Fred-Med: major traffic switch coming

Those headed to Bluff Creek Towers will find their lower parking lot area finished by Saturday, including having the driveway at full width at the top of the hill. Traffic into the driveway will follow a path similar to the original alignment of the driveway for the time being. Crews are moving along to the upper portion of the parking lot and will be pressing to have the road at the bottom of the hill finished in order to move the Bluff Creek driveway to its final layout later this month.

Folks at Bluff Creek will notice changes - advancements - in work surrounding the driveway and parking lot for that property.

So much for the narrow view ... here's what's going on with the rest of the project for the masses:

Beginning next weekend (May 9-10) crews will begin milling and resurfacing the road on Medical Drive near Ewing Halsell. That will be almost the last task to finish before the first major traffic switch on the project....

Next weekend Texas Sterling Construction will have a series of closures to allow them to remove the center median on Medical Drive near Ewing Halsell. The contractor will also repave the roadway in this area.

Phase II

In about two weeks crews will switch traffic over onto the future westbound portion of Medical Drive, marking the end of Phase I and the start of Phase II.

While this will not impact daily traffic much beyond actually moving traffic lanes over; we will be keeping the single lane each way on the hill and two lanes each way west of Fredericksburg Road. The work will mean we need to close the driveways onto Medical Drive for the business complex that houses the UPS Store and others; we will maintain their acces on Fredericksburg Road for these businesses.

Traffic will be pushed far to the left of this view when Phase II begins in two weeks.

This phase will take us through the summer for work, and we will open up traffic into the next configuration this fall. That configuration will essentially put traffic on both eastbound and westbound approaches from Medical Drive to Fredericksburg Road, leaving the 'main lanes' of Medical vacant for work.

Crews are working quickly to have the area to the right ready to carry traffic by mid-May.

During Phase II crews will focus on constructing the future eastbound side of Medical Drive, which will look a lot like what things on the westbound side looks like. This will mean heavy excavation, including drilling and milling work. This will include night work. Before that heavy excavation can happen, utility crews will adjust water lines, gas lines, storm drain and sewer. Service interrumptions will be brief and will be coordinated through SAWS and property owners.

Fred Road bridge

Crews continue building the support structures for the Fredericksburg Road bridge. Those structures are under the large steel plates spanning the intersection of Fred and Med. Bridge builders will soon begin building a "slide pad" to accommodate a new bridge building technique planned for this intersection. We'll post more on this technique as we get closer to the bridge-building phases of work.

This trench is active all the way through Fredericksburg Road, covered with steel plates. Crews are working in the trench to build bridge support structures for the underpass that's being built at this intersection.

For a 360-degree view of the area and work, click here.

Loop 1604 update

We haven't posted anything, really, since the project broke ground in March. Since then we've seen a lot of survey work happen and, about a week and a half ago, our contractor set barrier along the south end of the project (between Culebra and Shaenfield roads). It's time to get an update out!

What will be the north/eastbound frontage road between Culebra and Shaenfield roads has been cleared of brush and trees. Dirt crews will begin to work here next week.

Last week crews started trimming trees and brush along what will become the northbound frontage road between Culebra and Shaenfield roads. That trimming was followed by early dirt work as road-builders begin laying out the footprint for that road. Over the next three weeks, expect to see more dirt moving as crews begin building that frontage road.

Leslie Road, which runs from Wild Horse to Culebra Road with an interruption at Shaenfield Road, will be converted to a one-way road as early as this month.

Work on the southbound frontage road - including converting Leslie Road to one-way - is expected to happen by June. We'll have more information on that conversion as we get nearer to the conversion date (the contractor is waiting in consultants to finish plans for the southbound frontage roads, including sequence of work, to set work dates).

Some of the most readily visible work on the project is the dirt work done for the approach on the north/east side of Braun Road.

Dirt crews are also working on the overpass approaches at Braun Road. That embankment work will continue for the next several weeks. None of that work is anticipated to interfere with traffic. 

For now, at least, the work that's ongoing is outside the active travel lanes. We expect most of the work to avoid active traffic until we begin working aggressively on the overpasses at Braun, New Guilbeau and Shaenfield.

That's the good news with work we have moving right now: nothing is interfering with traffic right now. Everything we have moving is outside the active lanes of construction.

Wurzbach Parkway progress

West to Jones-Maltsberger

Crews will close Jones-Maltsberger between Arion Parkway and Old Bitters Road Thursday and Friday nights to build the overpass over Jones-Maltsberger.

The closure will be complete, pushing traffic onto the U.S. 281 frontage roads by way of Bitters Road or Arion Parkway. Crews will begin work around 10 p.m. each night and have the road reopened by 5:30 each morning. Project planners have worked the schedule around high school baseball playoff games at blossom Athletic Center both nights.

Crews will be setting bridge deck panels, which serve to shape the bridge deck. With the panels in place, crews will be able to pour concrete to fill out the deck. That concrete will be scheduled once the panels are all set in place and the reinforcement steel is in place.

Other crews are working to finish the hike and bike trail running under U.S. 281, which will extend the Salado Creek Greenway to West Avenue. Work continues west of U.S. 281, including structures to support what will be the eastbound frontage road intersection with the Hwy 281 southbound frontage road and the embankments approaching the U.S. 281 overpass.

Jones-Maltsberger to Wetmore

Nearly all the active work on the eastern segment of the parkway is bridge work. This includes bridges at Mud Creek and Salado Creek, as well as construction of the road cutting through Old Bitters Rd near the city's brush dump site.

Crews are also staying busy on Jones-Maltsberger, building the center median islands. This work indicates we are getting closer to. Opening up Jones-Maltsberger to full capacity could happen as early as the end if May. Work will continue at the intersection through the end of the center-section project, which is on schedule for mid-2015. 

