I-10/Dominion Drive closure this weekend

Even though summer officially started a few days ago, someone forgot to tell the weather that. With it being at least 90 degrees every day for the foreseeable future, we can all be thankful for air-conditioning.

Beginning the evening of June 29th and finishing up the morning of July 2nd, the mainlanes of I-10 at Dominion Dr. along with the eastbound and westbound traffic of Dominion Dr. will be closed. This is the same process that occurred at Camp Bullis Rd. just a few weeks ago. To get caught up on what has been going on, please read our previous blog. This time we are upping the ante with the weight of the beams. The previous beams placed at Camp Bullis Rd. had a length of 100 ft. and weighed a measly 83,200 lbs. (41.6 tons). The beams that are going up at Dominion Dr. may have a shorter length at 91 ft., but they weigh a whopping 93,000 lbs. (46.5 tons). The difference in weight is a whole extra African elephant!

Of course, with the closures come the detours, but we strive to make them as easy as possible. Westbound traffic of I-10 will exit at Dominion Dr., continue thru the Dominion intersection, and re-enter the westbound mainlanes at the entrance ramp before Boerne Stage Rd. Similarly, eastbound traffic of I-10 will exit at Dominion Dr., continue thru the Dominion intersection, and re-enter the eastbound mainlanes at the entrance ramp before Camp Bullis Rd. Westbound and eastbound traffic on Dominion Dr. will be re-routed. Westbound traffic will turn and proceed on the westbound frontage road and continue to the westbound entrance ramp or the turnaround at Boerne Stage Rd. Eastbound traffic will turn and proceed on the eastbound frontage road and continue to the eastbound entrance ramp or the turnaround at Camp Bullis Rd.

We will again have sufficient uniformed officer presence to safely move and direct traffic through the intersection, along with message boards and signs. We are striving to repeat and improve upon the success we have had during the entire construction process.
If you are ever wondering what’s going on, you can check out the TransGuide cameras. 

Heads up! Major closures this weekend

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


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

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


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


I-410 at Hwy 151

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


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


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


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

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: West Military at Lp 1604, I-10 developments, FM 1103 and the New Braunfels Ave Bridge

I live in Rogers Ranch, and we see construction signs posted on Rogers Ranch Parkway for work on the intersection with 1604. Can you tell us what will be done there? We hope it will add turnaround lanes.
- Michael
Michael, we had several of your neighbors reach out on this. Perhaps you've already gotten word ... but if not, please spread the word now.
We've got a simple overlay project going on between Rogers Ranch Pkwy and Bandera Road. That means we'll be shaving off the top 2 inches or so of asphalt and replacing it with a fresh layer of asphalt. Work on the main lanes is overnight only - that stuff won't happen until we get back to warmer temperatures. During the daytime we're allowing the contractor to move forward with the frontage roads.
All told, you'll see us doing this work for the next nine months.
No turnaround lanes are coming ... yet. We do have a future project adding turnarounds, but we're about two years from seeking bids on that one. Sorry it's not sooner.

Just a quick observation on the I-10 east at 1516 frontage road conversion to one-way. Converting the frontage roads to one-way before the 1516 intersection improvements was a horrible idea and potentially more unsafe than two-way. There is lots and lots of traffic from the landfill and other businesses along the southern frontage road between Foster and FM 1516 that now has to travel east to the four-way stop at 1516. This has the frontage road extremely backed up. The exit ramp to 1516 is also backed up onto the highway causing an extremely unsafe condition of waiting to exit on the shoulder with traffic passing inches away at 70-plus miles per hour. It might be a good idea to get started on the 1516 intersection improvements soon!
- Marshall
Turnarounds at FM 1516 and Loop 1604 are not happening until a future project; those are not included in this project. That goes for the traffic signals at FM 1516 as well.
You'll see some improvement when the intersection at Woodlake Parkway is finished in 2018, and Texas Sterling Construction is working to build up the inside halves of the frontage roads so they can also build the new exit and entrance ramps. Both of these will help quite a bit.
Ultimately the decision to fast-track the conversion of frontage roads was made by our area engineer, who felt strongly this would improve safety by eliminating early the two-way frontage roads.

Why does TXDOT San Antonio keep listing Schertz as Selma in your weekly construction-related closures? Confusing.
- Concerned Citizen
We'd like to blame a map that's not incredibly clear on boundaries:

We drove through I-35 over the weekend to verify city limits and checked with our stakeholder lists, and found Selma isn't really involved here. We apologize for the error and any confusion it's brought - we should have verified this long ago. We have adjusted the most recent closures post to reflect the correction.

There have been a lot of crashes along I-10 between Boerne and 1604 since the recent construction projects. Is the traffic behaving as modeled? Should we anticipate further construction progress due to the continued development in the area?
- Rob
Any time a crash happens you can probably bet traffic isn't behaving as modeled.
We're not seeing a statistical spike in crashes along the I-10 corridor right now, but these crashes are typically more dramatic when a project is active.
As for continued development ... yes! We have a few major jobs still on their way over the next five years:

• Conversion of frontage roads to one-way between Fair Oaks Parkway and Balcones Creek
• Construction of a new overpass at Balcones Creek Parkway
• Conversion of frontage roads to one-way between Balcones Creek and Scenic Loop Road
• Conversion of frontage roads to one-way between Scenic Look Road and Hwy 46

Just to give you an idea.


