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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Northbound I-410 closure this weekend

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

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

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

Here's the closure narrative in our traditional format:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Some daytime work to be aware of

Two areas - both near elementary schools - will be briefly impacted by work Friday. If you're part of the impacted community and reading this, please share it with your friends.

Fair Oaks Ranch
After finishing a seal coat on Ralph Fair Road two weeks ago we are ready to get painters out to re-stripe the road. This work will begin Friday once the morning dew burns off and continue until work is complete.
Yes, we know that's really vague, and we're sorry. We have to wait for the dew to burn off because paint doesn't stick too well to wet roads. With a sunrise set for about 7:20 a.m. and a dew point likely lower than this morning's 70 degrees, that should mean we'll see the wet ground burn off pretty darned quick. Expect to see us out there around 9, really.

As for our finish time ... we really won't quit until the job is done and the road is re-striped. Our contractor, IBM, has dedicated their top crew and best equipment for the job so we're expecting a pretty quick turnaround - hopefully well before the evening rush at 4 p.m.
We do expect to see some impact to the afternoon pickup rush at Fair Oaks Ranch Elementary School, though, so if you're planning to pick up your kiddos Friday afternoon please plan on a few additional travel minutes.
Striping is a rolling operation - nothing is stationary. We'll work on one side of the road at a time and move along at about 5 miles per hour. We've got an off-duty officer on hand to shadow the work convoy and allow traffic to pass safely as needed. That said, please plan on a few extra minutes to travel through.

Marbach Road - far west San Antonio

Webber Construction is setting bridge support beams over Marbach Road at Loop 1604 on the far west side of town Friday. These beams will form the eventual southbound overpass for Loop 1604 at Marbach Road.
We're aware of the mix between traffic to Southwest ISD schools like Scobee Middle School and Big Country Elementary and residents outside Loop 1604 headed to Northside ISD schools like Grosenbacher Elementary. We've built our work schedule around these school schedules and are asking our contractor, who will begin work at 9 a.m., to break between 2:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. so we stay out of the way of pick-up times. If we haven't finished work by 2:30 p.m. Webber will set up the closure again at 6 p.m. and continue until they're done.
This work will mean closing Marbach completely immediately west of Loop 1604 (so pretty much just the Champions Park neighborhood) for half-hour spurts while each beam is set over Marbach. Off-duty officers will be at the location to get traffic moved through the area as needed.
Thru traffic on Loop 1604 will not be impacted by this closure.
For those looking for an alternate route during this work, Emory Peak should be able to get you in and out of your neighborhood.

Overhead bridge work means full closures

Overhead bridgework pretty much always requires a full closure of some roadways. We have a quick barrage of such work across the San Antonio region and figured you'd like to know what's coming. The list is chronological.

May 8: I-35 at New Braunfels Ave
This one will be an overnight-only closure going the night of Monday, May 8 (with main lanes reopening in time for the Tuesday morning commute). All main lanes will close while crews place bridge support beams for the reconstruction and expansion of the New Braunfels Avenue bridge. Traffic will exit New Braunfels Avenue, continue through the intersection and re-enter the road.
We'll also have the bridge over I-35 itself closed for this work - all traffic crossing I-35 in the Government Hill-Fort Sam Houston area will use Walters or Pine to get across.
This is the second of several such closures we're doing on this project. Expect another coming up in the next few weeks for crews to set bridge deck panels and pour the new bridge deck. In a few months we'll be set to go through the same process - demo, bridge beams, deck panels, concrete, etc. - on the other half of the bridge.

May 15 (tentative): Marbach at Loop 1604
We have a tentative date set bridge support beams over Marbach as part of our Loop 1604 expansion project. Details for the traffic control will come as those details become available. We're planning to have a pre-work meeting in the next week or so, and we'll be sure to post details from that meeting once we've had it. Frankly, we just want folks to be aware of this right now.
The work itself, by the way, should not take long - we only have seven beams to set. That may not mean much to most of y'all ... it means we're expecting the closure to be an overnight closure only and should be done within 8 hours if things go well.

May 19-21: Walzem at I-35
This one includes a lingering closure that'll continue through August. We're closing Walzem completely for the weekend, Friday night into Sunday morning, to demo some old bridge structure so we can add the extra width to the main lanes. Traffic will turn onto the frontage road and turn around at the next intersection to reach its destination.
The turnarounds will remain closed through the summer to do bridge work - including construct the extensions to the abutments that will hold up the bridge beams in the future.
As with any area we're building a bridge, expect to see additional closures later when we're ready to set beams (near August), panels and pour concrete.

Traffic signal or no traffic signal: Emory Peak edition

The decision to place traffic signals anywhere on our state highway system does come with uniform guidance, as we've discussed before. Our post today doesn't involve placing a signal, though - this is a decision to remove a signal.


The fracas
We continue to have inquiries from the folks living in the Laurel Mountain subdivision trickle in about the fate of an existing traffic signal at the intersection of Emory Peak and Loop 1604.
The whole issue involves the traffic signal at Emory Peak and Loop 1604 - which will be removed when the expansion of Loop 1604 is complete and the new frontage roads are in play.
This is not imminent. We have a lot of work remaining before we reach this stage of the project and you won't likely see this change for another year or more.
We've made offers to the HOA leadership to come and explain the situation and curb the questions, but have so far not been invited to any of their meetings. We're kind of hoping this response - a version of standard responses we've been providing - helps answer the questions and the confusion. If you're in this neck of the woods, please post this to your neighborhood's Facebook page or NextDoor thread.


Some background
The traffic signal at Emory Peak was always considered a temporary fix at this intersection, placed when a private developer began to build the subdivision at this location.
When Loop 1604 was initially expanded from a two-lane roadway to a four-lane divided highway (as it is today), Emory Peak didn't exist. We did have plans for future overpass locations - those plans are now being fulfilled with overpasses at Marbach Road and at Dove Canyon/Falcon Wolf.
When the development came in at Emory Peak we were able to work out a plan with the developer to include a temporary crossing and traffic signal. The temporary nature of this intersection was made very clear to the developer at the time, and they knew the signal would be removed when Loop 1604 was expanded to an expressway.
We trusted the developer and real estate agents to disclose this information to the prospective buyers as they bought homes in this neighborhood, though the information would have been readily available to any potential buyer who simply asked us.


