New Year, same hard push on Fred-Med

Since work began in the fall 2013, Texas Sterling crews have been pushing hard on the grade seperation project at the intersection of Fredericksburg Road and Medical Drive.

Over the next three weeks we'll see dirt crews continue to work on the downhill side of Medical Drive while retaining wall crews will begin setting wall panels along the hill for the future westbound lanes of Medical Drive.

When the project is done, "main lanes" of Medical Drive will flow under Fredericksburg Road, but we'll have some exit and entrance lanes moving up onto Fredericksburg Road. The retaining walls our contractor are working on line the westbound exit ramp onto Fredericksburg Road.

On paper, the bulk of work going on right now involves utility work - moving and replacing storm drains, sewer lines and water lines. We've got some CPS Energy lines that are being moved as well, and CPS reps have been meeting with our contractor to ensure those moves are done quickly and smoothly.

Here's the bottom line: we're starting our fourth month of work on a 16-month project. The months we've pushed through are the wettest and coldest of the project, with about two more months of tough weather in front of us before we can push harder. At this point, the project is progressing on track with a very aggressive schedule.

For those interested in planning processes, we have crews pushing hard on Phase One work now and Texas Sterling already has subcontractors lined up to do prep work for Phase Two. Phase One is expected to wrap up later this spring.

The big indicator for most of those driving in the area is asphalt - when asphalt is being laid along the westbound side of Medical Drive, we're gearing up to transition completely into Phase Two. That road-building work will take a little more than a month once it starts, and we'll be doing other things as well when that work gets going. The idea is when we actually see the asphalt forming the westbound exit lanes, we're nearing Phase Two.

Though we're a few months out from this, keep in mind Phase Two will mean a traffic shift for those using Medical Drive. We'll actually put all traffic on Medical Drive onto our future westbound exit/entrance lanes. This will let our Phase Two work - which consists of constructing the future eastbound exit and entrance lanes, as well as preparing for the construction of the Fredericksburg Road bridge - happen in the areas traffic is currently driving on.

Those frequenting the area shouldn't see any major disturbances on their path to the South Texas Medical Center.

For now we'll continue working on drill shafts, retaining walls and water lines. This means folks won't see many lane closures - just the occasional overnight closures of a single lane here or there as announced each week in the weekly construction-related lane closures report.

Also, please keep in mind the posted speed limit here. The posted speed limit on Medical Drive is 35 MPH. That said, while driving through the work area remember we have some neighbors trying to turn into their driveways while construction activities continue. For the sake of us all and the sake of safety, consider slowing down a few miles per hour while you're driving through the work zone.

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!

Fred-Med update

With Thanksgiving behind us and Christmas ahead of us, we're in that awkward three weeks where contractors try to get everything done they can without closing lanes (because we limit that during this time frame) and without running into adverse weather (such as this weekend's promised freeze).

Right now, Texas Sterling Construction is making the most of the time. Over the last several weeks they've pushed hard to make all the gas, water and electric utility adjustments they need to push forward on Phase One. (To recap, Phase One builds the future westbound exit/entrance ramps, or access roads, leading up to and away from Fredericksburg Road.)

Diggers build a pathway for the future westbound access road/exit ramp to Fredericksburg Road while drill rigs and excavators work at the footings for drain boxes and retaining walls.

 With those utilities out of the way, excavation crews are moving forward quickly on building storm sewer lines and foundations for retaining walls. This means drivers in the area will likely see a lot of drilling and digging, and we'll have some trucks entering or leaving the roadway as dirt is hauled away. The overwhelming majority of this work is done behind barriers that are already set, so lane closures are not likely. Some smaller closures may be used overnight, but don't expect much of an impact to your daily commute.

The biggest traffic disruption brought by this project is the closure of Fredericksburg Road for two weeks while the bridge structure is built. That two-week time frame is still on target for late 2014.

A look at the intersection of Fredericksburg and Medical, from just down the hill on Medical Drive. When the project is finished, Medical Drive will have four lanes (two in each direction) passing underneath Fredericksburg Road.

Stuff on the northwest side....

It's tough to compose meaningful posts that don't sound like a pile of broken records for projects that are in that "nothing really new to report" phase of work. That's the drawback to three-year-long projects: there's no shortage of weeks with nothing really new to report.