What is going on with Military Drive West? We're currently on "traffic switch" number 2 but there is a new sign advising of a traffic switch on 18-18-17 - I assume that's supposed to be 10-18-17? Does this mean the traffic direction is going back to normal for now or are we going to be going sideways while driving backwards?
- Kim

Apologies for the typo in the digital message board. Those happen from time to time and we do our best to catch the issues quickly.
Where we know and have published several stages of traffic shifts, a generic "traffic switch" message on a board should alert folks to the next phase happening.
More to the point at this location: we will have the left turn lanes opened up in about a month (by time we reached the 18th we had traffic all where it started, except those turn lanes) with fresh striping to keep everyone in their lane. That will only last about 6-8 months, though, as we'll be ready to move traffic over onto the frontage road at that spot summer 2018.

I don't have a question....just a comment! I think you should KEEP the New Braunfels Avenue Bridge the way it is with the wonky arches.....it's one of a kind and a funny story!!!!
- Marci
We're glad you appreciated the story out there and are able to find some humor in it. We're still not going to keep the wonky arches. As we explained in our post the arches will be re-done once the remainder of the bridge is built and we can move traffic away from the edge there.

On the La Cantera Pkwy to Ralph Fair Rd project, I thought the work is only done on the inside lanes. Why are barriers being set on the outside as well? Also what is being done to the drain structure when going westbound right before Ralph Fair Rd light on Leon Creek? I thought that was done during the previous project?
- Danko
Let's start with the building one side and the other thing.
We're building on both sides of the road - first to the inside, then to the outside. In order to make room to fully build the new HOV lanes on the inside of the current main lanes, we're adding some "temporary" pavement to the outside. This will allow us to shift traffic over just a few feet so we can really get going on that inside lane.
As for the drain structure work that seems to be redone, we're not really re-doing any work done by Texas Sterling Construction in the previous project. Here we've got box culverts running under the main lanes of I-10 that need to be extended for the additional width of the highway.

Nine quick project updates

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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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

The I-10 corridor: all the latest

We've had more than a few questions about the I-10 corridor (we have four active projects between Dominion Drive and Scenic Loop Road right now). We had started doing a video post for this corridor, but the footage is now outdated so we've scrapped it. Simply put, we've got a lot of info to get out to y'all. Buckle up, ladies and gentlemen ... we're gonna dive in and this one may take a bit. We'll try to be brief, but thorough.

Questions
Nicole asked us about the timing for the signal at Ralph Fair Road, the future ramp configuration between Fair Oaks Parkway and Ralph Fair Road and about the new intersection at Old Fred Road we're working on. (Sorry to paraphrase your questions rather than get them out verbatim through a Mail Bag post, Nicole.)
The signal issue is a recurrent issue and has more to do with capacity of the roadway than the actual timing of the signal. (Sure, easy to say from behind a keyboard ... we're confident the issue feels like a timing issue in the morning rush....) We hate to say "trust us", but ... well, trust us. The issue is capacity and, until we get that intersection set up to its final configuration with one-way traffic all around, you won't see anything truly helpful with timing adjustments. Remember: in order to get an extra 5-10 seconds of green time for one traffic source we have to add 5-10 seconds of red time to the other traffic sources.
That leads us to the rest of Nicole's question: what will things look like when we're done with the frontage roads between Ralph Fair and Old Fred. If you'd like a picture, it's here. Basically, though, we're going to have entrance and exit ramps in both directions between Ralph Fair and Old Fred. The folks coming from Old Fred that now have to sit through the signal at Ralph Fair will have an on-ramp allowing them to bypass the signal each morning.
And yes, we will have signals at the intersection of I-10 and Old Fred Road/Buckskin Drive.
Another issue with that intersection of Ralph Fair and I-10 pointed out by Andrew highlights the poor habit of folks using the turnaround and stopping at the end of the west-to-east turnaround on the bridge. He says many folks are trying (even during heavy morning hours) to dive across several frontage road lanes to reach their favorite breakfast spots on their way in to work. The problem here is access to these restaurants from the turnaround is not intended.
Let's put that another way: if you're diving from the turnaround to Whataburger, you're doing it wrong. Don't get us wrong; we love Whataburger (and other eateries). It's just that the intent of the turnaround is to get traffic either to the eastbound entrance ramp from Ralph Fair Road or to get traffic to Boerne Stage Road. When you stop there and wait so you can get your morning taquitos, you're holding up hundreds of other folks who are trying to get to work and you're becoming part of the congestion problem.
You're literally stopped in the middle of the road. Just like this guy.
If you need those taquitos, use the signalized intersection. We hope we don't need to install medians or curbs or those delineator paddles to help folks understand this.

Leon Springs schedule
First of all, a huge kudos to the folks with Texas Sterling Construction. When we posted on the traffic shifts along the eastbound frontage road of I-10 between Boerne Stage Road and Dominion Drive we said the single-lane situation would remain for the whole of March. We also promised to get off-duty police to control traffic flow during mornings.
Well, we had the off-duty officer out there, and it seemed to help quite a bit. As for the duration of that single lane?
Well, again, credit Texas Sterling Construction. They pushed to adjust the way they went about their business working on the new eastbound exit to Dominion Drive to allow that second lane of the frontage road to open up and get traffic somewhat near normal. They're still working on that new ramp, which should be ready to open by the end of the month.
That means our overall project should be just about wrapped up by the end of that first week of April. We'll still have some minor items remaining, but traffic will be in its final configuration well before Easter hits.

Old Fred Road schedule
The next major item to come about on I-10 is having traffic move onto the new overpass at Old Fredericksburg Road. That change will come a lot sooner than many folks might think, so spread the word on this.
With bridge support beams set and deck panels almost all in place, crews are just about ready to pour concrete. That's actually scheduled to happen in April (and will require minor overnight closures we'll let you know about when the time comes).
Sundt is pushing slightly ahead of schedule on this project (our guys on the field hate when we say that publicly...) and we're hoping to have traffic up on the new overpass this summer. Once the main lanes are up on the overpass we'll get to work on the new intersection there of I-10 and Fred Road. That intersection, again, will indeed include signals.
Once that intersection is ready for use - and only after - we'll convert the frontage road to one-way between Ralph Fair and Old Fred. We're expecting that to happen the first part of 2018. Sundt will then turn their attention to the frontage roads and ramps between Old Fred and Fair Oaks Parkway.
Overall completion is still sitting mid-2018.

