (taller) than the pre-stressed concrete beams, to handle the additional weight stresses with the longer spans.


After waiting almost a year for UTSA Blvd to open, we now have another disruption of traffic in UTSA/UTEX area. Why are the right 2 lanes of traffic in this area closed for a new construction project? This greatly causes a traffic problem in this area.
- Rhea

The work you're seeing there isn't ours. That all belongs to Security Services FCU and, the last time we got an update from the city (January), is going to continue a while. Yantis is the general contractor here and is managing the actual project - we'd encourage folks with questions about this work to go to Yantis for answers.


We were discussing our favorite intersection the other day Alamo Ranch parkway and Westwood Loop. Going east from Alamo Ranch onto 151, what would it take to make the middle lane in addition to going straight also a left turn lane? In other words 2 lanes turning left on Westwood? Traffic really backs up there, which then backs up the traffic going into 151, this would really ease the traffic even on weekends.
- Ursula
Please provide a detailed status update on Alamo Ranch Parkway and Westwood Loop.
- Benjamin
TxDOT is done with this intersection, and has been for quite some time. This is all in the court of Bexar County Public Works, who recently installed raised curb to mount those delineator paddles. That should help considerably.
We are now working on installing guardrail along the southbound frontage road of Lp 1604 to prevent the poor behavior of drivers cutting across the grass median to reach the direct connector to Hwy 151.


Can you please tell me why their is no slow down lane to come in to the Hillcrest Housing area . I noticed that red musket has one which is not the main road into this housing area.
- Larry
So, Larry, the frontage road right there has three lanes. The far-right lane actually ends at Red Musket - that's why it looks and feels like a right-turn lane. We're working to stripe and sign that lane ahead of Spurs Ranch as a turn lane.
This will be what the frontage road looks like in its final configuration.
If we were to include a right-turn lane at Spurs Ranch we'd need to add a fourth lane to the frontage road, which we don't have the right-of-way space (or the money) to do on this job.


The much projected opening date of the I-10 access road from Ralph Fair to Old Fred. will not occur. Why? When? The delay is now over 90 days. Perhaps if TxDOT tripled the fines it might make a difference.
- Vicky
Well... today is March 22nd, and on my way home, I expected to see all sorts of activity wrapping up the repaving of the westbound frontage road at Old Fredericksburg Road, which according to your last blog post, is scheduled to be open tomorrow. However, at 5:45 PM this evening, all I saw was a bunch of parked construction equipment, no construction workers and dirt. Is this EVER going to wrap up? The inconvenience, dust, mud and delays are absolutely terrible. For more than a year, your repeated delays along IH-10 from the Dominion, have added more than 30 minutes/day to my (and I am sure many others) daily commute. Time which would be much better spent with my wife and family. You are now going on a 4 month delay on this portion of the project, alone - this is getting beyond frustrating.
- Dave
Can you please provide an update of the continued closure of the I-10 frontage road at Old Fred? Looks like it’s been pushed to April 27th. That is now 7 months of closure when it was supposed to be 3. Please set realistic goals and expectations.
- Christina
Let's start by saying we share your frustration here. When we first started this (in October) we expected a two-month work duration. We've addressed the question before. The target keeps moving, and at this point we just don't know what to say.

Vicky and Dave have already reached out to us privately and we've provided contact information for the individual at Sundt Construction to push questions to in the future. We're going to stop short of publishing that information here, but if you can find it through the NextDoor feeds in that neighborhood you're welcome to use the contact info as you see fit.
All that said, we do share some of the blame at TxDOT. We failed to include a milestone with accompanying liquidated damages on this part of the project. We are learning from the error and our director of construction has asked future projects include financial disincentives (we can't call them penalties) when we have stuff like this in our plans.

Are there any plans to fix the very wavy road surface both East and West Highway 90 across from Blue Skies at John D Ryan Blvd? This area of Highway 90 is very uneven and makes you feel like you are riding a roller coaster instead of your car. I can remember a section of I-35 across from Fort Sam Hospital that was like this that was fixed. I assume this is a sub-surface problem.
- Bill
It's on the list of projects we'd like to take on and will be addressed as we expand US Hwy 90 between I-410 and Hwy 211. That's currently programmed to happen around 2023.

