Planning a cohesive system

We had a big question come from Ralph a few weeks ago, and it took a little doing to get a good answer. He asked:
When you expand I-10 or US281 on the North side, why not add at least one more outbound lane than inbound lanes. Outbound lanes function like a "drain" and the faster you get cars out of the city, the less strain you place on the highways that are in the city. Too many inbound lanes can cause overload on the roads in the city so inbound lanes and outbound lanes function differently from a system level. So, add more outbound lanes. You do not need an equal number of inbound and outbound lanes.

To begin, Ralph, we have a major challenge to accommodate the more-than 150 new cars on San Antonio-area roads popping up daily while meeting current needs. Yes, you read that right. We have been adding more than 150 new cars (per the San Antonio Mobility Coalition) to the roadways in the San Antonio metro area alone every single day for the last few years.
There's a bit of a process that goes into determining where to bring major capital improvements and how to address current and future demands. We begin by measuring traffic volumes - as well as projections - for both inbound and outbound directions on our major corridors. Thanks to new technologies we're able to make pretty good determinations regarding the origin and destination of these trips as well.

What we are finding is these volumes (and future projections) are pretty darned equal for both inbound and outbound traffic. That is, just as many people are using those inbound routes as are using outbound routes. The data shows us the strain on surface streets is pretty similar between evening and morning hours.
We take these findings to a determining body responsible for planning a cohesive system - in the case of the San Antonio metro area, we go to the Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. This group allows us to place our projected development projects in context with future development by city and county governments. In short, the MPO looks at the transportation system as a one-piece body and ensures development by one agency coincides with development with other agencies.

With the needs identified by the MPO, an extensive public involvement process ensues. Armed with the public input and significant data from state and local engineers (and consultants), priorities are determined.
Then we have to identify funding - which is much easier said than done.
The details of the projects are designed during the funding process, and our designs are vetted by you through open house meetings. (Seriously, we do change designs based on public input - it happens all the time.)
With public input we finalize the details of plans and let the project for bids. By rule we offer the contract to the lowest bonded bidder, then approve the contract through the Texas Transportation Commission. It takes about three months to get the contract signed and the contractor ready to go (typically), then we get going on the project.
Whew.

That's the process, Ralph. But to answer your question much more directly, we don't add an additional lane to the outbound traffic because we typically see the same demand on both directions of traffic. One option that might come in to play later on to accomplish what you're suggesting, and as local needs increase, is to use reversible highway lanes ... but that's something folks here simply haven't been ready to implement yet. You may see it used in the future, though - particularly as HOV lanes take shape with more efficiency in the region and mass transit becomes more important to the Alamo City.

Historic transportation plan gets another boost

The Texas Transportation Commission recently approved an update of TxDOT’s $70 billion Unified Transportation Program (UTP). The UTP represents a 10-year project funding outlook that includes new plans to add or improve more than 1,200 miles of roadways to improve safety and mobility, and reduce congestion.
Seventy billion dollars is an historic amount of funding. It includes over $38 billion in additional funding, which Gov. Abbott and the Legislature presented to the public for approval as Proposition 7 and the ending of diversions of highway funds for other purposes. The 12,000 men and women of TxDOT stand ready to immediately execute on these projects that will keep people and freight moving safely and efficiently throughout our state.
Texas is a dynamic state with a robust economy. With more than 27 million people living in Texas – a number that is expected to double by the year 2050 – this transportation funding is not only more than welcome, it’s absolutely crucial to our overall quality of life, economic health and global competitiveness. TxDOT is committed to anticipating and addressing the transportation demands of our entire state. The 10-year plan, the largest in TxDOT history, dedicates funding to address safety, maintenance and rural connectivity needs across all 25 TxDOT districts and 25 metropolitan planning areas throughout the state.
Gov. Abbott has charged the Texas Transportation Commission with addressing the growing congestion problem facing our largest and most congested metro areas. Ninety-seven of Texas’ Top 100 congested roadways are in the five major metro areas, resulting in the average driver in those areas losing over 52 hours last year while suffering through traffic chokepoints. Over the next four years, $2.5 billion of the influx of new dollars will fund 19 much-needed new projects in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio through a program called Texas Clear Lanes. This program is intended to add capacity and improvements to some of our most notorious areas of gridlock in those major cities. In addition, the Commission has targeted funds to improve our major transportation and trade corridors, energy sector roads and hurricane evacuation routes.
There is still much to be done. Next August, the Commission will be programming additional projects within the monies available to it. TxDOT is reaching out for public input as it works with transportation professionals and other stakeholder groups throughout the state to ensure a quality planning process.
The members of the Texas Transportation Commission – Jeff Austin of Tyler, Victor Vandergriff of Arlington, J. Bruce Bugg, Jr., of San Antonio, Laura Ryan of Houston and me, from Odessa – have worked diligently to maximize the resources that Gov. Abbott, the Legislature and taxpayers of this state have provided to us. As the Commission and the department which it oversees, TxDOT, celebrate their 100-year anniversary, we are ever more dedicated to serving the public and continuing the tradition of excellence that has been established by those who served before us.

Tryon Lewis
Chairman, Texas Transportation Commission

Next week's construction-related closures

Now that Fiesta is winding down, we'll have a little more activity around the downtown area. Here's what's happening over the next week:

I-10 – Seguin

• Current through Monday, May 29 at 4 p.m. Westbound frontage road between Business 123 and Grein Place. Alternating lanes will close while crews convert the frontage road to one-way only. This closure includes the intersection of Guadalupe Street as needed.