Fair Oaks Parkway schedule
So then there's the bridge reconstruction at Fair Oaks Parkway itself. This is a separate project from the Sundt job, being done by RELMCo Inc.
Right now they're getting the support structures for what will be the west-to-east turnaround built. We're hoping soon to be able to hang beams and pour concrete (which will require full closures of I-10, which we'll announce when those become imminent) in the next month or so.
Once the new turnaround bridge is finished (it's actually a separate structure from the overpass bridge itself) we'll move traffic over to that turnaround. We'll still have one lane in each direction so, though the movement will be a bit awkward, you'll still have the same level of service you've got right now.
With traffic over on the turnaround bridge we'll demo the old bridge and build the new one - a process that will take about nine months. Overall completion is still on target for mid-2018.

Scenic Loop Road schedule
Before we delve into anything else, let's be clear on one thing: we are not moving the exit and entrance ramps for Scenic Loop Road as part of this project. Please let your friends and neighbors know this, as it persists as a rumor we get calls on weekly.
Again, we are not moving the ramps to or from Scenic Loop Road as part of the current project.
We absolutely will move these ramps with the conversion of those frontage roads to one-way, but that work is on our radar but currently unfunded. We're hoping to get after it as early as late 2018, but we could end up pushing that back a bit if funding doesn't work out.
Austin Bridge recently moved traffic over off the old eastbound lanes to start work on that new bridge structure, and things are simply moving right along. Once we have that new structure built we'll move traffic, again, then go to work replacing the old westbound lanes. We're hoping to have this project finished up and done by early 2018 - but Austin Bridge is trying to sneak this one in a little earlier than that. Let's all hope the weather cooperates....

The bottom line
The middle of next year will treat motorists pretty well along this corridor ... at least, for a short while. As a reminder, we do have an expansion of the I-10 main lanes between Ralph Fair Road and La Cantera Parkway coming up, and that's set to start late this year. That project will likely take about three years to build.

Mail Bag: I-10 stuff, FM 1103, US 281 and more

Part two, as promised....

Regarding the ARP/WWL intersection, I know TxDOT San Antonio has received a lot of complaints about this project. I really don't have a complaint, but a suggestion. I have noticed a lack of signage directing traffic on the SB 1604 Access road to the Santiko's entrance off of the SB 1604 Access Road. The only sign is a small one liner next to the entrance. I would suggest that TxDOT place directional signage prior to Alamo Ranch Parkway to direct SB 1604 traffic to the 1604 Santiko's entrance. This may help alleviate some of the illegal left-hand turns that are occurring at the ARP/WWL intersection.
- Benjamin
You're right, Benjamin, we have gotten a lot of feedback about this intersection. We'll be making a brief post on the intersection in the next week or so.
In the meantime, you've asked a pretty common question - why not sign for Santikos off the southbound frontage road of Loop 1604? The short answer: we can't.
That little sign you're seeing was put up by Santikos. We are aware of its existence, and we're tolerating it for now. We can't put bigger signs up, and we can't direct traffic to a specific business. That's all called advertising, and TxDOT is not in the business of advertising private businesses on our right-of-way.
Santikos is welcome to do what they can to elevate the awareness of that entrance among their patrons through advertising - but cannot advertise in our right-of-way.

Why no closure info this week? Specifically looking for info on US90 Gen McMullen closure.
- Dave
Dave sent this note in to us a few weeks ago, for those wondering what he's talking about.
Dave, we're sorry we missed that post! The blog is run by a very small staff, and when we're out of the office we don't get a chance to post some of that info. The closures are sent to us by project staff and are due to communications staff by Friday at noon. That doesn't always happen. The result: we are unable to pre-load a post for next week's closures beyond getting it put together on Friday afternoons.
When we're gone on Fridays, we do what we can to get the post up as soon as we can. For instance: this week's closures were sent to media Friday early afternoon but not posted until earlier today.
We're sorry!

Y'all recently did repair work in the area of mile marker 194 on I-35 southbound. The outside lane has a section of repair that does not look like it was completed or was completed poorly. It has a rut in it that can catch a driver off guard and move a small vehicle especially, to the right unexpectedly. I drive the area everyday in a small car. Even knowing it's there it can be disturbing when I can't change lanes.
- Bob
We're still working on the rehab of the asphalt out there in that area, so we'll make sure that area gets an extra look for you, Bob. Hopefully we can address the pavement issue soon.

Do you have any updates on the FM 1103 project in Schertz & Cibolo? I have not seen the plans since the open house about a year ago. Will the bridge at I-35 get turnarounds? It would be great to see something nice similar to what TxDOT Austin did at Yarrington Road in Kyle. I like what they did, but there are a lot of busy exits that do not have turnarounds like that!
- John
For starters we're eyeing mid-2019 to get bids on the expansion of FM 1103 between I-35 and Rodeo Way. Those who missed the open house can see what we talked about online here. Heck, we've even got a summary and analysis of our public meeting there.
The quick answer to where things are at: we're busy in the right-of-way acquisition process. This can take a while, and we want to be sure it's all done before we bid the contract. Between now and then we'll make adjustments to the project as needed, but it looks like the bulk of the design presented at the open house will be what you see.
As for the bridge ... that's not part of the existing project. We'll get to that bridge reconstruction in the near future, but it's not currently included in the FM 1103 expansion. We have it on our radar, though, and as soon as we can afford to make it happen we will.


