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.

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

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


I-10 at Camp Bullis

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


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


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


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

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


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


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


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

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

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

The biggest upcoming closure we've got

It's almost Fiesta!
That means we've restricted our contractors from doing major closures until the festivities are done. That said, we do have one last major work item that'll let us stay out of the way over the next two weeks.
That task is on I-35, both directions, between Eisenhauer and Randolph. This will be daytime work, and will start tomorrow (Thursday). We'll close the left lane in each direction, leaving three lanes open each way.

This will allow electricians to get out and work on those road lights that have been cut off the last three years. By the end of next week those lights should be working and the road should be lit up during overnight hours.
We are doing this work during the day to avoid the overnight drivers during Fiesta. Yes, we've now celebrated several consecutive fatality free Fiestas ... and we want to do our part to keep that new status quo. We felt combining the late-night traffic from those celebrating would not mix well with overnight construction traffic and determined this work would be best done during the day.
Since the lane we're closing is a new lane, just opened a few months ago, drivers should expect daytime traffic to look about like it did just six months ago without closures.
Again, the work should only go a week and a half at most, weather permitting.

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: 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.

All major closures OFF for this weekend

We got word yesterday some closures planned for this weekend have been pushed while a few others have been added to the slate. Buckle up and we'll get straight to the point.

Called off ... for now:

I-35 at New Braunfels Avenue. We had planned a full closure of the I-35 main lanes this weekend. We've run into a scheduling issue and won't be able to get the bridge support beams on site. If we don't have beams, we can't set them - which means we won't need to close the highway. We are told by our contractor, CRG Inc., the beams will be on site and ready to be set Feb. 2-5.
Boerne Stage Road at I-10 (Leon Springs). We had nightly closures of Boerne Stage Road at I-10 scheduled beginning the night of Tuesday, January 30. This has been pushed; we do not yet have a new date. Expect to see that posted in an upcoming lane closures report.

I-410 at Hwy 151. Last weekend we had some frontage road closures to set steel support beams to finish the framework for the southbound I-410 connector to westbound Hwy 151. We were planning on this weekend being the first of three consecutive weekends with closures to install steel support beams for the eastbound Hwy 151 connector to northbound I-410. The first two weekends the main lanes of I-410 will be completely closed at Hwy 151. The detour is really straightforward: exit Hwy 151, follow the frontage road and re-enter at the next available ramp. We'll have police officers at intersections to keep folks moving.
UPDATE: So ... right at 5 p.m. this evening (Thursday) we got word from Williams Brothers Construction the 410-151 closure will NOT be happening this weekend as planned. Permit applications for the trucks hauling the oversized steel beams had not been filed on time, so the beams won't be on site. As with the I-35 at New Braunfels Ave situation we cannot set a beam we do not have.
Which means ... we really don't have any major closures set for this weekend. But next weekend? That'll be a different story.

In the future:

Closures at the intersection of I-410 and Hwy 151 will happen, weather permitting, the first three weekends of February.
We also expect an intersection closure of the eastbound frontage road of US Hwy 90 at northbound Loop 1604 February 2-4. Immediately following that work the eastbound main lanes of US 90 will close at Lp 1604 for some overhead bridge work.
And don't forget about that planned closure we talked about above of I-35 at New Braunfels next weekend. That one, we're fairly sure, is absolutely going to happen.

Mail Bag: Traffic signals, Spring Branch Post Office, a whoopsie and more.

This is somewhat random, but I am curious how TxDOT decides whether a new traffic signal will have metal arms or a cable to hold up traffic lights.
For example, the new light at SH 46 and FM 758 in New Braunfels utilizes cables, while the recent install less than a mile up the road at Avery has metal arms. I notice similar discrepancies at FM 1101 and FM 306. I find the metal arms more attractive, but is there a huge difference in installation and maintenance costs? Any consideration for consistency along the same road or within a city?
- John

You didn't ask the question outright but others may ask; we posted before on how we determine when or where to install a signal. If you've not read it yet, John, you may find in it an interesting (hopefully) read to set the foundation of a conversation on signal installation.
Down to your actual questions. Determination between use of span wires or mast arms most often boils down to engineer discretion. They have a number of options they can use for a number of reasons. More often than not it boils down to money, though. Using span wires saves us about 20 percent over the mast arms and this is an easy way we're able to trim costs to keep a project under budget.

