THIS week's construction-related closures

Apologies for the delay on this post - this week's closures should all be in here, though!

I-10 – Downtown

• Monday-Friday, November 30-December 4. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Eastbound frontage road between North Brazos Street and north Colorado Street. The left lane will close while crews do overhead bridge work.
• Monday-Friday, November 30-December 4. 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between I-37 and I-410. The right lane will close while crews do concrete work.

I-10 – Northwest San Antonio

• Monday, November 30. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Westbound frontage road at Ralph Fair Road. The right-turn lane will close while crews replace the traffic signal pole. Traffic will use the thru lane to turn right.

I-35 – East San Antonio

• Current until January 2016. Exit ramps, both directions, to Eisenhauer Road. The ramps will close while crews build a new exit ramp. Traffic will use the next available ramp and turn around to reach Eisenhauer Road.
• Current until January 2016. Northbound entrance ramp from Eisenhauer Road. The ramp will close while crews build a new entrance ramp. Traffic will use the next available ramp.
• Sunday-Friday, November 29-December 4. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between Binz-Engleman and AT&T Center Parkway. Alternating lanes will close while crews do road work.
• Sunday-Friday, November 29-December 4. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Frontage road, both directions, between Binz-Engleman and AT&T Center Parkway. Alternating lanes will close while crews do road work.
• Sunday-Friday, November 29-December 4. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Turnarounds, both directions, at Salado Creek. The turnarounds will be closed while crews do bridge work.
• Monday-Friday, November 30-December 4. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Frontage road, both directions, between Binz-Engleman and AT&T Center Parkway. Alternating lanes will close while crews do bridge work.
• Monday-Friday, November 30-December 4. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Turnarounds, both directions, at Salado Creek. The turnarounds will be closed while crews do bridge work.

I-37 – Southeast San Antonio

• Monday, November 30. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Connectors, both directions, to southbound I-410. The connectors will close while crews lay asphalt. Traffic will take northbound I-410 and turn around at WW White Road.
• Monday, November 30. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Southbound connector to I-410. The connector will close while crews lay asphalt. The detour will be posted. This closure will begin once work on the connectors to southbound I-410 is finished.
• Monday-Tuesday, November 30-December 1. 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. Northbound connector to southbound I-410. The connector will close while crews lay asphalt. Traffic will turn around at Southeast Military to reach southbound I-410.
• Tuesday-Wednesday, December 1-2. 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. Connectors, both directions, to northbound I-410. The connectors will close while crews lay asphalt. Traffic will take southbound I-410 and turn around at South Presa.

I-410 – Northwest San Antonio

• Monday-Thursday, November 30-December 3. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Southbound frontage road between Culebra and Military roads. The right lane will close while crews do bridge work.

U.S. Hwy 281 – South Bexar County

• Monday, November 30-Friday, December 11. 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. daily. Southbound main lanes between FM 1937 and the Atascosa County line. The right lane will close while crews lay asphalt.

Loop 1604 – Northwest San Antonio

• Tuesday-Sunday, December 1-6. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. Northbound frontage road between Culebra and New Guilbeau roads. The right lane will close while crews install sidewalk. Two lanes will remain open for travel during this closure.
• Tuesday-Sunday, December 1-6. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. Southbound frontage road at Alamo Ranch Parkway. The left lane will close while crews build bridge support structures.
• Tuesday-Sunday, December 1-6. 10 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly. Southbound frontage road between Braun and Culebra roads. The right lane will close while crews do curb work.
• Tuesday-Sunday, December 1-6. 10 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly. Northbound frontage road between Helotes Creek and Braun Road. The right lane will close while crews do curb work.

U.S. Hwy 90 – West San Antonio

• Current until May 2016. Westbound frontage road between Hunt Lane and East Kriewald. The frontage road will close while crews reconstruct the Medio Creek Bridge.

Other roads – Schertz

• Monday-Friday, November 30-December 4. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. FM 3009, both directions, between I-35 and FM 78. The right lane will close in each direction while crews do sidewalk work.