Has there been any studies on the traffic signals on UTSA Blvd and I-10 recently? Almost constantly, those turning left from the bridge of UTSA Blvd overpass towards the eastbound side will continue to keep turning for up to 15 seconds longer than the light allows. I've been at the intersection several times where I'll sit on a green for at least 20 seconds before even starting my accelerator (and the one time I didn't, I ended up in an accident). What can or should be done in this area?
- ReySounds to us, Rey, like you've got a law enforcement issue going on. Have you reached out to SAPD on this matter? Any time someone is running a light that would be a moving violation. To have them continue more than 20 seconds means your green time is completely shot (green lights at intersections like this typically only remain green 20 seconds or so). If that's what's happening, you've got a major law enforcement issue that needs addressed by law enforcement.


Now that the TTC has accepted the bid from Webber Construction for the expansion of US 281 north of Loop 1604 , when will we know more about the construction schedule including road closures and traffic diversions to the new frontage roads?
- Tom
We're planning to hold a groundbreaking ceremony March 31. We won't have details of closures until a few weeks prior to work actually beginning, which looks to be by early May. We'll post more about the overall project in an upcoming post.

Can you post a project summary of the expansion of FM 1957 (Potranco) from 1604 to 211? Specifically looking for an overall project plan and anticipated schedule. Thank you (we just moved into the area and want to know what to expect and when).
- Steve
Welcome, Steve, and thank you for your service to our nation!
The short answer to your question is that the expansion of Potranco Road is actually being done by Bexar County Public Works. We don't have updates here at TxDOT, but you can reach out to the folks at Bexar County for an update.

Where on the TxDOT web site can I find the plan for expanding I-10 from the Rim to Boerne. I see the intended closures on the blog but cannot find "the diagram/plan" for the on going work? Thank you in advance.
- Glenn
We have a few sets of schematics, Glenn. Pick your favorite:
The I-10 Kendall extension builds up I-10 between Fair Oaks Pkwy and Hwy 46, including a new overpass at Balcones Creek Road and conversion of the frontage roads to one-way.
Here's a look at the future HOV lanes on I-10 between Ralph Fair Road and La Cantera Pkwy.
This is our information on the current work at Scenic Loop Road (and NO we are not messing with the entrance and exit ramps as part of this project!).
We have the new overpass at Old Fred Road (with concurrent frontage road conversion between Ralph Fair and Fair Oaks) that's ongoing.
Finally, the work on I-10 between Ralph Fair Road and Dominion Drive - which is set to be done by the end of this month, by the way - has information available here.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I-10 at Leon Springs is almost done....

Morning traffic in Leon Springs this morning was, well, slow.
We got your emails, calls, tweets and online submissions - all of them. Rather than respond individually (we don't have the personnel or the time to do that), we're hoping you'll circulate this post to let folks know what's going on. Rather than circulate email addresses and coordinate a cut-copy-paste form email complaint via your NextDoor or Facebook pages we ask you post this. We want you to know you've been heard, but we also want you to know we have answers. This post should address each of the major questions you're asking.


What happened
Late last week Texas Sterling Construction opened a new eastbound entrance ramp to I-10 from Boerne Stage Road. With the new on-ramp, located near the 10 West commercial development, crews are working to convert the old on-ramp into a new exit ramp for Dominion Drive.

This is the schematic we presented on this project before it began.

While our folks are building that new exit ramp we'll have the left lane of the frontage road closed near the HEB. We'll also keep the new west-to-east turnaround closed to minimize traffic conflicts with the reduced frontage road. This closure will last until the new ramp is ready to reopen, which should be around the end of the month.


Why?

Without the closure as it now is, you'd essentially have three lanes on the frontage road coming from Boerne Stage Road merging to a single lane in a very short distance. That simply doesn't make much good sense. What we have now allows for two lanes to merge to one by time traffic reaches the work area. That frontage road at the work area - that is, the area we're building the new exit ramp - has to be limited to a single lane to provide a safe work area while crews are tying in the new ramp to the existing frontage road.
To the credit of Texas Sterling Construction, most of the structural work to build this ramp has already been done. The process to get the ramp finished and opened should be relatively quick - right now we're planning to have that ramp opened up (and the frontage road lanes with it) by the end of March.


Read that again, please

Let us reiterate: we should have traffic in its final configuration by the end of March. Twenty-seventeen, just for those of you who question what year we'll be done. Though it's pretty wet this week we should be able to have traffic where it should be project-wide.

Unimpressed? We get it - this project has been going on for a while. It's been compounded for those who have survived the work at Ralph Fair Road and the work on Boerne Stage Road, in addition to another couple of smaller municipal projects in the area. If you live in Leon Springs or along Boerne Stage Road, you've likely been battling construction zones for the better part of the last five years.

We're telling you it's almost over - literally a few weeks away. At least, until we get to work on those new main lanes set to get built starting this year. But that's another post altogether.

Why no post in advance?

Honestly, there's little to excuse on this. Our communications staff knew this would be coming, but has been tied up doing some other stuff. That's no helpful, and it's not a valid reason to fail to have a post like this out before the traffic changes.

It may be a lot too little too late, but we apologize. We'll work to do better. As an agency, we've been tasked by the governor to do more with less - clearly that didn't happen here. We will figure it out and make it happen.

We do credit our project staff, however: they had notification of the change posted with digital message board prior to all this shaking up.

Can something be done to provide immediate relief?

This is a loaded question. The good news: this is very temporary. As we've reiterated above, the situation will only last through this month. With one week of that being Spring Break, we're hoping the traffic impact is kept as small as can be.