Existing electrical wiring plays a factor in the design; if the wires are in the air at a particular location it's highly unlikely we'll use mast arms. The last major factor is the plan for future development. If we know one of the intersecting streets is to be expanded in the relatively near future we may choose the span wires. This helps during construction and makes arranging the intersection a lot simpler for our contractors.
Hopefully that helps!


With all of the major construction taking place on I-10 and Foster Road area, many drivers (including me) are starting to avoid the congestion on I-10 by taking FM 1346 to I-410. I live in St Hedwig and travel FM 1346 to 410 daily and then continue my drive to the NW side of town for work. Since more traffic has decided to go FM 1346, this has created a serious bottleneck, sometimes a mile long of cars waiting to go through an old 4 way stop design (flashing yellow light). What puzzles me is that if I turn on Foster Road to head back towards I-10, there is presently a traffic light at a non busy intersection of an industrial complex. Do you have any immediate plans to put a traffic light at this busy intersection to help ease some of the congestion that exists daily, and not to mention the safety factor of all this as well? There is also a new beginning stage of a multi-home subdivision at that intersection. Please let me know, thank you.
- Wesley
It sounds like a temporary situation has been developed at that intersection resulting from folks seeking ways around a construction project, and we would need to be sure that situation won't disappear when the project on I-10 finishes and traffic returns to its old pattern.
As we mentioned above we have strict requirements dictating when and where we install signals.
The signal on Foster Road at Cal Turner is not on a state-maintained road. While local municipalities typically turn to our Texas Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices for guidance, that isn't always the case. You'll have to reach out to Bexar County or the city of San Antonio to determine what factors played into approval of that signal.
We've added the intersection of FM 1346 and Foster Road to our list of intersections needing a warrant study - we'll see what the actual data looks like. If a signal is indeed warranted we'll install it.

Any update when 281 north bound lanes at the Spring Branch Post Office will start up to eliminate the bypass around the Spring Branch Post Office?
- Ray
As of the moment we're writing this answer we expect to receive bids on this project in March (yes, this year) and should be underway with construction by mid-summer. The nearly $800,000 project should last no more than a year.


A few days ago a question was posted regarding the I-35 project and the concern about the left lane on northbound 35 before Walzem. The answer given was that with the work over the weekend the project should be completed. The northbound lanes still have the issue where the left lane disappears at Walzem. There appears to be room for the lane to continue but it essentially ends. Is this going to be the final project? Thank you for your time.
- Brian
You're absolutely right. We were operating on old information here in our public information office and the work we had on our schedules didn't end up happening. We are told it will happen within the next month and a half, opening up that lane that's sorely needed and giving drivers the final configuration they've been waiting about four years to enjoy.


Why was the exit ramp from Loop 1604 west to Gold Canyon closed and removed during the direct connect project?
- Marshall
That was about safety and redundancy more than anything. Bear with us here.
We'll start with a look at the layout of Loop 1604 between Gold Canyon and Redland Road. At that stretch there are three lanes - two normal through lanes and an auxiliary lane at the far right of the road.
That auxiliary lane ties the entrance ramp from Redland to the exit ramp to US 281. Adding an extra ramp would add another conflicting traffic pattern to an area already laden with three directions of traffic.
Hopefully that makes sense. If not ... let us know and we'll give it another go.