Other roads – East San Antonio

• Sunday-Friday, November 30-December 4. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Westbound Rittiman Road at I-35. All lanes will close while crews do overhead bridge work. Traffic will turn right onto the frontage road and turnaround at the next available intersection.
• Sunday-Friday, November 30-December 4. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Eastbound Rittiman Road at I-35. The left lane will close while crews do overhead bridge work
• Sunday-Friday, November 30-December 4. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Westbound Eisenhauer Road at I-35. All lanes will close while crews do overhead bridge work. Traffic will turn right onto the frontage road and turnaround at the next available intersection.
• Sunday-Friday, November 30-December 4. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Eastbound Eisenhauer Road at I-35. The left lane will close while crews do overhead bridge work.

Other roads – Northwest San Antonio

• Wednesday, December 2. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Culebra Road, both directions, at Selene Drive. The left lane will close in each direction while crews do curb work.

All closures are pending weather.

Holiday season closures

We get asked the question in a variety forms every year, so we may as well just address it. If you have a neighbor who's asking this, please pass along word from right here. This isn't just rumor ... this is the way we do things!

The question is whether or not we'll put our projects "on hold" between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The short answer is a simple "no". However ... we have some important caveats.

We will continue work
Construction in many parts of the country is seasonal. In the upper Midwest folks have a running joke where they claim they only enjoy two seasons a year: winter and road construction.
In Texas we are blessed with the ability (weather) to work all year long. This means our projects are less invasive (fewer closures) than the ones up north. Seriously - they shut down entire freeways sometimes or have major closures in the middle of the day to get done what needs done. They have only a small window of the year in which to work, so they do so by performing much more invasive closures than we do.
It also means crews get to work year-round and not worry about income streams through the winter. Crews in other states will often see a reduced workweek or, in extreme cases, see seasonal layoffs.
Bottom line: we want to keep our crews - and the crews working for our construction partners - working through the winter. We also want to ensure we're not plugging up travel lanes used by folks headed to visit friends and family during the busiest holiday season of the year.
We have found a middle ground in this: we do continue to do work; we do not have a ton of lane closures. The work is done behind existing barrier where possible.

We will not do major closures
By practice we do not allow any major closures - that is, major ramp closures or full closures of the main lanes - between about now and the start of January. We do have some long-term closures of some minor operational features currently active that will continue to be closed through the year. Some specific examples include ramps on I-35 near Eisenhauer and the frontage road of US 90 near Hunt Lane.
You will see typical nightly closures on a lot of projects - the ones typically listed as closure of "alternating lanes", where work will be on a single lane at a time and we won't need to hinder overnight traffic all that much. If you're driving along Lp 1604 between Bandera and Culebra, along I-35 between Randolph Blvd and AT&T Center Parkway or on US 90 between I-410 and Lp 1604 you'll still see the normal nightly closures.

Work slowed this time of year
Despite our efforts to push forward this time of year, we are slowed a bit by weather. Hot mix asphalt has a temperature requirement we often dip below overnight. With some of our smaller projects out there where all we've got left is a final layer of asphalt (or something to that effect), we might actually shut down the job until we get back into some strings of warm weather.
If this is the case for the project nearest you, you'll see the orange signs and existing conditions out there but you won't often see guys working. Don't be alarmed - we haven't forgotten the project. We'll be back after it as soon as warm days are upon us again and we can lay asphalt by the truckload. 

Next week's construction-related closures

Please note: During the week of Thanksgiving, we will have NO CLOSURES Wednesday evening through Monday morning. Between November 30 and January 2 closures are limited to low-impact closures, typically overnight only.
Major closures this week include Culebra Road tomorrow (Nov. 21). Know before you go!

I-10 – Downtown

• Sunday-Wednesday, November 22-25. 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between I-37 and I-410. The right lane will close while crews do concrete work.
• Monday-Friday, November 30-December 4. 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between I-37 and I-410. The right lane will close while crews do concrete work.

I-35 – Northeast San Antonio

• Sunday-Wednesday, November 22-25. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Southbound main lanes between Thousand Oaks and Eisenhauer. Alternating lanes will close while crews do overhead sign work.
• Sunday-Wednesday, November 22-25. 9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly. Northbound exit to westbound I-410. The right lane will close while crews do road work.
• Monday-Wednesday, November 23-25. 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. daily. Northbound exit to westbound I-410. The right lane will close while crews do road work.