When is Loop 1604 and I-10W at The Rim/La Cantera going to be upgraded to a proper highway intersection with fly overs with no yields? I've lived in the area since 2004 and the congestion gets worse every year.
- Paul
Paul, it seems thousands of people are discovering what you did back in 2004: That corridor along I-10 between San Antonio and Boerne is a great place to live!

That also means the congestion you're seeing is the byproduct of this corridor's continued development and is something we're working to address. Just like Johnny Cash got his Psycho Billy Cadillac one piece at a time because of his financial constraints, we're doing the same thing with the development of I-10 beyond Loop 1604. That is true also for the intersection. Our planners have easily conceded the cloverleafs have been increasingly outgrown over the course of the last decade.
The problem is money - a full interchange like you're looking for costs about $250 million, which is tough for us to come up with right now at one time (which is why the US 281 expansion is happening in two pieces at $150 million each).
That said ... we have hope. The Alamo Area MPO has included on the Unified Transportation Program this intersection in a plan to expand Loop 1604 between Bandera Road and I-35. The details are still being worked out as to how those will work as we move through the environmental assessment, but we are hoping to have this intersection addressed with that project when it starts right around 2020. A project of that size will take, at a minimum, four years to complete.

Who is responsible for 1604 being only two lanes on each side? It is 2018 and no one has stepped up to the plate and add another lane to each side at least. Here's a bright idea, you don't have to stop flow of traffic if you build it in the median.
- Brendan
Take a look at what we said to Paul, Brendan, and you'll see we're working on it. We wish we could just build a new lane ... unfortunately it's a lot more involved than that. Hopefully we'll be able to begin work to double capacity of Loop 1604 in 2020.

When is 410/151 interchange construction going to be done enough to open the Leon creek greenway trail? Are they doing redo the trail it looks very damaged from the construction?
- Mica
We are actually working with the city's Parks and Recreation department to fix and replace some damaged sections of the trail. We are hoping to have that finished and be able to open the trail back up by the end of May. We might even be able to get that done sooner if we get ideal weather patterns between now and then.

Mail Bag: A whole lot of I-10 stuff, FM 1103 at I-35, US 281 at the Guadalupe River

I'm curious about some of the project dates on this web site. On the Upcoming Projects page, the project to build the bridge over I-10 at Balcones Creek Road and convert the frontage roads to one-way between Fair Oaks Parkway and the Bexar-Kendall county line is scheduled to start in 2018. The project to expand the US 87 and TX 46 bridges over I-10 and convert the frontage roads to one-way between Scenic Loop Road and TX 46 is also scheduled to start in 2018.
However, the project to convert the frontage roads to one-way between Scenic Loop Road and the Bexar-Kendall county line is shown as starting in 2026. Is that a mistake, or will the other projects actually take 8 years to complete before this project is required?
Also, can you share an estimated completion date for the Fair Oaks Parkway bridge over I-10?
- Lee
Those dates are drawn from our project tracker, which pulls from our Unified Transportation Program. The UTP is updated every year and gives a comprehensive look at our 5- and 10-year plans. The middle segment, between Scenic Loop Road and the Bexar-Kendall county line, is placed last on the list of segments to be finished for one-way frontage roads conversion due to budgeting constraints. We'll start before 2026 if we can secure the funds to do so.
Each of those projects, which will often move forward concurrently, will take about three years to finish (that's a generic time range for reference; each project has its own timeframe).
As for the completion of the Fair Oaks Parkway bridge over I-10, RELMCo Inc. is on pace to have that wrapped up this summer. That's summer 2018. As in just a few months from now.


First of all, thanks for the great work you do with the mailbag. It’s always a fun - and informative - read!
I’ve been curious about the use of panels on Wurzbach Parkway over Blanco Road. These are the green wall-like structures that prevent drivers on Wurzbach Pkwy from looking down onto Blanco. To put it simply: what purpose do they serve?
Similar overpasses of the Parkway over West Ave., Jones Maltsberger, Nacogdoches, and Perrin-Beitel don’t have these panels. What’s special about Blanco?
- Juan
First of all, thank you and you're welcome!

Those panels are visual barriers, preventing the headlights of evening drivers from peering into apartment windows immediately adjacent to Wurzbach Parkway right there. It also maintains some semblance of privacy for the residents. You should find similar visual barriers along the eastbound lanes of Wurzbach Parkway over Perrin-Beitel.
While there is an apartment complex at the corner of West Avenue and Wurzbach, it is set far enough back from the highway and is separated from the parkway with a strip of trees. These natural barriers eliminate the need for the visual barrier panels you're seeing at Blanco.