Has there been any mention of possibly opening sections of the new I-10 lane expansion between the RIM and Ralph Fair as they're completed? Or will the lanes open once the entire project is completed?
- Mike

Glad you asked. The plan here is to open the lanes as they're finished - so an incremental opening. This means about halfway through the project we'll have three lanes in each direction - all general purpose, open to everyone.
At the end of the project we'll open up that HOV lane in each direction, making I-10 four lanes each direction between Ralph Fair Road and Loop 1604.
It seemed like a good idea to us at the time, and we are going to work hard to ensure it goes well in practice.
By the way, that first incremental gift is still about a year away from happening ... but you'll see our crews working to prepare the overpasses for expansion over the next several weeks.


When is FM 1376 in Kendall county repaired and ditches along shoulders repaired. With the increase in traffic of large vechiles moving over is not an option; the washouts would cause blow outs.
- Olin
Thanks for letting us know about the issue, Olin. We don't have any plans on the books for reconstruction of the road at the moment, but we'll pass your note along to our planners and maintenance crews to see if we can get it on the list!

Mail bag: A few questions from 2017 we've not yet answered

Thanks for answering my previous question regarding the US 281 NBFR lane closure. I was referring to pages 211 and 216 of the TCP located here.
I'm concerned that we (TxDOT and taxpayers) may not be getting what we've paid for (avoiding the lane closure). It's possible that plans have changed or the contractor has negotiated something with the PE to reduce the construction time.
-Tom
You'll note the general notes of the plans allow closures at the discretion of the project engineer. This is designed to afford our project staff the room to appropriately negotiate with the contractor and, yes, speed up the work a bit.

Why has the closure of the WBFR at Old Fredericksburg been pushed back a month? Surely a couple days of rain and brief snowfall can't result in a whole month delay.
- Dave
You're right - the rain and snowfall aren't the only contributors here (but are indeed relevant). The short end of it is we had a few issues with the retaining walls at the location and production rates haven't been as projected. As of today we're hoping to have it reopened by the end of February.

I realize there are all kinds of road construction projects going on that are supposed to improve the 410 to 151 to Military area, but I guess I don't understand the plans.
Right now, the exit from 410 to 151 has been reconfigured and it's very congested to move over into the right most lane to exit 410 there. Then it's very difficult and congested most days when trying to get over to the right on the access road and then very difficult to get over to the left to get in line to enter 151. Will any of the plans ease this part of the congestion? It feels very unsafe IMO the way it is now.
- Kimbie
Kimbie, what you're driving through right now is a temporary condition as the project continues to move forward.
Here's what the road will look like (from above) when we're all done:

When will I-37 north exit 140A open? Why was it closed? Nothing has been happening since closure.
- Tim
Right now the goal is the end of March. We had an erosion issue (engineers call it a "slope failure") to shore up and discovered some challenges we hadn't anticipated. After re-thinking our plan of attack for the issue and with the holidays now behind us, crews should be moving again.

Question regarding the 410/35 NE project. On 410/35 North when you are approaching the bridge over Walzem, the left lane currently disappears.
This is a major bottleneck every afternoon. Is this permanent and if not, when will it be open? Everyday people "run" that fast lane all the way to the end and cut off the people who actually paid attention to the signage.
- Jeff
With the work we did last weekend, Jeff, this issue should be addressed. Traffic should be open now to four lanes each way and is basically in its final configuration.

Is there any word on when they will do the pour for the new bridge over I-10 between Fair Oaks Ranch Parkway and Tarpon Dr.?
- Gregory
We did this last weekend! Expect overnight closures during upcoming weeks to pour the bridge rails. Those closures will be posted in our weekly closures post.

As per your Sept 15 update on the I10 project between Ralph Fair & fair Oaks Ranch, it is stated that this project is to be completed by late Spring 2018. It is now January and there appears to be no work yet on most of the on/off ramps. The closure on the Frontage Road by Old Fred has gone past the original schedule. What is the current completion date for this whole project between Ralph fair and Fair Oaks ranch?
- Robert
At the moment we're looking at mid-summer. Production rates have slowed over the last six months from the torrid pace Sundt had at the start of the project, but that earlier pace was strong enough to give them a cushion.
The earlier assessment of late spring was based on that faster pace. Sundt is working on a number of tasks on the job at the moment - including working on those new ramps you referenced - and Sundt is working on making up some of their lost time.
Right now, given the loss of production over the winter months, we're looking at mid-summer for substantial completion.