Can we open up an extra lane, though? No. That we can't do. The lane restrictions we've got in place today are necessary to complete the project safely, and that's what we're aiming to do.

What about signal timing?

We are working with folks from the city of San Antonio's Traffic and Capital Improvements section - they are the group that handles signal timing at this location. We're making sure the signals are adjusted to allow the best traffic flow possible during these next few weeks.

An officer could help by directing traffic...

We'd like to thank everyone who suggested this. We're not sure how much it will help, but you should see an officer on location in the morning and through the rest of this week. We'll evaluate Friday how much of a help this has actually been.

The biggest issue we're seeing is people who aren't making appropriate turns. Lane-to-lane changes are absolutely critical to making this area operate at the highest efficiency, and if that's not happening the whole thing falls apart. If that sounds a little like we're trying to share the responsibility for an efficient transportation system with you, the driver ... well, then the point has been made.

Once the lane-to-lane turn (which is taught in literally every drivers education class in the country) is made, drivers will need to employ the zipper merge to continue a good flow of traffic. These aren't advanced traffic maneuvers here, and our engineers assume drivers will be able to safely perform these basic maneuvers when they set up a traffic control plan.

Why discuss this now? Because the point of the officer on site in the morning will be to make sure traffic is doing this - the lane-to-lane movement, the zipper merge, all of it. They'll also make sure you're not blocking the intersection by trying to squeeze in before the red light.

If you're in the intersection and stopped when the light turns red, you're doing it wrong.

It's unbearable/dangerous/painful/horrible/killing us

Typical traffic during peak hours in other US locations....

We've heard other superlatives about this as well, but that heading just about sums it up. If it can be said, it's being said. This is, after all, the trafficopalypse of Leon Springs.

And no, we're not making light of it. We're simply trying to let you know we get it.

To the point of safety, we'll reiterate the situation is not dangerous. Were there frustrating delays this morning? Most definitely. Our field staff were on site observing what was happening and are making appropriate adjustments (see above). But a dangerous situation? No - that's not created by this. It's created by impatient drivers who make poor choices. Again, we're talking about shared responsibility here. We are owning the fact it's frustrating. We're also asking the drivers to own the fact they create the hazardous situation.

Did TxDOT crews force those cars to drive along the median to skip by traffic? Nope. Did TxDOT crews direct traffic onto parking lots, cutting through properties? Not one bit. We don't make those choices. To suggest we do strips the responsibility of safe driving from the drivers themselves, and is faulty logic.

Again, we're owning that the frustration of traffic delays is on us. We own that we didn't get proper notice out. We are working on a fix. We are trying to finish construction and we've whittled away the capacity of a roadway. For a three-hour period of time during the day it's pretty rough going, and we absolutely believe assertions of ludicrously long commute times. We're trying to solve that while maintaining the integrity of our safe work zone.

We simply need drivers to own their own behavior while we're at it.

Notes for those who are late

An odd request we got from more than a couple of folks is to provide a written note for kiddos late for school because of the traffic mess.

We're not sure we have the authority to do this, but we hope this blog post will help explain the situation for a day or two. We believe that, like other traffic situations like this, things will improve within a few days as folks get used to the traffic situation. The weather isn't helping much this week, either, and traffic generally flows a little easier when the road is dry.

However, if you need a late note for your teacher or boss and if this page works, feel free to use it. Don't have your boss or teacher call us, please - that's overkill. Just give them the link to this blog post and let it speak for itself.

Mail Bag: Lots of 1604 questions, 410-151, frontage roads and more

On Loop 1604 South between Wiseman and Potranco, there is only one left turn lane onto Wiseman heading east and Potranco heading east. Can you make the middle lane a left turn/ straight ahead option lane? There is a big backup on 1604 because there is only one left turn lane onto the these two streets.

- Jaime
The short answer to your question ... is no, we can't make that left through lane an optional left/through lane.

But we're not always about brevity here. We like to explain things, and you're here because you want to hear (ahem, read) what we have to say. Right?

The biggest reason for not going with the optional left-through lane (which do exist on Wiseman and on Potranco, by the way) is signal phasing. There's a whole manual for this (which you can read, if you want). These intersections are currently five-phase intersections, meaning the signals change five times each cycle. It works to maximize the flow of traffic in all directions. The five phases are:

1. Southbound Lp 1604 (with left turn)
2. Southbound and Northbound Lp 1604 (no left turns)
3. Northbound Lp 1604 (with left turn)
4. Eastbound Wiseman/Potranco (with left turns)
5. Westbound Wiseman/Potranco (with left turns)

The cross streets have that optional left-turn lane ... the major street does not. That's by design! If we were to add the optional lanes to Loop 1604, we'd have some issues and you'd actually see greater delays. Here's why:

1. Southbound Lp 1604 only
2. Northbound Lp 1604 only
3. Eastbound cross street
4. Westbound cross street

By doing this you're lacking the major traffic movement with this arrangement - that extra phase of traffic where the through traffic is allowed to flow through the intersection. Sure, by just looking at things we'd only have four phases ... but that means you're looking at 20-30 fewer seconds given to that through traffic for each cycle. That traffic would instead simply stack up on queues on the main lanes, bogging down traffic on Lp 1604 even more.

That's why we don't do an optional left-turn lane on any location comparable to Loop 1604 here (think of Loop 337 in New Braunfels or Northwest Military at Wurzbach Parkway).

Here's the good news: you may have noticed we're working on the overpasses at Wiseman, NW Military and Potranco. It'll take some time to get to where those overpasses are in use, but they are your long-term solution. By the way, when we have those overpasses in we'll be able to employ your suggestion and move to a four-phase cycle (which is standard for expressway intersections).