Still, we try to provide the updates we can. With that in mind, here's a look at the two major projects in the northwest corridor of San Antonio:

I-10 Huebner

We're still working on the soil nail walls along the project, including at UTSA Boulevard (on the westbound side) and near DeZavala Road and near the Fredericksburg Road connector. The soil nail walls on the eastbound side of I-10 near UTSA Boulevard have been finished, and the retaining wall panels are being set in place.

There's a lot of work on the eastbound side of I-10 leading up to DeZavala. Most of it is work on a storm water detention pond to aid draining in the area - thus all the digging. The good news: beyond a few occasional frontage road lane closures, there's no real impact to daily traffic.

Here's the biggest news on the project: TxDOT officials will significantly limit lane closures between Thanksgiving and Christmas. In fact, we shouldn't have any main lane disruptions in that window of time.

Fred-Med

Between continued excavation and a strong push to finish the Phase I (there are four major phases of work) utility adjustments, there's a lot of digging going on near the intersection of Fredericksburg Road and Medical Drive. The bulk of that will not impact traffic beyond the long-term traffic adjustment that's currently in place (traffic on Medical Drive limited to a single lane each direction down the hill).

We will see some overnight lane closures along Fredericksburg Road through Wednesday of next week, however. Those closures will be the right lane of northbound Fredericksburg Road, and shouldn't really impact traffic horribly during the light-traffic hours we'll be working.

Work is progressing nicely, though, and we're right on schedule. The contractor hopes to have the first phase wrapped up this spring, and has already started working on Phase II work (Phase II should wrap up late summer 2014).

Again, major closures will be limited between Thanksgiving and Christmas ... though the contractor doesn't need many lane closures to do the work that's currently moving.

The biggest change to this project upcoming is the work to be done on the west side of Fredericksburg Road. Excavation is scheduled to begin on the northwest corner of the Fred-Med intersection after Thanksgiving, with work reaching Ewing Halsell by mid-December.

Fred-Med update....

The rain this week pushed back the anticipated SAWS work that would necessitate a number of overnight water shut-offs. Ironic, right? Rainwater delays water work? Anyway.

As of Thursday morning, that work was planned to be done next week, following (basically) the same schedule as last week ... with a few minor adjustments.

• Sunday night, the buildings northeast corner of the intersection will be impacted; that is, Oak Cliff Village.
• Monday and Tuesday nights the buildings on the northwest corner of the intersection - primarily a storage facility - will be impacted.
• Wednesday and Thursday nights the buildings on the southwest corner of the intersection, including the Texaco gas station and the neighboring business complex, will be impacted.

This should minimize the impact on local businesses while we do this work. Again, we anticipate the water shut-offs will begin at about 8 p.m. and last until 5 a.m. Preparation work is being done to minimize the time these services are interrupted.

This should be the only major water shut-off during the project, according to project managers. Other services may be interrupted along the way - such as gas and power - as other lines are adjusted. Adequate advanced notice will be given of those interruptions as they arise.

Fred-Med update

Road closures aren't in the immediate future for the project at the intersection of Fredericksburg Road and Medical Drive, but some water services will be interrupted overnight next week in order to install cut-in valves that will accommodate other San Antonio Water System adjustments.

These overnight shut-offs, required by SAWS to perform the necessary work getting the water lines out of the way of the road construction project, are planned to begin Tuesday night and run through Sunday morning.

• Tuesday night, the buildings northeast corner of the intersection will be impacted;that is, Oak Cliff Village.
• Wednesday and Thursday night the buildings on the northwest corner of the intersection - primarily a storage facility - will be impacted.
• Friday and Saturday night the buildings on the southwest corner of the intersection, including the Texaco gas station and the neighboring business complex, will be impacted.

These water shut-offs will be done between the hours of 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. - hours and times determined by project staff and SAWS to minimize the impact of the work. Project personnel have reached out to a few individual businesses to offer bottled water for those who will be hit hardest by these brief shut-offs.

With these shut-offs out of the way, we should be clear of any other major water shut-offs later on in the project. We might have one or two smaller ones, but those will be individual services and we'll address those with the directly impacted parties as appropriate.

Note, however, I just said water shut-offs would be done by the end of next week....

We have crews laying new gas line over the next few weeks. At some point (at the discretion of City Public Services) that new gas line will need to be connected to those currently enjoying service. That will require brief shut-offs as well.  As soon as more details have been shared with TxDOT, we'll share those details with everyone affected.