Mail Bag: Congested highways, stewardship and some future planning

Why is traffic on 1604 east bound between 281 and Bulverde Road moving so slowly in the afternoons? My trip home has increased by 40 minutes.
- Nan
Why has traffic increased so much recently? I-35 has turned into a parking lot!
- Ericka
Honestly, that's probably because of the area being among the fastest-growing in the United States. For some reason, people love coming here! We think it has something to do with the tacos....
It's why we have major construction along seemingly every corridor - to address the congestion and safety issues that come from adding dozens of cars to our roads each week.

Recent advance notices refer to nightly closures, but nothing about day time closures of the right lane of US 281 NBFR north of Loop 1604. The TCP on the TxDOT website shows permanent pavement added to the left side of the NBFR which avoids the lane closure. Have the plans changed?
- Tom
First of all, we don't have our traffic control plan (TCP) posted online.
When we add permanent pavement to one side of the road, we often need to shift traffic away from that area to create adequate safe work space. That sometimes means adding some temporary pavement to hold traffic for a few weeks or months as needed - which means closures on both sides of the road.
Frankly, any time we do any construction project, every lane will be subject to occasional small closures at some point of the work.

Is Evans Road from Green Mountain to Bulverde Road closed again today (12.5.17)?
- Gladys
First of all, we're sorry we didn't answer this question a bit sooner. The questions to the Mail Bag aren't checked daily, and the Mail Bag isn't intended for immediate reply. For faster responses try us on Twitter.
As for the Evans Road work, that's not TxDOT work anyway. That work was done by SAWS, and questions about the work should have been directed to them.

I noticed the work on I-10 at Old Fredricksuburg and at Scenic Loop is adding extended sections of concrete roadway. Will the widening of I-10 to The Rim also use concrete? Is there a reason the approaches to the bridges were concrete in these projects?
Also, at Old Fred, the retaining walls are prepared for widening the bridge. When is that planned?
- Blake
We are trying to move toward concrete paving wherever we can afford to do so due to the lower cost of long-term maintenance. Going with concrete is super expensive on the front end, though, and isn't something we're able to do with just any project. We typically extend the concrete paving at elevated bridges, such as the overpasses you're mentioning, to accomplish some of our goal.
The HOV lanes we're building between La Cantera and Fair Oaks are not being build on concrete except on the bridges we'll be expanding.
We're glad you noticed the forward-thinking design on the new overpass at Old Fredericksburg Road - we do not have a date for that expansion set, but we wanted to be sure the new bridge would improve constructability for the projects that may come in the future.

I appreciate what you do getting the word out to the SA community on their TxDOT projects. I live in northeast San Antonio and the I-35 project there impacts me greatly. I was wondering if the southbound I-35 exit to Walzem will be relocated. I know you have relocated the I-410 Walzem exit, even though I see people not using it and using the old exit instead.
My worry is if the exit is not closed, we will continue to see traffic occasionally back up onto the main lanes when there is a train. I know that there is one lane of SB I-35 access road that is continuous through the I-35/I-410 interchange. Is this section being only one lane prohibiting the relocation of this exit?
- Nathan
For now we are not relocating that southbound I-35 exit to Walzem. Your suggestion is really interesting, though - it's something we're passing along to our highway planners as an option we ought to consider for improved operational efficiency.

The big'uns to look for in December

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

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

Please plan accordingly.

Mail Bag: Turnarounds along I-10 East, resurfacing on Lp 1604 and more

I recently discovered a historical marker on Ammann Rd just east of SH 46, celebrating the Pinta Trail. If I had not checked out the Historical Commission of Texas' website, I would have never knew it existed. Are there not a lot of historical marker directional signage on state-maintained roads in Kendall County? I seem to see them in many other portions of the State, but maybe I'm missing the forest for the trees in my own area.
- Mark
This question caused us to go back to our Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices and our traffic operations gurus to find a good answer. Section 2M.11 covers these specific signs.
You're welcome to peruse the MUTCD on your own at any time. It's a handy guide for understanding the why's behind the what's with our signs.
Alright ... the answer (in plain English): We provide signs for all historical markers that are within our right-of-way and are outside city limits. In this case, the marker may have fallen outside our right-of-way and may even be in city limits.
If there are any markers you're seeing without these call-out signs that fit the bill of being in our right-of-way and are outside city limits, let us know!