One issue that seems to be ignored is the lack of a good connection for people leaving AR wanting to head north on 1604. The best way now is Wiseman, out the "back" of the area, although it is generally backed up at rush hour.
It appears to me that a simple clover, eastbound just pass the overpass, onto 1604 headed north, would solve the problem. There doesn't appear to be any right-of-way issue, when might this project be put in place?
- Richard
The issue wasn't ignored at all; the current strategy is to route traffic down to Wiseman like you're doing today. When the project was studied and designed the demand (and projected demand) for that move wasn't very high. Remember these plans go back over seven years, so a lot of what you're seeing now wasn't known of during those plans.
Once we were ready for construction, financial constraints kept us from adding more features to the project (and bridge work is really expensive).
The current option will improve dramatically when the overpass at Wiseman is constructed and, as you know, we're working on that now. When that's done (the project is set to wrap up in 2019) we'll take a new look at traffic movements to determine needed improvements in the future.


You posted some information on your blog sometime around October 2015 regarding a lane being eliminated on the frontage roads of the I-410 just north of TX-151 due to construction work. It said that work would be completed around 2017. I know there is still construction work going on around this area, however I would like to know if this lane elimination is still there or if it has been lifted. I have also pasted in the information that was shown on the blog. Thank You.
- Jay
Those frontage road lanes is still eliminated, and we're still working to fill the promise of having that lane reopened this year. That will happen when we've got the new ramps finished - a task on this project that's prioritized right now. The closures are designed to help crews widen the frontage roads and the main lanes, fitting them to new ramp configurations that are being pushed to be in place this summer (if all goes well).


Why is there no plan for an east bound exit for Boerne Stage Road? Everyone going to HEB or Walmart has to sit through the Ralph Fair stop light. I'm not surprised the bridge needed expansion but a lot of that was due to two streets worth of traffic forced to go through the same exit and light.
Could you please let me know why this is the plan?
- Reid
Right now it's really a matter of geometry. You're familiar with the area; you know the on-ramp from Ralph Fair Road (which gets more than its fair share of use) takes up most of the space between Ralph Fair Road and Leon Creek. Yes, there's a big gap between Ralph Fair Road and that on-ramp, but that's filled by the auxiliary lane allowing turnaround traffic to blend with traffic off the bridge - preventing us from moving that entrance ramp anywhere.
Those unfamiliar with what's going on out there can check out our schematic of the area here.
It's a tough situation, for sure - but not one that has been taken lightly by our folks at all. The situation will likely improve for you when we convert that frontage road between Old Fredericksburg Road and Ralph Fair Road to one-way; it'll open up some capacity along the frontage road and improve the signal operations a bunch.


We are new to the area and keep hearing rumors about SH 211 extending to Culebra. I saw something that there is a project out there that has been on and off for years. Is there anything in the future for this effort?
- Matthew
This is a discussion that's been had by the Alamo Area MPO, Bexar County and us quite a bit over the last several years. The effort is currently in the hands of Bexar County. They have information posted online here.


Bitters Road between Blanco and 281 is down to two lanes and it is a nightmare for traffic, particularly for parents and school buses who have to use Bitters to reach Hidden Forest Elementary. I have not seen any public notice about the scope of this project, although there has been intermittent resurfacing on parts of the road. What's going on right now and how long is it going to take?
- Haley
Haley wrote this in a few weeks ago. The work to which she referred was being done by the city of San Antonio.
Y'all, we know it can be confusing regarding who is in charge of what road. Heck, we get it wrong from time to time. A good rule of thumb: if it has an FM (Farm-to-Market) road designation, it's a TxDOT road. These designations feature the big white boxes with black numbers you'll see on the large green directional signs when you're running down the Interstate highways. If it doesn't have that designation, it's not ours.
If it's not ours and it's in the city limits, it belongs to the city of San Antonio. If it's beyond city limits, it goes to Bexar County Public Works.
It's tough to keep straight for us all, but we try to manage. We have cheat sheets that help, too!
All that said, the city had responded to others asking similar questions and should have had the issue resolved a while ago.


So since the new on ramp has opened on 1604 and Bandera headed west, I've seen many, many people leave the Stonefield Place street and interrupt traffic to get on the highway. The street is passed the entrance ramp so they have to drive up and cross over the 3 lanes to get on. I've seen people almost get hit several times in the last week alone. Any way something could be done to alleviate this?
- Leah

Don't let this be your commute. Be safe. Drive smart.

Unfortunately there aren't a lot of options to deal effectively with these very rude, very selfish, very dangerous drivers. And that's what they are - rude, selfish and dangerous. They are putting their own wants ahead of the safety of all of us on the road, aren't they?
Sadly, Leah, this is a driving behavior displayed all over the city. What's more, it's not even against the law (as Texas Highwayman points out) in Texas, though it is elsewhere. Here it's just an obnoxious lane change. Just because it's not illegal doesn't mean it's the right thing to do, though, and this sort of mentality has simply got to be eradicated. At this location specifically, going through that signal at Bandera only takes a few extra minutes and could extend life expectancy of they motorist by years. Decades, even. That's a heck of a return-on-investment!