Overpass locations
When we lay out an expressway, such as Lp 1604, our engineers and planners take careful consideration of overpass or underpass (our engineers call them grade separations) locations. The rules our guys work under call for grade separations to be spaced between 1 mile and 2 miles, no more or no less. This allows us to provide entrance ramps and exit ramps between the two grade separations.
The distance between Marbach Road and Emory Peak is only about a half-mile, while the distance between Marbach and Dove Canyon is right at a mile.
Grade separation locations are also supposed to serve intersecting cross streets to help provide overall connectivity on each side of the expressway as part of a continuous roadway network.
(Whew ... a lot of engineerese in there, eh?)
The bottom line: the cross streets at grade separations need to help drivers get places beyond an immediate location.
Emory Peak is a roadway that dead ends into a subdivision and does not serve a regional east-west transportation need - mostly because it's so close proximity to Marbach and Dove Canyon. Well, that and the developer plotted the subdivision to create a dead-end street.
Meanwhile, Dove Canyon is slowly being extended all the way out to Arcadia Path at Potranco Road (we do think of what things will look like in the future!). When Dove Canyon finally intersects with Arcadia Path, as the master connectivity plan shows, the wisdom of this location will shine through.

The master transportation plan calls for this connection between Dove Canyon and American Lotus, eventually connecting Dove Canyon to Arcadia Path.

Your situation is actually better this way
If we built an overpass at Emory Peak we would not be able to provide a northbound exit to Emory Peak. All northbound traffic exiting Loop 1604 to Emory Peak would exit Marbach, sit through the traffic signal, travel the northbound frontage road then sit at the Emory Peak signal before finally making a left turn onto Emory Peak.
Sound exhausting? We thought so, too. By the way, you'd have the same situation with southbound traffic - exiting Dove Canyon, running through the intersection, etcetera.
For an example of what that could look like, think of southbound Loop 1604 headed to New Guilbeau (but keep in mind New Guilbeau does meet the criteria of improving overall connectivity Emory Peak fails to reach).

The project now going creates a great situation for Emory Peak. Let's explain:

1. If you were traveling from Bandera Road, headed south on LP 1604, you will take the Marbach exit then move over to the right lane and make a right turn into Emory Peak. You won't even have to go through a traffic signal. Just exit, scoot over and turn. It's all safe and smooth.
2. If you leave Emory Peak and want to get to U.S. Hwy 90, you will make a right turn from Emory Peak onto the southbound frontage road, move over to the left lane and get on the entrance ramp and on to the new direct connector to U.S. 90 we're building. Again, you won't need to go through traffic signals.
3. If you are returning from U.S. 90 and heading back to Emory Peak you will exit Dove Canyon, take the turnaround at Dove Canyon and head down the southbound frontage road to make a right turn onto Emory Peak. You will not have to go through a traffic signal.
4. If you leave Emory Peak and want to head north to Bandera Road you'll turn right onto the southbound frontage road, use the turnaround at Marbach, then enter the Lp 1604 main lanes from the northbound frontage road. You won't need to go through a traffic signal.

Because all the through traffic on Lp 1604 will be on the main lanes the traffic on the southbound frontage road at Emory Peak isn't going to be nearly what it is today. It will be easier to turn into and out of Emory Peak when we're all done.

By the way: did you notice a trend with the above bullet points? If not, we'll spell it out:

You won't need to wait at a signalized intersection.

Take a look

If you are having a tough time visualizing what we've discussed, take a look at the project layout and 3D rendering posted here.

Mail Bag: Marbach extensions, that ramp from Ralph Fair Road, development of I-35 and of Lp 1604

When Marbach will be extended west of Loop 1604? Please provide schematic. Thank you.
- Edwin

Edwin, you've asked a pretty easy question! The answer is "we don't know". Marbach is a city or a county facility and is not maintained nor developed by TxDOT. For the area you're looking, we recommend reaching out to the good folks at Bexar County.

To be perfectly honest, new roads aren't really built by the county or the city. In a situation like this, that development would be done by the private developers building up the Marbach area. Just take a look at Alamo Ranch Parkway and its extension for a current example, or look at the way Wiseman was built much before that.
So, if you're wondering when Marbach will be extended ... well, get in touch with the private developers continually building that area out.

I know there have been some questions regarding the east bound on ramp at Ralph Fair Road. I'm curious why the on ramp isn't like the one shown in the TxDOT design manual. Figure 3-29 shows 1,050 ft (450 ft and 600 ft) and I think you're much shorter. How come? Isn't this what's making it dangerous?

- Joe
Well that's about as loaded a question as could be asked, isn't it? And, in fairness, this question was asked quite a while ago - we wanted to be sure to have a good scientific answer for you.
For starters, we're not much shorter than the guidelines in the TxDOT design manual. If you take a look at the notes our engineers made just for this post, you'll note the actual distances are 397 feet from the end of gore to the end of hash lines, and another 563 feet from end of hash lines to the end of taper.

For those keeping track at home, that's a total of 970 feet - less than 8 percent off the suggested dimensions in the design manual. When considering constraints here with drain structures and bridges (this ramp is sandwiched between Nochols and Leon creeks), that's pretty darned awesome.
Bottom line: we stand by our initial response to this issue with confidence.

Just read your mailbag post. Great stuff! I'm just curious if you had any info on the 151/1604 project. I seem to recall that there was some mention of the direct connector being projected to be operational sometime in June. Obviously I'm sure the weather has delayed that, but any word on an ETA?
- Felix
Construction seems to have stopped on the elevated connector from SB 1604 to EB 151. At one point, it was scheduled to open in June 2016. What's the updated schedule to open that connector?
- Trevor 

At the new construction 151-1604 interchange, I see the southbound 1604 exit to 151 flyover looking like it's progressing well. However, it looks as if the new eastbound (from Alamo Ranch Parkway) to 151 connection will run right into the structural member holding up the aforementioned flyover ramp. Was this a mistake in construction, or will the entire east-bound left lane get scrapped and/or relocated?
- Glenn
Felix and Trevor are right, we did boast a tentative opening of the end of June (thanks, Felix, for the kind words!). That was before we got hammered with the rains in April and May, though. Weather shifted the contractor priority to wrapping up work along Loop 1604. That work's deadline was mid-June, and going beyond the deadline carried financial disincentives. Work goes where the money is, and that meant crews being pulled to finish up those main lanes and frontage roads.