The schematic for the IH 10 E & FM 1516 intersection calls for a complete reconfiguration, with turnarounds in both directions (for 1516) and two lanes in each direction for the underpass, including replacing existing riprap with retaining wall. Presently TSC has used the eastern half of the 1516 overpass to install an east-to-west turnaround. Why does this differ from the project schematic? And when will the 1516 intersection be reconfigured to match the schematic? If TSC bid an alternate to the schematic, why wasn't the public notified?
- Marshall
Great questions, Marshall. For argument's sake, let's use the schematics posted online as our base for this conversation. Fair?

These schematics are preliminary and used to explain what our overall vision for the project is. This vision remains.
Yes, we fully intend to construct turnarounds at the FM 1516 intersection as we had presented during our public meetings on the work being done. During the detailed design stages of the project we discovered an elevation issue with this intersection, however. If we were to construct the turnarounds under the current bridge, as shown in the preliminary schematics, we would end up with either (1) turnarounds rendered unusable by large trucks because the clearance under the bridge is too short or (2) major flooding problems from turnarounds cut deeply into the ground and set well below the elevation of the roadway around it.
The solution? Build a new bridge.
That's happening during the expansion of I-10 set to begin later next year. We're adding a lane in each direction between I-410 and Loop 1604. In doing this, we're also replacing many of the overpass bridges - including the bridge over FM 1516 - and making them longer, taller and wider. After this bridge work is done the turnarounds will be built permanently.
The turnarounds you're seeing built right now to serve eastbound-to-westbound traffic is a temporary turnaround conceived to ease traffic pressures at the intersection with the one-way roads. We've actually change-ordered this temporary turnaround into the contract Texas Sterling has; their plans never included the turnarounds earlier.

Why is the Thousand Oaks exit off I-35 closed and is this permanent?
- Lucille
It is permanent - and rather than call it "closed" we would call it "moved". We discussed this in a video post earlier, but we moved the exit south a bit to improve the overall operation of the highway out there.

I noticed Asphalt Milling Machines and rollers parked on this of 1604 West bound close to La Cantera. If this for a TxDOT project on 1604 or something else?
- Zane
Nope, that's us! We are resurfacing Loop 1604 (main lanes and frontage roads) between Bandera Road and Rogers Ranch/Bitters Road. Work started back in October and will continue until summer 2018. Expect to see daytime work on the frontage roads. We'll stay off the main lanes during the day, though. Don't expect to see that overnight activity until temperatures heat up, this upcoming spring.

On the SH 16 & 1604 project I see that the base is layers of asphalt. What's the life span for this method? It doesn't seem to work long on normal street traffic.
- Pamela

This is actually pretty standard for us. There are several layers to a roadway. The Express-News did a really interesting story about the Recipe for a Roadway almost two years ago. It's definitely worth a look.
Any roadway is a lot like an onion - there are several layers most of us never see or fully understand. What's more, those layers are not all asphalt - we often mistake other layers as mere digging or blading, when we're really building those additional non-asphalt layers.
Our depths are different than what you see on a city street or in your subdivision - that's important to keep in mind. While many municipal roadways measure their depth in inches, ours are measured in feet. That base of asphalt is at least 18 inches deep and rests atop base layers of a variety of compacted soils.