Who is responsible for the timing of the signals on Hausman at 1604? In both directions the signal on the near side of 1604 turns green at the same time as the signal on the far side.
- Jim
Those signals are timed by the city of San Antonio. We'll reach out to our friends there to ask they take a look at the issue.


Thank you for the post about speed limits on I-10. I think I am the only one driving 60 mph and cars ride my bumper and pass me like crazy. Please add more speed limit signs and the LED reader boards. Thank you.
- Beth
We're happy to do what we can to improve the safety along any highway corridor. We'll take a look at this and other corridors and see if there are any additional signs we can add to improve awareness of the speed limits. That said, what typically helps the most in this area is enforcement of the speed limit, which we understand will be increasing as work continues to move forward.


With the bridge replacement project on I-35 at FM 1103, we know that the turn around lanes have been added to the original project. The last we had heard the move of the exits IS NOT included on this project. The northbound 35 exit to 1103 is already too close to 1103 and adding the turnaround lane will compound that issue. Have the plans changed to address the exits or what will it take to prevent the inevitable crashes that will happen frequently on a short exit with turnaround lanes?
- Jeff

The turnarounds were included with the project when it bid and were part of the actual design of the project. They may not have been part of the package presented in public meetings but were certainly part of the plans when we got bids from contractors.
The distance between the end of the ramp and the start of the intersection, heading north, is about 600 feet. We actually have design standards giving us the desired distance at an intersection like this. The total volume of the frontage road and the ramp is less than 2,500 vehicles per hour. The total traffic volume of FM 1103 at this location is just a shave higher than 750 vehicles per hour. We have three or more lanes for traffic to weave between the ramp and the intersection.

As you can see, Table 3-16 shows we like to have at least 460 feet between the end of the ramp and the intersection at a location like this. We have about 600 feet, exceeding by more than 30 percent the design requirements for an approach like this.
Knowing we've exceeded the design criteria as we have, we are confident this location will continue to be a safe intersection enjoyed by all.


Is there any plan to go back between Huebner and DeZavala to add an entrance to I-10 west? The only entrance that is left is very dangerous with all the traffic from the Huebner area merging with the Fredericksburg road traffic to merge to get onto I-10 west then merge with all the traffic getting off at UTSA Blvd.
- Max
The short answer here, Max, is no. The distances involved out there are beyond adequate to handle what we've got, and since we've had the current configuration in place (it's been a few years) we've seen no crash data to suggest any real hazard. It's actually in line with the standard used across the country. Adding another entrance to westbound I-10 would be redundant and actually create hazards.
If you don't remember the way the road was configured prior to the project in 2012 that built I-10 between Huebner and Lp 1604 as you know it today, we actually had two on ramps from Huebner Road. We eliminated one as a way to improve safety, and that safety enhancing configuration is the one you're seeing today.


I am still wondering about the I-10 project from Ralph Fair to fair oaks Ranch. According to the info provided at the open house the schedule for this project was:

• Begin Construction ― I-10 improvements (frontage road conversion, ramp reversals, and Old Fredericksburg Rd / Buckskin Dr overpass): Fall of 2015
• Fair Oaks Pkwy Bridge: Fall of 2016
• Construction time ― I-10 improvements: Approximately 2 Years
• Construction time ― Fair Oaks Pkwy Bridge: Approximately 1 Year

That indicates that the I-10 improvements was to run from Fall 2015 2 years to Fall 2017. It is now early Spring 2018 and this project is several months from being done. It appears to me the contractor under-resourced this project from the start.
What happened? Weather can not be blamed for all this delay. What is a realistic completion date now?
-Bob
Bob, we're glad you asked. First off, timetables given at those open house meetings are based on best engineering guesses with the plans not fully fleshed out. When you got these dates we didn't have full plan sheets drawn out and the target timeframes were goals to be met.
We began work on the I-10 improvements late March 2016 - a six-month delay from our intended start date due to some utility conflicts in the area - with a timeline of just over two years. We still have a few months from time expiring on the contract. If work isn't complete at that point we'll charge liquidated damages for each day the project continues beyond the contracted completion date. While we don't decide for the contractor the resources they ought to commit to a project, the consequence at the end of the job is, essentially, the contractor working for free (which is bad business for any private business).
By the way, the Fair Oaks Parkway bridge project began early 2017 with an 18-month schedule. We are currently on track to finish before the end of the school year, which is actually a bit ahead of the contract requirement.
One last thing: You'll recall in the open house we discussed totally closing the bridge and having it built in one piece to meet that construction timeline of a year. That plan was scrapped at the behest of those attending the open house who didn't like the idea of eliminating access to the bridge long-term. We were clear at the time the requested construction process would about double the duration of the project.