Right now the projected opening of the direct connector is in August, though we don't have an exact date. We should note overall completion isn't due until early 2017 - and the contractor isn't really obligated to open this incrementally (though doing so will certainly help them progress their work).
As for the eastbound connector, Glenn ... take a look at this:

If you look closely you'll see hard lines or squares across the direct connector (curved red road). You'll note one of those hard lines lands right up against where the abutment for the Hwy 151 overpass at Lp 1604 sets (blue and read meet, top-center of picture).
These hard lines are the column caps and abutments for the bridge structure. The one you're seeing will be just to the right of what you're seeing. Heck, we've even got the bridge spans in place now so you can see it when you drive through.
Just so we're clear, the overpass over Lp 1604 that merges Hwy 151 with Alamo Ranch Parkway is set to open to traffic by the end of this year.

Many salutations! I am called Damon Mason. I have been driven along the McDermott Freeway and am very impressed with how that highway has been revised to have five lanes in both directions between downtown San Antonio and Loop 410. One question that bugs me is why I-35 has not been revised in the same five-lanes coming-and-going manner that has been done with the McDermott Freeway. Why has that not been done, AAMPO?
- Damon
Why can I-35 not be revised so that freight truck traffic and private auto traffic are using separate levels? Most of the vehicular collisions are caused by private motorists behaving recklessly around freight trucks which have a mass of 80K pounds (or even heavier!); one solution is for freight trucks to have a level of the highway where there are no hydraulic-decelerated vehicles allowed and for private automobiles to have a level of the highway where there are no air-decelerated vehicles allowed. Why has that not been put into practice?
- Damon
Damon (he wrote us twice), this really is a question for the Alamo Area MPO. While we have a seat at that table, we're just one of several. That, and we're not the controlling agency of the MPO - the MPO is independent.
The need on I-35 is clear, and we've got several options being considered. Ultimately it'll be up to the MPO to determine when we'll move on I-35 and how that work will be funded.

What it's going to happen with 1604 between Bandera Road and I-10? With the construction between Culebra and Bandera finishing, traffic here has gotten even worse with increased traffic and accessibility. Are improvements for this stretch stuck in environmental study or funding limbo?
- Andrew

In a word, Andrew, yes.

The real need here is an upgrade - a significant upgrade - to the intersection of I-10 and Loop 1604. While the expansion of Loop 1604 has helped traffic on the far northwest side, it's also rushed traffic into the already existing logjam leading up to I-10 (and, frankly, all the way to US 281). The whole problem requires three major solves.

First, we need an additional lane of traffic for each direction of Loop 1604 between I-10 and US 281 at a minimum (and between Bandera Road and I-35 at a practical level). We know that. Infortunately, we don't have finances to construct that additional lane (though the MPO has been developing ideas for it, as you can see on page 9 here). 

Next, we need a significantly upgraded intersection at I-10. We're solving the problem at US 281 already; the cloverleaf at I-10 is outmoded by far at this point. This is another situation that's in need of significant funding to address. A typical interchange like we need at that location can easily top $500 million. Unfortunately, we're not the kind of agency that just carries that kind of cash on us. We're looking for ideas to get that price tag down - and one way is to build the full interchange in phases. We've already got one phase identified for development next year, at a price tag of about $110 million.

Finally, we need to do some "operational improvements", or adjust the way the ramps are set up and reverse ramps where possible. This means reversing some of the ramps to fit the Super X configuration you see on expressways across the city. This could be something we do as a stop-gap to improve (though, admittedly, only slightly) issues between now and a larger fix. This is all stuff to go through the MPO, though - and it's all being considered. Seriously, just check out the list of projects the MPO has on its wish list. Quite frankly, we just need money to do this.

We'll have more later this week....

This week's updates: fairly routine

We're in a brief lull in summertime work, where our projects are between the more "exciting" moments of construction and we're just busy getting things done. Here's a quick round-up of what's going on, and where we're at in terms of schedule:

Ralph Fair Road

Crews were busy laying asphalt this week, getting ready to shift traffic on the westbound access road to the left side of the road. Road builders are still working along Ralph Fair Road, which will remain squeezed down a bit until we're finished with the expand Ralph Fair Road overpass bridge. That will come somewhere around the end of summer 2015.

We're still getting a fair share of phone calls talking about delays in traffic, particularly around Boerne Stage Road. We've worked the signals at Boerne Stage Road to be the best for traffic in all directions; until the county project on BSR is finished, the way traffic is moving is about as good as it will get.

I-10 Huebner

With traffic shifted over to its long-term configuration, crews are working on the reconstruction of the DeZavala overpass bridge. Well, the eastbound side of the bridge. That structure should be reconstructed and finished by the start of 2015; we'll then move traffic over and get to work on the westbound side.

But between now and then, continue to expect seeing crews working feverishly on that bridge six days a week. We've got crews working on retaining walls, road widening and support structures (particularly near UTSA Boulevard, where we're building new ramps and a new turnaround bridge) five days a week.

Overall completion is expected near the end of summer 2015.

Fred-Med

Dirt crews are pushing hard to finish utilities adjustments on the eastbound side of Medical Drive. Most of that work is near the bottom of the hill, near the driveway for Spyglass Hill Condominiums. The goal of project managers is to be done with this utility work by the end of August, so road builders can take over and get the road widening work done there.

Right now road crews are busily working near the top of the hill, pushing hard to get finished with what will be the eastbound entrance ramp (or whatever we're calling it) in the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, under those huge steel plates, bridge crews are constructing support structures that will eventually hold up Fredericksburg Road.

The project had fallen a few weeks behind through the spring due to weather and the availability of crews with some subcontractors, but right now they've almost made that time up. We're still on target to finish the project early 2015.

Loop 1604 at Marbach

Capital Excavation should be finished with this project, with the overpass at Marbach open for traffic, by early August. That timing is exactly in line with the contractor's schedule, when work began in 2013.

Loop 1604 expansion

Bridge builders have been working on support structures for the northbound frontage road at Helotes Creek, across Loop 1604 from Wildhorse Drive. They're also working on reconstructing the southbound frontage road between Shaenfield and Culebra roads - a process that has reduced the road to a single lane for the foreseeable future.

Work continues near Braun Road, where dirt is being pushed around and formed into what will be the approaches for the overpass there. Because of the nature of a project that is being designed as it's being built, survey crews are routinely going through to check and re-check the details of the terrain out there.

All in all, we're on pace to finish work in 2016.

Loop 1604 East

This project is being overseen by Bexar County. Information may be found here.

Wurzbach Parkway

Here we have a little bit of news we're pretty darned excited about, actually. That temporary crosswalk near Buckhorn Drive that's catered to the hikers, bikers and runners along the Salado Creek Greenway will soon become obsolete. The Mud Creek bridge structures are nearly complete, and the connector for the trail is nearly ready for use.