I-35 – East San Antonio

• Current until January 2016. Exit ramps, both directions, to Eisenhauer Road. The ramps will close while crews build a new exit ramp. Traffic will use the next available ramp and turn around to reach Eisenhauer Road.
• Current until January 2016. Northbound entrance ramp from Eisenhauer Road. The ramp will close while crews build a new entrance ramp. Traffic will use the next available ramp.
• Saturday-Sunday, November 21-22. 5 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily. Southbound main lanes between Binz-Engleman and AT&T Center Parkway. Alternating lanes, two at a time, will close while crews resurface the roadway.
• Sunday, November 22. 5 a.m. until 5 p.m. Southbound main lanes between Rittiman Road and I-410. The right lane will close while crews open the new exit ramp to Binz-Engleman. This closure includes the exit ramp to southbound I-410, as well as the entrance ramps from Rittiman Road and from I-410. Traffic to I-410 will exit Rittiman Road, continue to George Beach, turn around and access the northbound ramp to I-410. Traffic seeking to enter I-35 main lanes will use the next available ramp.
• Sunday-Wednesday, November 22-25. 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. daily. Frontage road, both directions, between George Beach and Windcrest Drive. Alternating lanes will close while crews do road work.
• Sunday-Wednesday, November 22-25. Southbound main lanes between Thousand Oaks and Eisenhauer. Alternating lanes will close while crews work on highway signs.
• Sunday-Wednesday, November 22-25. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between Binz-Engleman and AT&T Center Parkway. Alternating lanes will close while crews do road work.
• Sunday-Wednesday, November 22-25. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Frontage road, both directions, between Rittiman and Walzem. Alternating lanes will close while crews set barrier.
• Sunday-Wednesday, November 22-25. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Frontage road, both directions, between Binz-Engleman and AT&T Center Parkway. Alternating lanes will close while crews do road work.
• Sunday-Wednesday, November 22-25. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Turnarounds, both directions, at Salado Creek. The turnarounds will be closed while crews do bridge work.
• Sunday-Wednesday, November 22-25. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between Walzem and George Beach. Alternating lanes, two at a time, will close while crews do road work.
• Sunday-Wednesday, November 22-25. 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. daily. Frontage roads, both directions, between Fratt and George Beach. Alternating lanes will close while crews repair the roadway.
• Monday-Wednesday, November 23-25. 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. daily. Frontage road, both directions, between Rittiman and Walzem. Alternating lanes will close while crews set barrier.
• Monday-Wednesday, November 23-25. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Frontage road, both directions, between Binz-Engleman and AT&T Center Parkway. Alternating lanes will close while crews do bridge work.
• Monday-Wednesday, November 23-25. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Turnarounds, both directions, at Salado Creek. The turnarounds will be closed while crews do bridge work.

I-410 – North-central San Antonio

• Sunday-Monday, November 22-23. 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Eastbound frontage road between McCullough and U.S. 281. The right lane will close while crews resurface the roadway.

I-410 – East San Antonio

• Sunday-Wednesday, November 22-25. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Northbound connector to northbound I-35. Alternating lanes will close while crews move barrier.

I-410 – Southwest San Antonio

• Monday-Tuesday, November 23-24. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. Northbound main lanes between I-35 and Medina Base Road. The left lane will close while crews work on guardrail.

U.S. Hwy 90 – West San Antonio

• Current until May 2016. Westbound frontage road between Hunt Lane and East Kriewald. The frontage road will close while crews reconstruct the Medio Creek Bridge.

U.S. Hwy 281 – South Bexar County

• Saturday-Wednesday, November 21-24. 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. daily. Southbound main lanes between FM 1937 and the Atascosa County line. The right lane will close while crews lay asphalt.
• Monday, November 30-Friday, December 11. 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. daily. Southbound main lanes between FM 1937 and the Atascosa County line. The right lane will close while crews lay asphalt.

Loop 1604 – Northwest San Antonio

• Saturday, November 21. 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. North-to-south turnaround at Braun Road. The turnaround will close while crews do concrete work.
• Monday-Wednesday, November 23-25. 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Southbound frontage road between Bandera and Braun roads. The left lane will close while crews set barrier.
• Monday-Wednesday, November 23-25. 10 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly. Southbound frontage road between New Guilbeau and Culebra roads. The right lane will close while crews do curb work.
• Monday-Wednesday, November 23-25. 10 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly. Northbound frontage road between New Guilbeau and Braun roads. The right lane will close while crews do curb work.
• Monday-Wednesday, November 23-25. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. Southbound frontage road between New Guilbeau and Shaenfield. The right lane will close while crews install sidewalk. Two lanes will remain open for travel during this closure.
• Monday-Wednesday, November 23-25. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. Southbound frontage road at Alamo Ranch Parkway. The left lane will close while crews build bridge support structures.
• Saturday, December 5. 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. North-to-south turnaround at Braun Road. The turnaround will close while crews do concrete work.