What is the status of putting the steel beams in place for hwy 151 over 410? I remember a while back it was supposed to occur in November. Now there appears to be no word of it. In fact it seems the hwy 90 work is going faster than 151.
- Steve
The beams should be here in January, and we could be setting beams as soon as February. This falls within the timeframe given back in June.
As for project pace, please do not refer to a single aspect of the projects to make an overall assessment of the progress of projects. Doing so can set yourself up for an unreasonable expectation on both projects.
To be honest, both jobs are on their predetermined pace; the 151-410 project is set to wrap up late summer 2018 as promised when we broke ground. The 410-90 project still has quite a bit of work remaining. While you're seeing steel beams placed, you'll carefully note the frontage work now nearly done on the 151-410 project has a long way to go. You'll also note the bridge work and work on the ramps at Marbach has just begun and has more than a year before that's complete. That sort of work on the 410-151 job has nearly finished.
Hopefully that helps.

Closurepocalypse over; get ready for Closuregeddon

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

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


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

I-35 SAMMC project: is the new ramp to Randolph/Starlight forever

We're sorry we weren't able to get anything out about this before the weekend; the switch kind of popped up on our communications team last week and we weren't able to get this done before now. We're sorry!
Here's a brief look at the new configuration of I-35 in the Windcrest area:

Holy smokes, those ramps around Rittiman are (almost) done!

The new entrance and exit ramps along I-35 surrounding Rittiman Road will be finished and open for use this weekend as the long-running project to improve the operation of the corridor between Windcrest and SAMMC moves closer to completion.

What's happening?
The biggest change is the northbound exit to Rittiman, which will now be located nearer to George Beach and serve traffic headed to Space Center Drive as well. This allows us to eliminate the existing northbound exit to Rittiman and get rid of that weird competition between traffic headed to Rittiman Road and traffic merging onto northbound I-35 from northbound I-410.
Other changes include swapping the exit and entrance ramps between Rittiman and Eisenhauer (more on that in a moment). That means those entering northbound I-35 from Rittiman will do so near Eisenhauer.
On the southbound side we'll have the new exit ramp to Rittiman - located right after the Eisenhauer overpass - ready to roll as well as the new entrance ramp.
With all the ramps involving Rittiman opened up and in use, we'll be able to remove the existing northbound exit to Rittiman Road and get crews to work adding all the needed auxiliary lanes and get the northbound I-410 connector to northbound I-35 finished up.

When is this happening?
July 15 - that's this Saturday - is when all this is going down. We'll start super early in the morning and have everything in place midday.

Eisenhauer Road
We said we'd get back to this one! We still have work to do to get the ramps opened around Eisenhauer. Project staff estimates we'll have those ramps opened up by mid-August. That will open opportunities for crews to finish the auxiliary lanes over the Eisenhauer overpass.

Walzem Road
We will continue with our nightly and weekend closures of Walzem Road at I-35 through the summer as we extend the Walzem overpass to carry the auxiliary lanes at that location.

Auxiliary lanes
So, what exactly are these auxiliary lanes of which we're speaking? Well, they're an extra lane on the highway, typically between interchanges, allowing drivers more time to merge. They help by getting entering or exiting traffic away from through traffic, giving through traffic a clean lane or two to push through the corridor.

Mail Bag: The Binz-Engleman exit ramp, Transguide cameras, Displaced Left Turns and more

Any word on when the Transguide cameras at Loop 1604 and Stone Oak/Huebner/NW Military will be brought back online? I was really glad when these cameras were installed, since the congestion gets pretty bad in that area, but they've been down for several months now.
P.S. Thanks for all the great updates recently! Y'all are on a roll.
- Chris
Glad you like what we're doing - we're excited about the fiber optic wire and the wireless cameras going into our equipment and what that upgrade means to the system.
These cameras are actually a priority item for our guys at Transguide. The ITS pole controlling those cameras was hit by lightning back in April, destroying the radio transmitter and several other equipment items. We also lost a link in our wireless communications chain in the process.
We've ordered the surge suppressor which (hopefully) will arrive in the next several days. We're working to get the cables all inspected for lightning damage as well - it's a process! We hope to have things up and running again shortly.