Now, it'll be up to the good folks with the city of San Antonio to remove the crosswalk and temporary sidewalk, which was built in 2012 to keep the Salado Creek Greenway active during construction.

We're also looking at scheduling weekend or overnight closures in August to set beams and continue building the overpass bridge over U.S. Highway 281. Those closures won't be nearly as huge as what we had going in June, but they'll still be impactful. As soon as we have dates for these, we'll get the word out.

The west segment (West Avenue to Jones-Maltsberger) is set to open summer 2015. The eastern segment (Jones-Maltsberger to Wetmore) will open later this year.

I-35 SAMMC

This is one of those projects where we'll have huge things happen now and again, but for the most part during the three-year process of this work we're behind barriers and just pounding out work as we go. Most of that work is concentrated in two areas - the first, on the south, is right there between Rittiman Road and George Beach (including the interchange with I-410). The second, on the north, is in the Windcrest area.

We're still on pace to finish this job by the end of 2016.

Loop 1604 work

Loop 1604 northwest

The design-build project on Loop 1604, which expands the loop to an expressway with overpasses at Braun, Shaenfield and New Guilbeau roads, is moving ahead at full steam. That's even despite the rain storms over the last couple of weeks.

Last month Leslie Road was converted to a one-way road between Shaenfield and Culebra, and local residents are getting accustomed to the new traffic configuration. Crews with Williams Brothers Construction have been adding a temporary widening on Leslie - now effectively the southbound frontage road - to provide some added space for work to be done. The road needs to be rebuilt to meet TxDOT specifications - until now it's been a city road - and match the improvements planned to the area.

Tree trimmers have cut back mesquite trees and other brush that would have been in the way of work, particularly where the southbound frontage road near New Guilbeau will go and along the future northbound frontage road throughout. Those trees that have been removed have been mulched. A few large oak trees - known on the project as 'legacy oaks' have been preserved and sprayed to protect against oak rot.

With trees out of the way, dirt is being moved to form the footprint of the northbound frontage road.

Meanwhile, dirt crews are working - and will be working for the foreseeable future - on the embankment (big dirt mounds) at Braun Road. Because of the room in the center median there, Williams Brothers is moving forward with what will be the overpass structure there. Adjustments to the ramps will need to happen as well.

For now, the everyday driver won't be impacted by the work happening. Planned lane closures are typically at night only, and only a single lane here or there (to set barriers, for instance) at that.

Marbach overpass

Well, there's not a whole lot to say about this project besides we're almost done. We expect to have the overpass open and in use - one lane in each direction - and our project completed in July. We have some minor concrete work to do and some asphalt to lay, and that's about it.

A huge credit to Capital Excavation for working hard at this project for the duration of this project.

2013 in review....

When 2013 began three major projects sat in limbo after the financial collapse of one of the department’s most oft-used road builders while a flurry of major projects awaited a start date.

Those three stalled projects – including two segments of Wurzbach Parkway and the I-10 Huebner project – resumed in the spring after being released by a bankruptcy court and new contractors were selected by the projects’ bonding company. Most of the early work done on each project was maintenance – the projects needed to be cleaned up and inventory taken.

Just as the year came to a close, victory! The first segment of Wurzbach Parkway, running from Blanco Road to West Avenue, opened for traffic. Yes, an issue with the bridge deck surface is holding us back from opening the Blanco Road overpass just yet … but we got that segment of the parkway opened and operational. The bridge deck surface issue, by the way, is about ride quality and not structure. We’re trying to provide the best-quality product we can, and this is a major topic of conversation between TxDOT leaders and the responsible bonding company.

Work continues on the eastern segment, also slowed by the Ballenger Construction bankruptcy; we hope to have the stretch from Jones-Maltsberger to Wetmore opened by the end of summer. With major road builder Webber Construction working on the I-10 Huebner project, we’re assured the project should be substantially completed by early 2015 (which is amazingly not far off the original completion target).

With all that said, let’s take a look at a few of the successes enjoyed by TxDOT during 2013.

Traffic signals

In January we turned on McMullen County’s first-ever full traffic signal. The intersection of state Highways 16 and 72 was fitted to a traffic signal that offers protected left-turn lanes and traffic control for two major corridors for the booming Eagle Ford Shale energy traffic.

Later in the year we turned on a new signal at the intersection of state Highway 46 and Rudeloff Road just north of Seguin. More than 21,000 vehicles pass through that intersection each day, with many using Rudeloff Road to reach the local airport. The signal replaces two-way stop signs and has improved safety at that critical intersection – and has improved the gateway to the Guadalupe-Comal community for those who commute via aircraft.

Finally, as part of a major project up in north Comal County, we built and turned on a signal at the intersection of U.S. Highway 281 and Rebecca Creek Road (in Spring Branch). That signal has already added a huge amount of safety to the intersection and will prove critical when our work to convert Highway 281 to a divided highway is finished by the end of 2015.

Finished projects

2013 was a year of continuing efforts. About a dozen projects were completed through the year, each surrounding sidewalk improvements or road resurfacing. The biggest project to wrap up was the “hot-in-place” resurfacing project on I-37 on the south end of Bexar County.

In terms of our most major projects, last year was one of those years where we simply continued that which we started. And, in fairness, we started quite a bit of projects through the year.

Started projects

More than $221 million in contracts were awarded with work starting during 2013. Now, that’s just the actual contract amount, not total project costs (contract amounts do not include design and other costs associated with a project before it even starts). These projects range from adding capacity to the highway to reconstructing frontage roads to landscaping improvements. Here are a few highlights:

Seguin Avenue (New Braunfels): Austin Bridge Company is rebuilding a UPRR bridge and widening the main entryway to downtown New Braunfels. The icing on the cake here is the fact Austin Bridge is the same company that built the original UPRR bridge as part of the Works Progress Administration program back in the 1930s. Work started in January and will wrap up late spring 2014.

U.S. Highway 281 (Spring Branch): Hunter Industries started this 30-month project that turns a country highway into a four-lane divided highway in February and is already about halfway through the work, putting them on pace to potentially finish the work before the end of 2014. There are several factors that may impact that, however, including the fate of the Spring Branch Post Office.

FM 306 (Comal County): Another project by Hunter Industries, this is two-year project that’s also just more than halfway done. It started in March. While building two overpasses to separate the road traffic from UPRR railroad traffic is a major portion of this work, we’re also expanding the road to a four-lane divided highway.

I-35 SAMMC (northeast San Antonio): Thanks in part to a $20 million boost from the Department of Defense, Lane Construction was able to begin work expanding and adjusting I-35 between the two I-410 interchanges, near San Antonio Military Medical Center (SAMMC). Work started in November.