Next week's construction-related closures

Interstate 10

Monday-Friday, April 28-May 2

9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. daily

Westbound frontage road between Huebner Road and Loop 1604 (northwest San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close while crews lay pipe and move barrier. This closure includes the occasional closure of the Woodstone Drive exit ramp. Traffic will use the next available ramp. This closure includes the occasional closure of the east-to-west turnaround at Huebner Road. Traffic will use the signaled intersection. Expect delays.

Monday-Friday, April 28-May 2

9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. daily

Eastbound frontage road between Huebner Road and Loop 1604 (northwest San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close while crews move and set barrier, lay pipe and place asphalt. This closure includes the occasional closure of the exit and entrance ramps associated with DeZavala Road. Traffic will use the next available ramp.

Monday-Friday, April 28-May 2

9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly

Westbound frontage road between Huebner Road and Loop 1604 (northwest San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close while crews move and set barrier. This closure includes the occasional closure of exit ramps to Woodstone Drive and DeZavala Road. This closure includes the occasional closure of the entrance ramp from UTSA Boulevard. Traffic will take the next available ramp. Expect delays.

Monday-Friday, April 28-May 2

9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly

Westbound frontage road between Huebner Road and Loop 1604 (northwest San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close while crews move and set barrier. This closure includes the occasional closure of exit ramps to Woodstone Drive and DeZavala Road. This closure includes the occasional closure of the entrance ramp from UTSA Boulevard. Traffic will take the next available ramp. Expect delays.

Monday-Friday, April 28-May 2

9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly

Main lanes, both directions, between Huebner Road and UTSA Boulevard (northwest San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close while crews demolish the concrete median barrier. This closure includes the occasional closure of the UTSA Boulevard exit and entrance as well as the De Zavala Road exit ramp(westbound) and the Fredericksburg Road exit (eastbound). Traffic will use the next available ramp. Expect delays.

Thursday-Friday, May 1-2

9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m.

Westbound main lanes between New Braunfels Avenue and Walters Street (east San Antonio)

The right lane will close while crews move and reset barrier. Expect minor delays.

Interstate 35

Monday-Friday, April 28-May 2

8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. continuous

Northbound exit to FM 3009 (Schertz)

One lane will close while crews build sidewalks and curb on the frontage road. Exiting traffic will still have a lane to use. Expect minor delays.

Monday-Friday, April 28-May 2

9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly

Olympia Parkway overpass at I-35 (Selma)

The overpass will be completely closed while crews repave the bridge deck surface and approaches. Northbound traffic will use Evans Road to reach its destination. Southbound traffic will use Forum Parkway to reach its destination. Expect delays.

Friday-Saturday, April 25-May 31

8 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily

Turnaround on the south side of the Medina River  (Von Ormy)

All lanes of the turnaround will close while crews pave the road surface. This closure includes the northbound entrance ramps. Traffic will use next available ramps. Expect delays.

Friday-Saturday, April 25-May 31

8 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily

Northbound main lanes between Loop 1604 and Fisher Road (Von Ormy)

Alternating lanes will close while crews mill and repave the roadway. Expect delays.

Interstate 37

No closures scheduled.

Interstate 410

No closures scheduled.

Loop 1604

Monday-Thursday, April 28-May 1

9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily

Main lanes, both lanes, between Emory Peak and Spurs Ranch (far west Bexar County)

The left lane will close while crews work on curbs and sidewalks.

U.S. Highway 90

No closures scheduled.

U.S. Highway 281

No closures scheduled.

Other roads

Sunday-Saturday, April 27-May 3

8 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly

Fredericksburg Road, both directions, between Louis Pasteur and Data Point (Medical Center)

Alternating lanes will close while crews build the bridge support structures under Fredericksburg Road. Expect delays.

Sunday-Monday, April 27-28

9 p.m. until 6 a.m.

Loop 337 (Rueckle Road) between Altgelt Road and I-35 (New Braunfels)

Alternating lanes will close while crews restripe the pavement to set up a work zone. Expect minor delays.

All planned lane closures are pending weather.

Sidewalks on deck for I-35 Selma job

Next week crews will close one of the two northbound exit lanes to FM 3009 to build the curbs and sidewalks along the northbound frontage road between Schertz Parkway and FM 3009. This work, and it's associated closure, will last about a week.

The final asphalt surface has been placed along the northbound lanes here, approaching Schertz Parkway, but final pavement markings are yet to come. That will likely be the very last thing to finish on the project. 

Project supervisors are waiting in a redesign for small segments of the center median barrier where new overhead highway sign bridges are to be mounted. Once the redesign is in place we'll see overnight closures flare up en masse again while crews build the walls and sign support structures. That work is planned to be done overnight and supervisors expect to begin work on that task the first part of May.

This section of the main lanes, between Cibolo Creek and Loop 1604, has yet to be repaved. That will happen after the center median barrier is completed.

Beyond that, paving work is the most visible remaining work on the project. The FM 3009 overpass, the FM 3009 south-to-north turnaround, the main lanes (north and south) between Cibolo Creek bridge to Judson Road, the Olympia Parkway overpass and approaches and the  turnaround at FM 1518. Most - almost all of it, really - will be done during nighttime hours to avoid more significant impacts to traffic. However, with temperatures struggling to stay above 60 degrees overnight, supervisors are looking for out-of-the box ways to progress work.

Work on the south-to-north turnaround at FM 3009 continues; Dan Williams Company expects to have this turnaround opened by the start of June.

With the work remaining on the south-to-north turnaround at FM 3009, current projections have the turnaround opening the first part of June. Overall project completion is still on target for the start of July - in time for the heavy summer traffic.