What is the estimated time to completion for the work at US 281 and the Guadalupe river? Also, what is being done? Thanks.
- John
This is a project that's really run under the radar, despite being a fairly major project up in Comal County. Thanks for bringing it out for us, John.
We are updating the southbound bridge deck over the Guadalupe River. That means a new bridge deck, new bridge rail (replacing the steel barrier with concrete barrier), cleaning up the bridge structure and the like. We've also recently added some pavement repair to the scope of work on the project.
All told work should be finished next summer (that is, Summer 2019). Between now and then you'll see a variety of traffic shifts. As those happen we'll do our best to get them posted here.

Mail Bag: I-10 frontage roads at Old Fred, signal timing, enforcement and more

Can you please explain the multiple construction delays that have occurred at Old Fredericksburg Rd and I-10 frontage Road. It was closed in October and targeted for December and had been delayed now for the 3rd time to March! How does this now take 6 months to add drainage?! Yes we’ve had rain, ice, and snow days but not for 4 months straight. This detour has been a major pain to get around for those that live in neighborhoods off the frontage roads.
- Christina
Please clarify how 4-6 days of inclement weather would cause a completion date to be extended over 90 days? Original completion was to be Dec 23.
- Vicky
We'll pull no punches here. We went directly to the contractor to find out what is going on and to let them know of the danger they're in of having their reputation in the public harmed.
Back in December Sundt's area director said they were going to work hard to get the road reopened to two-way traffic. At that time the items to get constructed before the frontage road could be reopened included a culvert and headwall, dirt work to develop the two roadway lanes and laying asphalt, curb and sidewalk. That road surface was to be wide enough for barrier so they could continue to work on a retaining wall.
At the time Sundt said they could get all that done in about 5-6 weeks, not including the mandatory break over Christmas. After adding the likelihood of inclement weather their assessment showed a completion of mid- to late-February.

So much for that idea. Here's what they said mid-February in an email update:
"Obviously, we did not make the second or third week in February to open up the westbound frontage road. We left the (storm water detention) pond construction out of the prior list on what needs to be done before the paving can go in. The access is really tight as well for the wall construction."
These are the two biggest reasons they're giving us for the delay. The lesson we're learning on our end is the need for milestones on work like this; we left the milestone off during planning as a judgment call believing the intersection would be built quickly as it was broken into quadrants. That omission won't happen in the future.
As for now, Sundt is working on that retaining wall and the pond, as well as the culvert that was being built. They have brought in two additional concrete crews to get the concrete work moving faster. Pavement work needs to wait a bit for dry weather as well as these other tasks to wrap up.
From Sundt's area manager: "We are making this corner of the intersection a priority on the job, but there is just a lot to take care of."
At the time of the email update we got a rough estimate on when Sundt would have things wrapped up. In that note they estimated:

• Retaining wall, three more weeks
• Concrete pads lining the pond, two more weeks
• Concrete channel for the box culvert, two more weeks
• Road grading and asphalt work, two weeks (cannot begin until wall and pond are finished)
• Concrete curb, sidewalks and island, two weeks (cannot start until after the road grading and asphalt work is done)
• Best-case scenario is to get two-way traffic reopened by March 21

Sundt isn't making the corner a priority just for fun, either. At this point they need to finish in order to do other work. As soon as they have that southeast corner of the future intersection of Old Fredericksburg Road and I-10 reopened they'll flip over to the northwest side. They'll then work around to the northeast and then the southwest quadrants. If that sounds painful, here's some assurance from that same area manager:

"These other three quadrants will go much quicker due to roadway pavement reconstruction being the only aspect of work to be done in these areas."

That is, they only have the actual roadway to mess with in the other quadrants - not a ton of drain structures.

Once the intersection is built Sundt will go to work on the new exit and entrance ramps, which need to be in place before we can switch traffic to one-way.