Fred-Med (Medical Center): One of the more anticipated projects in San Antonio is a “grade separation” project at the intersection of Fredericksburg Road and Medical Drive. The project had been initially slated to begin early 2012, but was pushed back by utility adjustments and issues with a previous contractor. This summer the contract was awarded to Texas Sterling Construction, who began work in September. They are on pace to finish the project on time, by early 2015.

I-10 resurface and restripe (near Crossroads): This three-month project flew largely under the radar, but added a lane in each direction for folks driving between I-410 and Wurzbach Road on the northwest side of town. Clark Construction is nearly finished, and should be wrapped up within the next few weeks (weather permitting!).

I-10 Seguin: This conversion of the frontage road along I-10 between Highway 46 and FM 725 is being done by Angel Brothers Construction and is entirely funded by local sources. Not only will this nine-month project, which started in October, make the area safer, but it will add to the growing economic corridor of the blossoming town.

Major milestones

The biggest milestone in the news this year was that of the northbound I-35 exit to Forum Parkway, which was closed near the beginning of the year to be reconstructed. We took what was a zipper-weave ramp with exiting and entering traffic merging with one another, competing for road space, and turned it in to a braided ramp with exiting traffic bridged over traffic entering northbound I-35 from Loop 1604.

Nearly six weeks after closing the ramp, the contractor discovered some design issues holding them back from building. Resolution of those issues pushed deep into our summer months, and when the contractor returned attention to the ramp they pushed hard to finish in time for the Christmas shopping season (the new exit ramp is a major route to The Forum at Olympia Parkway). That time frame was successfully met, and Santa helped us open the ramp the day before Thanksgiving.

The first of three major milestones on the I-10 Huebner project kicked in when lanes on I-10 over Fredericksburg Road were closed for about two months while Webber Construction rebuilt the bridge deck surface, forcing one of the lanes of main lane traffic to use the frontage road. To the credit of the contractor, that work was finished and the main lanes reopened three days earlier than the original 70-day target.

Out of the blue

A recap of the year wouldn’t be complete without recognizing the quick work and assistance of contractors who responded – with astonishing haste, no less – to emergency situations this year. Most notably, this includes an unused bridge over U.S. Highway 281 that was hit by a truck this summer.

The crash caused a closure of some main lanes on U.S. 281 that lasted several days, and the total closure of the highway for a weekend. Hunter Industries was able to complete the work to repair the bridge and clean up the mess in less than 30 hours, though they had more than 72 to finish the work.

On I-35 between Schertz and New Braunfels a garbage truck hit the underside of an overpass, causing structural concerns for a lane of the northbound I-35 main lanes. Hunter again came to help, offering equipment to assist in the short-term. Dan Williams Construction finished the work fast, though – getting the crossing under I-35 reopened in a matter of weeks rather than months.

Looking forward

Over the course of 2014, we’re looking forward to completing the bookends of the Wurzbach Parkway project as well as finish the I-35 project through Selma and Schertz. If we get favorable conditions, we could wrap up work on FM 306 near Gruene and on U.S. Highway 281 in Spring Branch. We’ll finish the Seguin Avenue project being done by Austin Bridge and Road.

The Main Street bridge in Boerne should be finished soon, and Relmco is expected to get the expansion of Highway 39 in Ingram near completion by year’s end. We’ll wrap up work on an overpass for Loop 1604 at Marbach by mid-year as well.

Meanwhile, we’re starting a project to convert Loop 1604 to an expressway (overpasses!) between Bandera Road and Culebra Road in northwest San Antonio. That should kick off this spring, as will some smaller projects in New Braunfels.

Those in the Fair Oaks Ranch and Boerne Stage Road area will see significant upgrades to the frontage roads along I-10, with work on the Ralph Fair Road overpass starting this spring.

And that’s the year in review!

Work the week of Christmas

Only a handful of projects - and none that impact active travel lanes of TxDOT roadways - will be active through the next week and a half.

In fact, most of our contractors are asking for the entire week off due to Christmas and the accompanying busy traffic in the area (not to mention their own desire to spend the time with family). Those requests have been granted.

So you know where to expect seeing work around the area, here's a look at what each major project should look like between today and New Year's (keep in mind there will be no lane closures next week):

I-10 Huebner
While crews will be off the project Dec. 24-26, expect some light activity Monday and Friday. Heavy work will begin again the week of Dec. 29-Jan. 4.

I-35 Selma
Most of the project will be quiet for at least the next week, but activity will be back in full swing after New Year's. Any activity you see between this weekend and New Year's will be pretty light. Remember - the intersection at FM 3009 will be opened up to allow heavier traffic flows TODAY!

I-35 SAMMC
This is a project that will continue a bit next week. Expect a quiet workzone Dec. 24-26, but otherwise we should see activity throughout. Nothing will impact travel lanes, meaning no lane closures, but we'll be out there working.

Loop 1604 Marbach
Again, expect things to be pretty quiet next week, but around New Year's work will begin pushing hard again.

Fred-Med
The contractor will be off Dec. 23-Jan. 1. This project has a six-day workweek, so when we get back to work on Jan. 2 we'll be back to working on Saturdays as well.

Wurzbach Parkway
Expect activity between Blanco Road and West Avenue Monday, and perhaps Tuesday morning as well. We are planning to open the Parkway between Blanco and West Avenue Monday. We don't anticipate a ton of activity on the eastern segment those dates, but we do anticipate heavy activity on the center segment every day except Dec. 24-26 and Jan. 1. The east and west ends will be quiet Dec. 24-Jan. 5.

Again: there will be no lane closures for active construction over the next week as we accommodate heavy Christmas traffic. Call it our gift to each of you!

Enjoy your time with your families next week, and please consider giving the gift of a sober ride this Christmas. Heck, it's a pretty easy stocking stuffer, if you're still looking for something! It never costs anything to be a designated driver or a designated texter for your friends and family, after all!

Project roundup (because ... well ... it's all about being in the know!)

First of all, the goal when this blog was launched was to publish between three and five meaningful posts each week to let folks know what's going on with specific construction projects and construction-related road closures.

The problem with all that is when the poster is out-of-town, no posts get published. So ... in lieu of the last two weeks' worth of posts, here's a round-up of everything that's been happening on our major highway road projects in the San Antonio district. I'll start with the rural projects and work cityward (is that a word, even? If not, it is now...).