Regarding the Loop1604 N-Bandera Rd area, I saw in the TIP a displaced left turn at that intersection - expect funding soon? Braun Rd/Bandera to 1604 eligible for state funding or identified future project. I asked COSA TCI and they are not aware of any project.
- Edward
Great questions. A couple of answers.

We'll talk first of the DLT (Displaced Left Turn) we're doing at the intersection of Bandera Road and Loop 1604. That's a project we should put out for bids next month. The $6.5 million project is something you'll see us post more about here in the next few weeks as we look to push the message of what a DLT does and  how it will help congestion at this location. By the way, this isn't the only location we're eyeing for a DLT; other candidate intersections include Culebra Road at Lp 1604, where we have growing significant issues with congestion and limited options due to the tight spaces out there.
As for improvements along Bandera between Braun Road and Loop 1604 ... we're still working toward that. We want to do something that makes sense and addresses the major needs of the Bandera Road corridor (now a top-10 spot in the area in terms of congestion woes), and we cannot do that without working on the entire corridor between I-410 and Lp 1604. We're hoping, right now, to get something going by 2022 - a date that can easily be changed in the TIP as our stakeholders can find a proper solution and we identify proper funding.
Whatever we do along Bandera, it'll focus on multimodal solutions.

Recently Exit 30 on the southbound lanes of Loop 410 was closed after the opening of the new right-hand exit from southbound I-35. I work in the Macro Prologis business park and now all the businesses on the east side of Loop 410 have to make protracted detours to get to our work destinations.
There seems to be no urgency by the contractor to open the exit or to even provide a temporary exit ramp for this area. Any idea when that exit ramp will be reopened?
- Ed
We are working on it, Ed ... some of the work is weather-dependent and we've had some logistical challenges thrown our way.
The ramp was closed because the elevation of the new direct connector (southbound I-35 to southbound I-410) didn't match the elevation of the existing Binz-Engleman exit ramp. We knew that'd be the case when we went in there, and it's something our communications team missed when we put forward info on the weekend closures that put the new connector into service.
Bottom line: we should have that ramp (exit 30) back in action next month. In the interim, the best route to take would be southbound I-35 exit to George Beach, turn left at George Beach and again onto the northbound frontage road. Follow the frontage road around the hairpin turn and that should get you where you need to go. Take a look at the route here.

Just wanted to say thanks for getting those signs up at the Shin Oak Park and Ride! The commercial vehicles are gone. I appreciate not having to look at a "truck stop" anymore when I drive by!
- Steven
Happy to help, Steven! Thanks for reaching out on the topic and letting us know of the issue.

I wrote in previously about the barrier at the 1604 Bandera Rd northbound exit and how it has been repeatedly destroyed since it was first installed. The answer I got was that people are distracted and need to pay better attention. I completely agree. Another person later wrote in that these distracted people should have to pay to fix barriers/guardrails. Again, I completely agree and I’m glad TxDOT has a process in place to seek reimbursement for such repairs.
What I’m asking is if there is someone at TxDOT who looks at high recurrence accident locations to see what might be done to help save life and property. I’m certainly no expert, but the way the exit lane is striped at the northbound Bandera exit off 1604 seems to point cars directly at the barrier. People hit it because they are not paying close enough attention and they should pay to get it fixed - got it - but if the discussion stops there, an opportunity is missed. All I’m asking for is some TxDOT engineer to take a really good look at the off-ramp trajectory and consider if re-striping it might help drivers (distracted or otherwise) better avoid the barrier. For the possibility of fewer accidents, fewer TxDOT repairs, and less work chasing reimbursements, it’s worth a look.
- Bob
Well, you'll get no argument out of us, Bob.
When areas are riddled with crashes we do evaluate the road and see what, if anything, can be done to improve the situation. This is generally prompted by abnormal volumes of work orders to clean up or repair things like crash attenuators, which means we've got an idea as to the frequency of crashes at any given location.
We won't wait for the work orders to pile up here, though, Bob. Our communications team has a note to our traffic operations folks to look at this location again. They'll address the issue as appropriate and keep an eye out there on it.