We design and build the roads and include with our building a set of instructions (pavement markings, highway signs...). When those instructions are not followed, the results are almost always disastrous.
Update: Looking at this location a second time based on feedback from Texas Highwayman, we need to point out this movement is, in fact, an illegal movement. Coming out of Stonefield to get to the entrance ramp to northbound/eastbound Loop 1604 means crossing the "gore", which is absolutely illegal. And unsafe. And selfish. And reckless. And everything we mentioned above.
We can try to install some sort of barrier to stop this - like the Tuff Curb and delineator paddles we're planning to put in on Alamo Ranch Parkway near Westwood Loop, but this shouldn't be a necessary strategy.
Let us be clear: this reckless, dangerous, selfish, childish, rushed and illegal driving behavior exists all over San Antonio. We stripe the roadway to let folks know this is unacceptable, but are criticized because drivers completely ignore the striping. This leads to pressure to put up these positive barriers - which we can absolutely do, when needed - at a higher cost to you, the taxpayer, and at an absurd cost to repair, replace and maintain as we go. To see what we mean, take a look at US 281 north of Loop 1604, where we've installed these curbs and paddles to stop selfish and disrespectful drivers from doing the same thing up there. We've had to replace those paddles routinely, as drivers ignore them and figure the damage to their own car is minimal, so they simply drive over them.
Installing a small concrete curb isn't an option, either - those are only to be used on roads with posted practical speeds under 45 miles per hour. The frontage road here is now posted at 50, and drivers are often exceeding that posted limit.
This gets us to the point of actual solutions for you, Leah. Option one: tell your neighbors to stop being so dang selfish, rude, dangerous, reckless, careless and more. Option two: encourage your local law enforcement agencies to up the enforcement on this maneuver, writing tickets for those who do it.
In the interim, we'll pass along some comments on this issue to our engineers for a fix.

Any idea when construction to widen Loop 1604 from I-10 to FM 1346 might begin? Thanks!
- Todd
Right now that's included in our long-range wish list and is penciled in for the year 2020. To be honest, that mark will likely move - it's placed on the list for the year 2020 so it's considered and scored for prioritization. We are working on it, but at the moment we have other demands to fill.

Straight talk on the I-10 Leon Springs project

Work to convert the frontage roads on I-10 between Dominion Drive and Boerne Stage Road, including some operational improvements between Boerne Stage Road and Ralph Fair Road, is now officially more than a month overdue.

Before we get into the details of what that means, let's talk about upcoming work schedules and what the area will look like - particularly around the shopping hub near Boerne Stage Road - through the Thanksgiving and Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Festivus holidays.

What's happening

This week crews had Cielo Vista closed in halves to run drain structures across the road and reconstruct its connection with the eastbound frontage road of I-10. TSC's bridge crew is working to wrap up the reconstruction of the two-way bridge between Boerne Stage Road and Aue Road, with an aim to have it reopened in the next two weeks.

The road crew is working to blend the eastbound frontage road bridge over Leon Creek between the new Wal-Mart and Boerne Stage Road so it can be finished this month.

The dirt crew is working on the retaining walls and road path for the new exit and entrance ramps on the eastbound side of the highway between Boerne Stage and Dominion.

The concrete crew and electricians are wrapping up work at the intersection of the eastbound frontage road and Boerne Stage Road.

Where we'll be

The biggest takeaway for folks in the Leon Springs area is knowing that, before November 21, Texas Sterling Construction will have completed all major work between Ralph Fair Road and Boerne Stage Road. That means on both sides of the highway. One member of the project leadership team said that, weather notwithstanding, there is "no way" they won't have things finished to this point before November 21.

That means that bridge between Aue and Boerne Stage will be back open, helping traffic to and from Leon Springs Elementary School.

That means the eastbound frontage road will be at full capacity between Boerne Stage Road and Cielo Vista (though still down to one lane after Cielo Vista) and all the work across driveways up to Cielo Vista will be finished.

That means traffic between Ralph Fair and Boerne Stage - on both sided of I-10 - will be in its final configuration.

Note: We'll still need to lay our final surface of asphalt, final road striping and sodding ... all that will happen when everything else project-wide has finished.

Running behind

Those who've followed this project since its start in 2015 know we've been hit hard by rains and suffered a delay at the hands of utility conflicts. The potential of rain is built into our contracts, and are already accounted for. We might have a case to credit time back to the contract, but that's not typical for a project like this.

The utility delays are not reflected in the current estimate report on this project. When the project is finished we'll sit down with the contractor to determine exactly how much of a time impact the utility delays had on the project (based on critical path project management) and negotiate from there.

Until then, we are assessing liquidated damages of nearly $1300 per work day (five days per week, basically). Right now those charges could spell quickly a six-figure chunk taken out of the profit margin on the contract.

Looking ahead

Once work up to Cielo Vista is finished dirt crews will focus on and finish the footprint for the new eastbound entrance and exit ramps between Boerne Stage Road and Dominion Drive. You'll see concrete crews finish curb and sidewalk on both sides of the highway. Right now we're hoping to finish work by early 2017, and we'll then get to work on the final surface of asphalt. Remember paving is highly weather-sensitive and, though we'll be working to do it overnight so we don't impact daily traffic too much, if temperatures overnight are too cold we may need to look at other alternatives.

Mail Bag: I-10 from Leon Springs to Boerne

Over the last 4-6 weeks we've had a few questions about the various I-10 projects now active between Leon Springs and Boerne. For those not familiar, here's a brief list of what we've got going:

• Conversion of frontage roads to one-way and construction of new westbound frontage road, Dominion Road to Boerne Stage Road. 
• Construction of a new overpass at Old Fredericksburg Road and conversion of frontage roads to one-way between Ralph Fair Road and Fair Oaks Parkway. 
• Reconstruction of the Fair Oaks Parkway bridge, expanding it to five lanes. 
• Reconstruction of the Scenic Loop Road intersection.

We've also got an expansion project coming to I-10 in 2017, where we'll be adding two lanes in each direction between La Cantera Parkway and Ralph Fair Road ... but we've not started that yet, so we won't say much about it here for now.

Anyway, without further ado, here are the questions:

First, love your blog!