Excavation work is already underway as crews beguin building what will eventually be the westbound "frontage road" or "exit ramp" on Medical Drive. We'll try to post a shot of the project from this location regularly, to show the progress of the new intersection.

Fred-Med: week three and beyond.

Crews have officially been working on the "grade seperation" project at the intersection of Fredericksburg Road and Medical Drive for two weeks now, and we feel like we're all still getting to know eachother on the project.

That is, we feel like daily commuters in the area are still getting used to us, and us to them. That's pretty normal!

Because we're just getting going and working out some kinks (and they're barely kinks, even ... just a few things being addressed here and there), let's talk about a few issues that have been brought to our attention to date:

Parking off the job site

With any new project, parking is one of the first issues we face. We have several workers who show up to the job site, and they lack a parking space. As you can imagine, parking isn't really something that's included in our plan sheets, so guys try to park wherever they can when they get to the job. Just think of those awkward moments you showed up for your first few days of a new job, and you were still developing a routine for your parking space - that's what we're doing now.

We've heard from local businessowners about our guys parking in adjacent parking lots, taking up space that should be reserved for clients and customers. We've addressed that issue with the contractor and word will be passed down. The goal is to make sure our guys park within TxDOT right-of-way. It may not always be pretty, but that's what we try to do.

Tree removal

We've finished removing trees from the area that will make up the future westbound lanes (and ramp) of Medical Drive. We'll be trimming and pruning a bit next week still, but actual tree removal is complete.

Trees removed on the westbound side are to make room for the new road structure. We're done removing trees, but we will have tree trimmers out pruning trees through next week.

I've gotten a couple of notes on this. Most are concerned about whether or not we'll replace those trees. We will not - we won't have room to do so. We only removed the trees we needed to remove, though, and we're doing our best to ensure the remaining trees are able to remain in place.

The milestone

The overall project schedule from the contractor shows the project should be complete early 2015. The "milestone" (a major traffic-disrupting task within the project tied to a financial incentive and disincentive) is planned for fall 2014.

Crews are working six days a week, mostly at night, to get this project done. What's really exciting is the proposed method of building the bridge structure that will carry Fredericksburg Road over the sunken lanes of Medical Drive when we're all done.

When we're done, thru lanes of Medical Drive will run under Fredericksburg Road.

The method is a new-to-Texas method, called "slide-in bridge construction", or "accelerated bridge cosntruction". Essentially, the bridge deck is built off to the side and then slid into place. The method reduces (significantly) the time required to shut down a road in order to perform the bridge work.

The technique was actually developed centuries ago by ancient engineers and seems to be favored in Utah. The technique has been used in Nevada, Missouri, Oregon, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. Though it won't likely present a major cost savings on this project, the technique can provide significant cost savings on larger jobs, and significantly reduces the impact on traffic. Just take a look at this weekend-long project, just outside Salt Lake City, replacing a bridge deck on Interstate 80:

 

With the milestone still more than a year out, right now our engineers are just getting excited about it. We look forward to talking about it much more when we get to the point of that work somewhere around this time next year.

 

What to expect now

 

Over the next two weeks, we'll have crews removing some of the curb and sidewalk - particularly along the downhill side of Medical Drive. With that sidewalk gone, pedestrians will need to use alternate routes. It's just not safe to walk through an active work zone, and we don't want people getting hurt.

Some of our closures include sidewalks. Please don't use closed sidewalks - for your safety and for ours!

We'll also start drilling support shafts for the retaining wall that will line the westbound side of Medical Drive. Again, this is on the downhill side of Medical, near where we've just cleared some trees. This drilling work will take place overnight. We're doing our best to be good neighbors to everyone here, and as part of that our priority is to work nights on this job.

With most of the work area for the westbound lanes set to be cleared by the middle of next week, we should be able to move excavation and drilling crews onto the work site in about two weeks.

Drilling is scheduled to begin as early as October 14.



Fred-Med STARTS (started?) TODAY

The grade seperation project at the intersection of Fredericksburg Road and Medical Drive officially kicked off this morning, with crews setting barricades and posting construction-zone signs. Stormwater guards will be set up by tomorrow (Wednesday), and the first work of the project requiring lane closures - some manhole adjustments on Medical Drive west of Fredericksburg Road - will be done Thursday night.