What do orange flags on top of stop sign mean? Thanks

- Anthony
Those are actually there just to make the sign more visible. Check out section 2A.15 in our Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices online.


Who is responsible for signal light timing on Loop 1604 near Randolph AFB between Hanover Cove and Lower Seguin Rd? It seems as though the lights are perfectly timed to make you stop at each intersection, almost without fail.
Synchronizing the lights would really help to alleviate traffic buildups here.
- Marshall
Thanks for bringing this issue up, Marshall. Those signals should be ours to time. Keep in mind they're not on a true timer - those days are over. We use instead a video infrared vehicle detection system (VIVD) on those signals, which act as smart devices to trigger the signals when a prescribed volume of traffic hits the intersection from a given direction.
We'll have our traffic operations folks check out those signals to make sure they're operating the way they should.


Just wondering whether anyone enforces the "no trucks in left lane" signs on I-35 north of 1604 through New Braunfels? I drive that section daily and see a truck using the lane at least once a week, sometimes even blocking traffic or cutting off cars. Do you have more information on the purpose of those signs? Thanks for all of your posts!
- John
On any major highway the left lane is primarily for passing. Where semi truck traffic is typically 5-10 miles per hour slower than the rest of the traffic, those trucks shouldn't be in that left lane at all.
Within city limits we can post those. You'll note they are white signs with black writing - regulatory signs. Enforcement is entirely up to the police department patrolling those roads. In the case you're describing, that would be New Braunfels Police Department or the Department of Public Safety (Comal County Sherriff has authority to patrol there, but they don't do it often in an effort to put their resources in areas not covered by the city police or by DPS).
If that doesn't answer the question, let us know and we'll give it a bigger crack!

THANK YOU! To the person(s) who had the idea, and to the person(s) who went out to westbound I-10 (before the Dominion Drive exit) and put a speed reader monitor.
Driving that part of I-10 is frustrating, and disappointing, with the speeders. With reconstruction, no shoulder, and barriers ... the speeding got horrible. Not anymore! People are slowing down! YAY!
- Mercy
We're glad you like those measures! We like to use the speed monitors as safety devices on some of our major projects where highway main lanes are under significant construction, like I-10. We are also using these radar trailers on I-35 near Walzem, and we consider them carefully for each major project as we move through the planning process.

Mail Bag: revisiting old answers, Ralph Fair Road, Fair Oaks Pkwy and more

Great work keeping the blog updated and providing great information!
Two questions: in the last mailbag there was a question about I-35 at Walzem reducing down to three lanes in each direction then opening up to four lanes.
You wrote that it is supposed to be four lanes but it is still three lanes each direction; any idea when that is supposed to be complete? (I know the weather hasn’t cooperated).
Second; I read the post regarding stop lights and what it takes to install (namely cost) and have a new respect before ‘firing from the hip’ saying every intersection that causes me a few seconds of inconvenience needs one. However, there is one intersection that, I think, is overdue for another look — Foster Rd and FM 1346. I’ve seen eastbound traffic back up all the way where the two lanes merge into one. Any plans for a traffic light there in the near future? The four-way stop seems very outdated.
And a comment about the 35 project— it rocks! You guys kicked its [expletive]!
Thanks again for the great information and posts! The person that keeps this updated does a fantastic job!

- Todd
First of all, flattery will get you ... well, pretty much anything. Thanks so much! Sorry we had to edit your comment a bit. This is a family blog, after all!
To your first question ... we were fully wrong about I-35 being opened up earlier. We were operating on old information and got it wrong. Instead of opening in January, it actually opened up to the new capacity last week and you are (hopefully) enjoying that extra lane each direction. We learned from the experience and will add extra verification with guys in the field before posting things in the future.
As for the second question, the best we can do is put the location on our list to be studied. You're not the first to ask, and we did recently upgrade that intersection with flashing yellow lights. We have to go with the hard data, so we'll see what things look like once we've done a warrant study.


I’ve been noticing some closures overnight at the Scenic Loop and I-10 overpass in Boerne so crews can law pavement underneath. This is exit 543, not the Leon Springs overpass at Boerne Stage Road. I’m not sure if these are being posted under the “Boerne” or “Leon Springs” categories, but I haven’t seen these particular closures in the weekly posts. Am I missing something? I live by this particular overpass and the detours are pretty far out of the way if we can’t go under the freeway.
- Grant
These should actually be posted under "Other Roads - Boerne". Because it's actually Scenic Loop Road, not I-10, that's closed it goes under a bit of its own heading.
The detour for this one is pretty simple - simply head down to Balcones Creek, cross over and turn around, then come back. The whole thing is about three miles.