What are the current projected timelines for the remaining work from Ralph Fair to Fair Oaks on I-10, namely: 

• New Bridge at Old Fredericksburg Rd 
• Bridge at Fair Oaks Rd 
• Conversion of frontage roads to one-way 

Also, is the westbound exit to Fair Oaks Rd scheduled to be moved farther east before the frontage roads are converted to one-way. 

I remember reading that all this work would take at least three more years, but can't find that blog post.

Thanks for keeping us updated!

- AJ

Can you provide an update on when the sections between dominion, Boerne stage road, and Ralph Fair will be complete? What is delaying the opening of the lanes on the frontage roads?

- Christina

Project update on the I-10 Old Fredericksburg Road overpass? Still on schedule? Whats with the uneven bumpy widening of the east bound frontage road south of Fair Oaks Parkway overpass?

- Peter

The completion date for the overpass at Old Fred is still targeted for mid-2018. Sundt is staying on pace with work on this job and trying to speed up where possible. Don't tell too many folks, but they gained nine days on their schedule last month!

Conversion of the frontage roads to one-way between RFR and FOP will happen when we finish the overpass at Old Fred. Again, that's mid-2018.

Sundt is working hard on the outside of the frontage roads right now, as well as building up the approaches to the new overpass bridge. If all goes well the bridge supporting drill shafts will be finished this month, allowing concrete crews to start making the support columns through the month of November. On the frontage roads, Sundt wants to be all done with driveway construction before Thanksgiving (sidewalks will be under construction through the rest of the year).

By the way, Sundt is getting their subcontractor (Austin Materials) to address the bumpy ride on the frontage roads, as well as repairing a couple of potholes that are forming on the main lanes.

The bridge at Fair Oaks just started this month (Oct. 3) and should wrap up mid-2018. We'll be monitoring this one close to keep it on track. 

Why do your personnel only work one, and at the most, two days a week on a project and then there is no further work until the next week when they may or may not work one or two days again. Why can't you finish a project in a timely fashion rather than taking up to 2 years to finish and then blaming the weather when the project goes beyond it's estimated completion date. 

To me, it's not the weather, it's the inefficient method of construction. 

I live in the I-10W corridor and now have found out it will take 18 months to put in a new bridge at the FOR exit!

- Gayle

Why does it appear that there is no work occurring in the construction zones on both the west and east bound frontage roads on I-10 between Boerne Stage Rd and Ralph Fair Rd. The area in front of LaQuinta that appeared is be mostly complete is closed adds to the congestion in that area. I never see anyone working there. The same is true with the Frontage Rd eastbound in front on the new WalMart. Opening this section would relieve congestion at Boerne Stage Rd. What's the delay?

- Robert
Why is it your contractors cannot finish just one project? The construction you are doing between the Dominion and Ralph Fair is absolutely terrible. There are literally thousands of residents terribly inconvenienced because of a lack of proper project planning. Your inability to even finish the Ralph Fair area is forcing so many people to be late for work and school. And now you want to start the Fair Oaks project, which is going to be even more of a nightmare without a proper turn around lane, that so many of us will be forced to use.
- Dave
First of all, we feel pretty similar about the pace of production and are trying to spur along the work wherever we can. Texas Sterling is keeping with their current baseline schedule, which reflects delays from utilities and from weather - the utility delays were particularly hampering for this project. Those delays have now pushed work well beyond our initial project completion date and Texas Sterling no longer has the available resources to knock the job out (those resources were committed elsewhere some time ago). With a full compliment we might have the job finished by Thanksgiving. Unfortunately that's not the hand we are dealt on this job and we're pushing the best we can to finish by the end of the year. 

With that in mind, TSC is dividing their forces between work items on the eastbound frontage road near Wal-Mart (need to have the full section finished before reopening this) and east of Boerne Stage (still a lot to do to build the new on-ramp, which will allow them to build the new exit; the remaining work on the frontage road itself will then follow).

On the westbound side TSC still has curb and sidewalk between Dominion and Fralo's. that bridge at Boerne Stage which has gummed up the elementary school commute lacks bridge rails and approaches, and is currently set to open by Thanksgiving. The last bit, approaching Ralph Fair, has been opened up a bit recently but TSC still has the new RFR exit to finish tying in - that will happen when the bridge by Rudy's is open. 

Bottom line - TSC is devoting all their available resources to the project and they're keeping pace with the schedule they've submitted to us. We're trying to find areas to improve the pace, but this is the deal we've got for right now.

As for the relationship of this project to others, folks should note each project out there has a different contractor. RELMCo Incorporated has the Fair Oaks Parkway bridge, and that work shouldn't impact at all the project schedule on the project at Boerne Stage Road.

It appears that construction has stopped on the I-10 and Scenic Loop project in Boerne. What's the story?

- Pamela

The simple answer is we've got a quality control issue the contractor is looking for a fix on. When Austin Bridge and Road put in a temporary wire wall - that wire-mesh wall acting as a temporary retaining wall to allow crews to build the bridge approach and the permanent retaining wall simultaneously - our inspectors noticed some problems. We've been working the last week or two to find a fix, and the folks at Austin Bridge have submitted some paperwork to our bridge division to show what they have will indeed work.

Until it's all ironed out, they really can't do much. Since this is an issue caused by the contractor, we are still charging time against the contract, so this could cost Austin Bridge a bit if it's left untended too long.

We're hoping to see progress on that bridge resume next week. If our engineers disagree with the Austin Bridge position on the current wire wall, we will require them to tear down everything and start over - at their cost. Right now, though progress is minimal (or, as you've pointed out, non-existent), everyone on the project is actually trying to save a little time (and, yes, money).

In the meantime, and to Austin Bridge's credit, they are doing work down on the intersection area as they are able during this down time.