Other roads – Schertz

• Monday-Wednesday, November 23-25. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. FM 3009, both directions, between I-35 and FM 78. The right lane will close in each direction while crews do sidewalk work.

Other roads – North San Antonio

• Sunday-Wednesday, November 22-25. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. San Pedro Road, both directions, between I-410 and U.S. 281. Rolling, alternating lanes will close while crews stripe the roadway lanes.

Other roads – East San Antonio

• Sunday-Wednesday, November 22-25. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Westbound Rittiman Road at I-35. All lanes will close while crews do overhead bridge work. Traffic will turn right onto the frontage road and turnaround at the next available intersection.
• Sunday-Wednesday, November 22-25. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Eastbound Rittiman Road at I-35. The left lane will close while crews do overhead bridge work
• Sunday-Wednesday, November 22-25. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Westbound Eisenhauer Road at I-35. All lanes will close while crews do overhead bridge work. Traffic will turn right onto the frontage road and turnaround at the next available intersection.
• Sunday-Wednesday, November 22-25. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Eastbound Eisenhauer Road at I-35. The left lane will close while crews do overhead bridge work.

Other roads – Northwest San Antonio

• Saturday-Sunday, November 21-22. 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. Culebra Road, both directions, between Loop 1604 and Lost Lane. Alternating lanes will close while crews lay asphalt. One lane in each direction will remain open at all times.
• Sunday-Wednesday, November 22-25. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Culebra Road, both directions, between Loop 1604 and Lost Lane. Alternating lanes will close while crews lay asphalt. One lane in each direction will remain open at all times.

All closures are pending weather.

Culebra Road medians - all the info you need

The medians on Culebra Road have caused many to question about the motive behind their installation. It's a topic we've posted on before - twice - and we won't delve further into the whys behind the whats today.

We will discuss some specifics folks have asked about, though. Of particular note is some scheduled work for this weekend resulting in closures Saturday folks really should pay attention to. We've also got some changes to the project brought because of the voice of folks who've called in to provide input.

This weekend's work
One major component to this project is a final overlay - a new surface of asphalt on top of the existing road surface. It's the last bit of work needed before the project is complete. The challenge with that is the time of year we are entering into; asphalt has some significant temperature requirements, and we cannot lay hot asphalt in cooler temperatures.
However, we want very much to finish this project quickly- very quickly. Once the project is complete we will turn over Culebra Road (between Loop 1604 and the Culebra-Grissom-Tezel intersection) to the city of San Antonio for city ownership and maintenance.
Here's what to expect: Beginning 6 a.m. Saturday crews will close alternating lanes - one lane in each direction - to lay asphalt. Traffic will be limited to a single lane in each direction. We expect crews to wrap up what they're doing by 6 p.m. Saturday.
Through the week we will continue to restrict work like this to the hours of 9 p.m. until 5 a.m.
Please note inclement weather can stop the work we've got planned, and if our inspectors observe significant impact on the traffic we will wrap up the work and push for overnight work. That said, the whole reason for this is to avoid overnight-only work and speed this project along. Remember asphalt cannot be placed in cooler temperatures and overnight temps this time of the year frequently dip below our tolerance levels.

Changes in the works
For several weeks we have fielded multiple calls each day, as have city staff, with folks asking or offering concerns about the raised medians being put into place. Again, this is all input we would have more easily incorporated had we been able to record this feedback during our open house meeting held in 2014. (Take-away message here: attend those meetings! We really do incorporate the ideas shared at those meetings!)
However we have made two major changes to the project. These changes are being constructed right now.
At the intersection of Culebra-Tezel-Grissom, we are extending the left-turn storage bay for traffic from Grissom onto Culebra. The additional space (about 65 feet) will be taken from the storage space given to folks turning left into the HEB lot.
At the intersection of Culebra and Selene we will remove a narrow portion of median to allow access for The Water Works and Family Dollar businesses, relieving some of the cross-access pressure there. All that's being removed here is the thin section of raised median, and we're clearing it out to the wider portion. The result will be a gap of about 419 feet opened up at this location.
Finally, we are adding a yellow center stripe along the base of the curb - not something we typically do, but something that's been requested. This will reduce lane widths by about six inches, so drivers should be aware. Previous lane widths were equivalent to what was out there before the medians were installed.