Regarding Gold Canyon Exit at 1604, thanks for the quick response.
This same setup occurs on eastbound 1604 at the exits for 281 north and south. Two normal lanes and an auxiliary lane. That auxiliary lane terminates with the exit for 281 South. However, prior to that termination there is an exit for 281 North. If this is an unsafe condition, why is it allowed for this area but not for Gold Canyon?
- Marshall
The two areas actually aren't the same at all. Here's a look at the Gold Canyon area you're asking about:

Note the auxiliary lane stretches less than half a mile (the orange line is the auxiliary lane) and encounters both an entrance ramp, with traffic trying to enter the highway and weave onto the main lanes, and an exit ramp, with traffic weaving off the highway. We've also got a bridge in the middle of everything, limiting what we can do here.
Now, here's a look at eastbound Loop 1604:

You'll have to click on this one to blow it up a bit, it's not the same scale. Why? Because it's a significantly longer stretch of roadway we're trying to fit in the same column width in the blog. The auxiliary lane to which you're referring is well over a half-mile - and it doesn't feature the conflict of entering and exiting traffic. It's also lacking that pesky bridge in the middle.
If we were to stretch it out to capture the conflict of entering traffic with these two exit ramps, by the way, the stretch would be nearly a full mile.
Remember, that Gold Canyon area is well under a half-mile. The distance between these two exit ramps alone is more than what you've got at Gold Canyon.
That's why the situation you see on eastbound Loop 1604 approaching US 281 is safe and an extra ramp on westbound Loop 1604 near Gold Canyon would not be.


My wife and I think a 'fly over' from Ralph Fair to (eastbound) I-10 and from (westbound) I-10 to Ralph Fair would increase the functionality of both roadways. I know it would be expensive but sooner would be cheaper than later. This is going to have to be addressed due to the population explosion in eastern Kendall County. Is anything like that in the works? Thank you.
- Marcial
One thing you're not seeing (yet) is the huge benefit that new intersection at Old Fredericksburg Road will be to the intersection at Ralph Fair Road. All those folks in that new development along Old Fred Road that's now pushing through the Ralph Fair intersection will be removed from the traffic equation completely.
Just hang tight a few more months, you'll see what's happening and you'll be glad we didn't go in with a direct connector and it's quarter-billion-dollar price tag. Everything we've had going the last few years has been part of an overall plan to address the growth, and we're just about finished.
For the record ... no, we don't have one planned at this location, either. It's doubtful we'll ever get to that sort of situation. Frankly, we need direct connectors at Loop 1604 and I-10 or at Loop 1604 and I-35 first.


It is encouraging to see the progress on I-10 north of 1604. The progress seems to end at Dominion Drive however. What is the expected completion date of this interstate expansion and scope (distance) to be included?
- Dugald
We're glad we're encouraging! The expansion will add two lanes in each direction between La Cantera Parkway and Ralph Fair Road. We're scheduled to finish around the end of 2020. You'll see a new lane in each direction ready to use in 2019, though.


Please add me to your email list for traffic updates.
- Tami
We actually don't keep an email list. Your best bet is to subscribe to email alerts on our blog, which can be done by entering your email in the subscription bar on the left, and you'll get notices every time we post something.


Can you send me a picture of what the intersection at Fair Oaks parkway and I-10 will look like when completed.
- Chuck
All of that is posted online, Chuck. Take a look here.


What is going on with UTSA Blvd near UTEX Blvd? The expansion project from three lanes to five lanes looked complete in the Fall. Then after a few weeks, crews tore up the new surface for half of the new lanes for what looked like drainage work. It's been like that for about three months now with very little activity. This back-to-one-lane-each-way thing is frustrating after getting to use the expanded lanes.
- John
You're one of a growing list of folks asking us, John. We'll tell you what we told the others: that's all part of a private commercial development and they're moving around some utility stuff. We are pretty sure all the work is being done for Security Services FCU, who is developing that whole area along the road heading toward I-10.
We don't have any real oversight with them; as long as the traffic control is set up in line with standards in our Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices (it is), they're fine to be out there and we have no tools available to spur them along.