 

The overall purpose of this project is twofold: First, as a safety project, this project will allow traffic to get to the South Texas Medical Center uninterrupted by the heavy flow of cross traffic on Fredericksburg Road. As an effect, the decreased cross traffic (and eliminated change on the traffic signal cycle) will reduce congestion levels on Fredericksburg Road.

 

One Twiterr user (Twitterer?) asked today why we'd choose this intersection for a project like this, when other routes are also used to reach the medical center. The answer has to do with regional transportation planning maps and roads that lead directly to hospitals.

 

This project is the brainchild of a collaborative effort between planners and officials from the city of San Antonio, the STMC and TxDOT. Folks with the county have been involved as well. In fact, part of the nearly $20 million we've committed to this project came from the city, and part even came from the STMC.

 

(Sidenote: the total project cost is listed at $14.6 million, but that doesn't include the right-of-way acquisition and the utility adjustments done a year ago or more. The $14.6 million is the total estimated cost of the current contract, including construction and engineering costs.)

 

At any rate, Medical Drive is the official designated hospital route from I-10. Has the blue signs - we call them wayfinding, or trailblazing, signs - along the way and everything. Other routes, like Wurzbach Road, may be popular to visitors to the medical center ... but this project is about getting to hospitals more than it is about getting to the rest of the STMC.

 

And Medical Drive is the most direct route - it involves the fewest actual turns - to reach a hospital from the major highway(s).

 

So we're clearing the way for those who are working to reach the hospital. That's why this is happening on Medical Drive rather than other potential cross-streets.

 

Hopefully that clears things up!

Fred-Med project set to start

Work on a $14.6 million Texas Department of Transportation effort to more freely usher traffic into the South Texas Medical Center by bridging Fredericksburg Road over Medical Drive is set to begin Sept. 24 and should wrap up by the start of 2015.

This look at Medical Drive, looking from the South Texas Medical Center, shows what the final product will look like.

Texas Sterling Construction, of Houston, won the contract for the project early this summer. With most of the utilities adjustments completed in anticipation of the project, crews will be able to go right to work.

The project has been anticipated by folks at the medical center for quite a while. The prospect of eliminating critical minutes from the travel time into the medical center with the final product could save some lives – not to mention the safety enhancements brought by eliminating the cross traffic from this intersection.

Over the course of the first week Texas Sterling Construction is planning to set up barricades and begin work on a pair of manholes on Medical Drive, east of Fredericksburg Road. Project supervisors say the bulk of work during the ensuing weeks will be done out of the way of the current travel lanes.

Work will be done six days per week. Lane closures on the project are limited, by contract, to night time closures. The single exception is a two-week milestone on the project to allow crews to build the actual bridge structure on Fredericksburg Road, expected to occur late 2014. During that milestone all through traffic on Fredericksburg Road will be closed. At least one lane of traffic will be maintained in each direction on Medical Drive through the duration of the work.

Funding for the $14.6 million project comes from traditional resources, including the motor fuels tax and contributions from local municipalities.

Fred-Med....

One of the most common questions asked each week is:

"When will the project at Fredericksburg and Medical begin?"

Well, here's the answer: This summer.

Here's the skinny....

A year and a half ago, we began preparing to move forward with the contract with Ballenger Construction as the low bidder. However, a slew of utility adjustments delayed the start of the project until fall of 2012. By then, some issues with the financial viability of Ballenger had become apparent, and District Engineer Mario Medina stepped in with some stipulations before giving the contractor a notice to proceed (fancy official document giving the contractor permission to start working).

That was September. By November, the company had filed for bankruptcy, putting question marks on the schedules of more than $500 million in construction projects state-wide. Those projects that had started - including three in San Antonio - fell into the control of the contractor's bonding company (like an insurance company for construction companies). Because the "Fred-Med" project hadn't been started, it reverted back to TxDOT control.

After about three months' worth of realigning all the proper paperwork, the project was re-let (meaning we put it out for more bids). The apparent low bidder is Texas Sterling Construction.

What does that mean? Well, for now it means we're working out the details of the contract. That typically takes more than a month (it's been just over a month at this point) and then the contractor takes some time to mobilize their forces before starting work.

If all goes well, it means we'll be into Fred-Med sometime late this summer. Once we have a more firm date, we'll broacast it from the hospital-tops. And, with a 24-month work schedule, it means we're looking at a completion date of late 2015 (assuming all goes well, of course).

So that's where we're at with the Fred-Med project. Hopefully, that clears some things up!