Shared access
The key to mobility along any corridor featuring raised median is a concept called shared access. The term has a number of meanings, but for our purposes it speaks to the ability of a motorist to reach several destinations through a single parking lot driveway access point. One very good example of this is at the southeast corner of Tezel-Grissom-Culebra. Several businesses - including CVS, Taco Bell, Jiffy Lube, Just Brakes, Auto Zone and Jeff Speakman's Kenpo - can be accessed from the same driveway cut. Folks on Grissom Road wanting to reach Grissom or Taco Bell, for instance, can turn into this shared-access grouping at Auto Zone or at Jeff Speakman's Kenpo and use the driving area behind these businesses to safely and conveniently reach their destination.
This shared access is a major consideration when we think of how and where to place a median across the region and the state. It's a common practice nation-wide, actually. As local patrons learn the shared access points of their favorite establishments the traffic issues we've heard about will begin to ease up.

Weather....
In the event of the onset of colder weather, we may button things up, put the project on pause and finish up in the spring. If this happens you'll see the orange signs and some orange barrels or cones, but no work will take place. This will only be done if we can't get the asphalt down in time, but those in the area should be aware of the possibility. 

Beyond Bexar: Hwy 306, Walnut, FM 1516

This weekend crews will close FM 1516 at Crestway in Converse for some emergency repair work on a box culvert. Work on FM 306 between Hunter Road and Hoffman Lane will start the week after Thanksgiving. Weather issues has delayed the projected opening of Walnut Avenue in New Braunfels.

So ... let's get into all that.

FM 1516
This is the most pressing issue and is our strongest place to start. CRG Construction will close FM 1516 at Crestway Friday night at 8 p.m. and will reopen the road by 5:30 a.m. Monday (Nov. 23). Through the weekend traffic will be detoured on Loop 1604 and FM 78.

Crews will continue work the weeks of and after Thanksgiving with daily closures of a single lane, with flaggers posted to control traffic as needed. The traffic signal at the intersection of FM 1516 and Crestway will be adjusted to flash a red light during this time; flashing red lights are to be treated as a four-way stop sign. The signal will be returned to normal function when the work is complete.
The work will repair a box culvert running across the road that's worn down with age.

Walnut Avenue
When Dean Word Company closed Walnut Avenue earlier this year to construct new roadway lanes as part of a project expanding Walnut to four lanes (two each way) between Landa and Kerlick, the goal was to have Walnut Avenue reopened for through traffic in time for Christmas.
Then the weather came. Over the course of 2015 crews lost about a month (maybe a little more) of good work time. While crews were able to catch some of that up through the dry months of summer, our current projection shows Walnut Avenue reopening in January.
In the meantime Dean Word has been able to finish almost all the drain structures along this project and, as a group of dignitaries from the city of New Braunfels say, the mechanically stabilized wall has been erected relatively quickly. As the wall goes up higher the anchors used get longer, requiring the need to cut deeper into what was the existing roadway - which is why we won't be ready to open the new lanes quite by Christmas. Dean Word remains committed to do well in their hometown, though, and are working hard to have the road reopened in January.
The overall project is slated to wrap up summer 2016.

FM 306
Hunter Industries finished this year the overpasses over the UPRR crossings between I-35 and Hunter Road (well, a little beyond Hunter Road). Now they're going to work on expanding the road, starting where they left off, through Hoffman Lane.
The project itself, an $8 million effort, will continue for about a year and a half - so folks should expect to see a final product in 2017. When we're all done we'll have two lanes in each direction with curbs and sidewalks - effectively matching what now exists between I-35 and Hunter Road. A center left-turn lane will be included at strategic locations.
While closures will be minimal - we're expanding on both sides of the roadway - drivers in the area should expect normal road construction delays associated with the project during their daily commute.