Kerr County - Hwy 39 (Ingram)

During a recent meeting of the minds between Ingram city officials and TxDOT staff, plans to work heavily on the Hwy 39 bridge over Johnson Creek were outlined.

According the the most recent construction schedule, the expansion of the bridge - it's being widened to accommodate the widened road, which will include sidewalks and bike lanes along with a center left-turn lane - should be finished early this fall. Until the work is finished, no pedestrian traffic should be permitted on the bridge. It's simply unsafe with the work zone barricaded off and only enough space on the bridge for the two active lanes of traffic. Because of the proximity to Ingram Tom Moore High School, this may present an issue for some of the local youth. We are working with school district officials to develop a solution for the few weeks of overlap we'll have with the upcoming school year.

Beyond the work on the Johnson Creek Bridge, work has begun and reached about the quarter-way-there mark on the new bridge over the Guadalupe River at Cade Loop Road. The column shafts sticking out of the water are at their final heights, though we still need to build column caps (which act as shelves for support beams) and build the deck itself. All that will come once the work on Johnson Creek Bridge is finished.

Meanwhile, we've begun building the detour - which will really act as a temporary road path side-by-side with the current roadway - which will be in use by late August so road crews can install drain structures along the west end of the project. Businesses in the middle of the project should also expect more action in front of their locations over the next week or two.

Kendall County - Main Street

With the signal upgrades nearing completion, the work on the Cibolo Creek Bridge is also headed quickly toward its finish line. Most of the overnight closures - used to allow bridge crews to safely hang beams and perform other major structure work - are done, but a few remain. Those closures, as always, will be announced as they arrive.

Comal County - US 281 through Spring Branch

Two of the final three property parcels have been acquired by TxDOT to continue construction, and we'll be able to work on those properties by October (there's a 90-day grace period so anything the former landowner wanted to keep can be salvaged). The final piece of land to acquire is the land where the Spring Branch Post Office is located. I don't have any updates on that.

It's really common for TxDOT to begin a project having acquired all but a few final pieces of land through right-of-way acquisition. It allows us to expedite projects and provide our safe, reliable solutions to safety or congestion issues to Texas drivers all that much faster.

Otherwise, work on the project is steaming along. Most of the future south-bound lanes between the Blanco County line and FM 311 are formed and built, waiting concrete and cement. We've still got a few gaps due to utility conflicts, but otherwise we're all in place up that way. Further south, we've got land being cleared along Coyote Ridge. Nothing being worked on (for now) really impacts daily traffic.

There is a concern about trucks entering and exiting the roadway, however. Unfortunately, there's not a lot we can do beyond telling truck drivers to be more cogniscent of the traffic flow. We've posted signs reading "TRUCKS ENTERING ROADWAY" signs in an effort to make drivers more aware this is an issue, but it (sadly) won't be going away any time soon. Because of the unpredictable and intermittent frequency of this, we simply cannot have flaggers or other traffic control out there to get these trucks in and out of the roadway. For now, we're reminding drivers to be good neighbors.

Comal County - FM 306

With efforts to add strategically located turning and passing lanes in the Canyon Lake area nearing an end - most of the pavement was in place by the end of last week, and job bosses are looking for a dry spell to allow lanes to be painted successfully - most of the concern on FM 306 has turned to the segment near Gruene.

In tha last few weeks folks have seen the bridge support structures go up for the future west-bound lanes near Hunter Road, and some of the similar work is happening near Goodwin Lane. As we begin putting caps - those shelves that top the columns and hold up the beams on bridges - on the columns at Hunter, look for the columns to start going up near Goodwin. We've already made some good headway on the retaining walls that will hold the approach to the overpass at Goodwin.

That bridge work is and will be the most visible work we do over the next several weeks. Yes, we're busy putting inlet drains in and working on a few other underground things ... and we've got some of the portions of roadway to be widened already graded out and the base layers of asphalt is down ... but we've still got a long way to go. Perhaps the most significant change for folks driving this corridor is the upgraded traffic signals. We've changed the signal devices from the old-fashioned timers to a new VIVDS Camera system. Basically, we've made the signals smart, and that should improve the traffic flow a bit while we're still in construction.

Comal County - Seguin Avenue

The magic day to mark on the calendar on this project is September 9. On that morning Seguin Avenue will be closed - completely and totally - at the UPRR underpass near I-35. The closure will last six months. Traffic will be detoured onto Nacogdoches Street, Comal Avenue and Hampe Street to get to their respective destinations.

Again, that's September 9. For six months.

Between now and then, you'll see more of the same stuff you've seen all summer. Work continues - and is nearing completion - on the new retaining wall. Drill shafts are being worked on to support the temporary "shoo-fly" detour. None of the work happening now will impact traffic until the summer is over. But, once September 9 hits, well ... hopefully you're getting the idea!

Comal County - Walnut Avenue

A clear distinction needs to be made here. The project at the intersection of Walnut Avenue and Landa Street, extending along Walnut Avenue south/east of that intersection, is being overseen by the city of New Braunfels. The TxDOT project on Walnut Avenue (which will expand the street and add sidewalks and bike lanes) is set to begin next year after utilities are appropriately adjusted. These adjustments are slated for later this year and early 2013.

Comal County - FM 2252 and FM 3009

After a three-week haiatus from the project - the contractor turned the intersection back over to TxDOT while we tested the new signal cabinets and got things calibrated appropriately - the contractor is back on the job. THey are scheduled to have the new signals in place by 8 August and should have the project buttoned up by the middle of the month.

Keep in mind most remaining work will be done at night, so you might not see the crews at work. We're trying to stay out of the way!

Comal/Guadalupe/Bexar County - I-35 Selma

This project ... wow. Where do I begin? Let's start north and work down from there.

The turnarounds at FM 3009 have been put at a lower priority on the list of tasks on this project, but should still be hammered out by the first part of September. That's the aim, for now. Crews were reallocated to the ramps and highway expansion between FM 1518 and Schertz Parkway.

About two weeks ago we opened the north-bound exit ramp to Schertz Parkway. We can't get the entrance ramp from FM 1518 opened up quite yet as there are some concerns about the distance between that entrance ramp and the exit to FM 3009 without all the expansion work in place. The south-bound entrance ramp from Schertz Parkway was opened when the main lanes were repaved over the weekend. The closures caused some heavy congestion, but crews were able to work quickly and get the lanes reopened a full two hours earlier than estimated.

We are still working on the highway widening between Schertz Pkwy and FM 1518 ... but we're getting there! We have the south-bound exit to FM 1518 to finish up as well, and the south-to-north turnaround to complete.

A design team at our district office has taken over the reworking of the construction sequence and traffic control plan for the north-bound exit to Forum Parkway. We're hopeful to have a new plan in place this week and get shovels in the ground again, allowing us to have that finished and reopened around Halloween.

Bexar County - Wurzbach Parkway

This three-in-one project (it's actually three seperate projects, but I talk about it as if it were one) has been interesting over the last couple of years. The biggest question asked is the one I'll answer first: When's it going to be done? The answer is in three parts:

• Blanco-to-West: Early fall 2013
• West-to-Jones Maltsberger: Early 2015
• JM-to-Wetmore: Mid 2014

With formalities aside, there's been a ton of development over near Blanco Road and Vista Del Norte. Minor lane closures at Blanco have allowed crews to finish work on some concrete islands and get some sidewalk built, and they're almost done with the turnaround (west-to-east) at Blanco. The Vista Del Norte intersection is trickier, with a right-on, right-off configuration for all directions. Crews are working on building all that's needed to make that new intersection fully operational, and they've already got traffic moving in a modified version of the final configuration.

Closer to U.S. Highway 281, crews are working on the bridge structures east of the highway. There's a lot of activity on Bitters at U.S. 281, as well as at Nakoma and Hwy 281. This work has required some turnaround closures at both locations and some actual lane closures of Bitters Road under the highway. we're expecting work to continue in both locations for another five months or so, but the contractor has been working hard to get the traffic lanes reopened sooner.

Efforts to get Jones-Maltsberger finished (it's been involved with closures and a detour configuration for over a year now) and sized up for the future intersection with the Parkway are moving more intensely. Last week electricians were building the infrastructure needed for all the traffic signals and pedestrian sign posts. We're hoping to have the road opened to its final, four-plus lane configuration by the end of September.

Bexar County: Vance Jackson overpass bridge

With everything else in the district, this significant project has managed to fly under the radar a bit. The good news is we're nearly finished, and hope to have the bridge opened for use by the end of September. That will allow traffic along Vance Jackson from, say, DeZavala Road to reach The Rim without turnarounds or using I-10. We're hoping it affords local traffic a viable alternate to I-10 in the event of heavy traffic during peak hours.

Bexar County: Marbach Road overpass

With work on a sound wall along the north-bound lanes south of Marbach, the biggest work (for now) outside the median area is underway. For the most part, we've not had a ton of major lane closures as yet. That will change (a little) when we start building the actual overpass bridge at Marbach ... but that's still quite a way out.

The best news of all is knowing this project is running on time and is (so far) pretty smooth. (Quick - somebody knock on some wood!) We're hoping to be finished by early fall next year. I'll say this: having met the head honcho with the contracting company (Capital Excavation) on that project, I've met few motivated to get a project as quickly as this group is. They really want to be in, out and done.

Bexar County: I-10 Huebner

This project is moving right along with Webber Construction pushing the cart. Bridge building crews are just a couple of weeks from having work on the I-10 overpass at Fredericksburg Road finished, which means traffic will be returned to a full three lanes on the main lanes by the end of the month. (May be a little sooner than that, even!)

It also means some relief at the intersections of I-10, Huebner and Fredericksburg is in sight. It's a tough area to start with during peak hours, and we know the work we've been doing has complicated things. Thank you to those who've dealt so well with the work we're doing.

Those driving the project have noted the retaining walls near UTSA Boulevard as well. We're glad to be moving forward with that work. Seems so many struggles getting the support structures for those walls have been encountered, it's really satisfying to see the walls take shape.

The goal for the contractor is to get everything else ready for major work at the DeZavala overpass to start this fall. That work is going to result in major pinch points for traffic along I-10 and DeZavala; the main lanes will be squeezed (made narrower) and shifted over. If anyone drove through I-410 during work on the north side of San Antonio a few years back, they'll recognize the traffic patterns.

When we get into the DeZavala bridge (we're lifting it, and in turn need to lengthen the bridge and widen it a bit), we'll close down BOTH turnarounds underneath. This work will continue for a full year - six months in each direction. The work has incentives tied to it, and the contractor stands to earn an extra $300K for each side if the work can be done fast enough.

Job bosses are telling me they hope to be finished with the entire project by the start of 2015 - which is only six months behind the initial schedule (most of the delay coming from the bankruptcy proceedings for Ballenger Construction).

Bexar County: Fred-Med

Questions on this project come weekly, so here's what we've got:

We selected a contractor earlier this summer (the project went through the entire bid process all over again) and expect to start work in September. This is a two-year job, so expect to see action until near the end of 2015.

Texas Sterling Construction won the contract with a bid of a little more than $13.8 million, which was pretty well in line with the construction estimate offered by our engineers. All told, the project has a projected total cost of about $14.6 million.

Bexar County: I-35 SAMMC

This project is going to be a doozy. It's all about safety, and the U.S. Department of Defense even kicked in a bit of money (to the tune of more than $20 million, enough to pay for more than a third of the total construction) to make this happen.

While we're expanding the highway between the north and the south I-410 interchanges on I-35, the biggest thing we're doing here is moving the ramp from south-bound I-35 to south-bound I-410 to the right side. Currently, as a left-hand exit, we're seeing some safety concerns and some traffic bog-down from trucks moving across four lanes of traffic to reach the ramp.

We're hoping to shave something like five minutes off the average commute time through this corridor with this improvement (and a host of others). But growing pains will come first, and the work on the 4.6-mile stretch is scheduled to be finished by mid-2017.

Lane Construction - one of the largest road builders in the country - won the award for the $74.4 million project. We're expecting this work to kick off in the next month or so.

That's it - for now!

That just about sums it up. I'll have smaller posts related to each project as they progress. Thanks for your patience!

Sound wall construction to start near Marbach

Tomorrow crews working on the overpass on Loop 1604 at Marbach (far west side of San Antonio) will begin building a sound wall barrier between the highway and The Village at Big Country.

Though the work isn’t as involved as the construction of other sound walls built by the department in the past – this wall will be built by clearing the land with a small excavator and setting form panels, where others required drilling and construction of large concrete posts – the work will still be near the property lines of those adjacent to the highway.

A sound wall will be built along the edge of the right-of-way, seperating north-bound Loop 1604 from the homes in The Village at Big Country.

Project supervisors with Capital Excavation have agreed to keep equipment quiet until 7 a.m., and they plan to shut down operations daily by 5:30 in the evening. No night work is planned, including the concrete pours – all the work should be done during the daytime hours. The wall will be built by December, weather permitting.

Project roundup: Northwest San Antonio/Bexar County

Today traffic piled onto I-410, being held up by a resurfacing project along Bandera Road between Grissom and Huebner roads. Because of the traffic delays - some reported waiting about an hour to get through the work area - engineers have ordered the work be put off until a better schedule can be developed.

Initially, the mill-and-overlay work was set to last daily this week between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. A new schedule has not yet been determined. If an easier traffic control plan can be developed, crews may again get the green light to work during the mid-day. Local media outlets will be notified of any closures.

This traffic gaffe has led to a brief update on what's happening (in general) across the northwest side of San Antonio-Bexar County.

By the way, is it crazy to anyone else that the "northwest" side of this county extends as far south as it does? Anything even with or north of U.S. Highway 90 is considered "northwest" San Antonio. With that....

Loop 1604 at Marbach

With drill support shafts erected on the south side of Marbach, crews are working to build on the north side of the road the support structures for the overpass that will guide traffic through the intersection without being stopped at the signal. Most of the work being done is between traveling lanes of Loop 1604 - that is, in the median dividing current north-bound and south-bound lanes.

While the work poses some encroachment on the traffic on Marbach itself, traffic on Loop 1604 is largely undisturbed ... for now. Once the overpass structure is constructed, larger inconveniences will be imposed on traffic in the area until the project is complete (set to finish by early 2014).

A front-end loader equipped with wide-spread lifting forks moves a hollowed-out form that will allow a concrete bridge support pillar cure at Marbach Road. Steel cages making up the reenforcement of these pillars can be seen over the boom of the excavator in the background, to the left.

This is the only overpass/expressway on Loop 1604 being built with this project. A seperate project, funded by traditional non-tolled resources and set to begin later this year, will expand the busy highway to a four-lane expressway with continuous frontage roads between Bandera Road and Culebra Road. An option to include the intersection at state Highway 151 is included in the upcoming project.

A final project to continue the expressway along Loop 1604 through Potranco Road is planned to begin in the next two years. Together, the projects effectively create an expressway along Loop 1604 from U.S. Highway 90 to Pat Booker Road.

I-10 Huebner

After a tough time using traditional methods drilling soil nail walls at UTSA Boulevard, the subcontractor working on the retaining walls has turned to another method to speed along the process. Traditionally, a chisel point is used to burrow through dirt and rock. Air is used to blow out loose material before the hole is filled with an anchor pin and grout.

They may be hard to see in this picture, but drivers should be able to see the crews wearing bright yellow vests working on the concrete median barrier near UTSA Boulevard along I-10.

However, the air was causing pockets of adjacent holes to collapse, even blowing out grout. Crews will turn to an auger to clean out the holes, then refill them as appropriate. The process means doing each soil nail individually - a more tedious process - but should save time in the long haul by getting through everything without needing to re-bore any nails.

Drivers in the area will also see a drill rig digging the foundation for bridge column supports on the east-bound side of the highway. These columns will help hold up the east-to-west turnaround bridge being built at UTSA Boulevard.

The biggest change coming up will be in June, when crews will begin working on the east-bound main lane bridge over Fredericksburg Road - or over the connector pushing traffic from Fredericksburg Road onto the west-bound frontage road of I-10. This will require eliminating a lane from the main lanes, pushing some traffic onto the frontage road at the Huebner Road exit ramp. Traffic will re-enter main lanes before reaching Huebner Road, as shown in this video.

Vance Jackson Bridge

The bridge beams are set and crews are setting deck panels. In upcoming weeks concrete crews will pour the concrete that will form the permanent bridge structure. The good news: what was once believed only possible through a weekend-long closure was completed during four overnight closures last week.

The bridge structures are almost complete at Vance Jackson and Loop 1604. Crews will begin turning to the completion of retaining walls, the bridge surface and other finish work as they push to finish the job by the end of summer.

The project is scheduled to be finished by the end of summer, this year. This will allow traffic to access facilities north of Loop 1604 along I-10 directly from Vance Jackson, easing some of the traffic along the main highways in the area.

What to watch for (this week)....

I-10 Huebner has resumed

True to promises over the weekend, Texas Sterling Construction officially began working on the I-10 Huebner project this morning. Over the next week crews will focus their efforts on cleaning the project area, dealing with erosion issues and shoring up materials storage.

Drivers on the northwest side should pay close attention to the UTSA Boulevard area, where most of the early restart action on the I-10 Huebner project will be.

Project personnel met this morning to discuss the week and form a to-do list for early work. A project schedule is expected in the next week or two. For now, just plan on seeing activity near UTSA Boulevard and De Zavala - but none of the activity should be in the actual traveling lanes of the interstate.

Big-time closures on I-35 Selma....

Don't forget! We're closing all south-bound lanes of I-35 at FM 3009 tonight at 11 p.m. We'll actually start shutting lanes down at 9 p.m., but as of 11 p.m. we'll have a total closure. While the highway is closed, crews will be setting bridge support beams.

Traffic will be diverted onto the frontage roads of I-35 at FM 3009 tonight and tomorrow night while crews hang bridge support beams for the future FM 3009 turnaround bridges.

Tomorrow night (Tuesday night), we'll be closing the north-bound lanes of I-35 at FM 3009. We'll have the closures picked up with traffic flowing again by 5:30 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday morning, respectively.

If you're an evening commuter, or an early bird, you may want to find an alternate route (like FM 2252 or, if you're traveling through New Braunfels, Highway 46 to I-10 in Seguin).

Loop 1604 - on the west side....

Work near Marbach Road - we're building an overpass there! - will require a few lane closures during the day through the week. Expect to see the right lane closed on both north-bound and south-bound lanes in the Marbach area.

Specifically, the north-bound lanes at Marbach will be closed; the south-bound lane closure will be between Emory Peak and Spurs Ranch Road.

Meanwhile, Angel Brothers Construction is working to finish their work to construct a north-to-south (or is it east-to-west?) turnaround at I-10 on the northwest side. The right lane of the east-bound access road will be closed during the day later this week while crews pour concrete.

Good Friday

San Antonio celebrates, as a city, a number of holidays not celebrated to the extent they are here. One is Good Friday.

In observance of Good Friday (and Easter Weekend), most of our projects will be shut down this weekend. You won't find a lot of work being done on Friday, and that work won't resume until Monday. Limited work around the city will be going, but don't expect to see a whole lot.

This isn't some sort of socio-theologic endorsement ... it's just plain good sense. This is a big deal for a lot of folks in San Antonio, whether it is for you (individually) or not. We're just trying to respect and honor that!