I-10 – East San Antonio

• Friday, April 28 at 7 p.m. until Monday, May 1 at 5 a.m. Westbound frontage road between Foster Road and Woodlake Parkway. All lanes will close while crews install storm drains. Traffic will use Foster Road or FM 1516 to reach its destination.

I-35 – New Braunfels

• Current until Tuesday, May 2 at 5 a.m. Southbound entrance ramp from FM 725. The ramp will close while crews do repair work. Traffic will use the next available ramp.
• Current until Tuesday, May 2 at 5 a.m. Southbound main lanes between FM 725 and Schmidt Street. The two right lanes will remain closed while crews repair the road. The main lanes of I-35 will be reduced to two lanes during this period.
• Sunday-Monday, April 30-May 1. 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. Main lanes, both directions, between FM 306 and the Comal-Hayes county line. Alternating lanes will close while crews resurface the road.
• Sunday-Friday, April 30-May 5. 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. nightly. Northbound main lanes between Schmidt Road and FM 725. Alternating lanes will close while crews repair the roadway.
• Monday, May 1. 8 p.m. until 11 p.m. Southbound frontage road at FM 725. The left lane will close while crews move barrier.
• Monday, May 1. 9 p.m. until 11 p.m. Southbound main lanes between FM 725 and Schmidt Street. The three right lanes will close while crews move barrier.
• Monday-Tuesday, May 1-2. 11 p.m. until 6 a.m. Southbound main lanes between FM 725 and Schmidt Street. All lanes will close while crews move barrier and restripe the road. When finished the highway will be returned to full capacity. Traffic will exit FM 725, continue along the frontage road and re-enter the highway at the next available ramp.

I-35 – Northeast San Antonio

• Monday-Friday, May 1-5. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Northbound main lanes between Eisenhauer and Thousand Oaks. Alternating lanes will close while crews do road work.
• Tuesday, May 2. 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Northbound main lanes at AT&T Center Parkway. The right lane will close while crews pour concrete.
• Monday-Tuesday, May 8-9. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Main lanes, both directions, at New Braunfels Avenue. All lanes will close while crews set bridge support beams. Traffic will exit New Braunfels Avenue, pass through the intersection and re-enter the highway. This closure includes the New Braunfels Avenue bridge. Traffic will use Walters Street to cross I-35.
• Monday, May 8 at 9 p.m. until Tuesday, August 1 at 5 a.m. Turnarounds, both directions, at Walzem Road. The turnarounds will remain closed while crews do overhead bridge work.

I-35 – Downtown

• Monday-Tuesday, May 1-2. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Northbound main lanes between I-10 and I-37. All upper level lanes will close while crews do bridge work. Upper level traffic will exit McCullough Avenue and follow the posted detour signs to continue back onto northbound I-35. Lower level traffic will continue as normal.

I-410 – Northwest San Antonio

• Current until August 31. Northbound exit to Culebra Road. The exit will close while crews widen the main lanes and frontage road. Traffic will exit Ingram Road, turn around and get to Culebra on the southbound frontage road.
• Monday-Friday, May 1-5. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between Marbach and U.S. Hwy 90. Alternating lanes will close while crews restripe the roads.
• Tuesday, May 2. 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Southbound main lanes at US Hwy 90. The right lane will close while crews install a temporary light pole.
• Tuesday-Wednesday, May 2-3. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Southbound frontage road between Pilar Street and Bertetti Drive. All lanes will close while crews install a gas line. Traffic will use Zabra and Tarasco streets to reach its destination.
• Wednesday-Friday, May 3-5. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between Marbach Road and U.S. Hwy 90. Alternating lanes will close while crews move barrier.

I-410 – East San Antonio

• Current through Saturday, April 29 at 5 p.m. Northbound main lanes at East Houston Street. The right lane will close while crews repair the roadway.

U.S. Hwy 90 – Downtown San Antonio

• Current through May 31. Eastbound exit ramp to I-35. The ramp has been reduced to a single lane while crews do bridge repair work.

U.S. Hwy 281 – North-central San Antonio

• Monday-Friday, May 1-5. 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. nightly. Southbound main lanes between I-410 and Newel Avenue. The two right lanes will close while crews resurface the roadway. This closure includes ramps as needed. Traffic will use the next available ramp.

Hwy 151 – Northwest San Antonio

• Current until August 31. Westbound exit ramp to Hunt Lane. The exit will close while crews work on retaining walls. Traffic will exit Ingram Road and follow the frontage road to reach its destination.
• Monday, May 1. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Westbound main lanes between Loop 1604 and Westwood Loop. The right lane will close while crews repair damaged delineators.

Other roads – Seguin

• Current until August 31. Austin Street between Martindale and Seidman. The road will be converted to one-way only, moving southbound only, while crews do road work. Northbound traffic will use Guadalupe Street to reach its destination.
• Saturday, April 29 at 6 a.m. until Sunday, April 30 at 6 a.m. The intersection of Rosemary Street and Austin Street. The intersection will close in all directions while crews install utility lines. Traffic will follow the posted detour route.
• Sunday, April 30 at 6 a.m. until Monday, May 1 at 6 a.m. The intersection of Mesquite Street and Austin Street. The intersection will close in all directions while crews install utility lines. Traffic will follow the posted detour route.

Other roads – Boerne

• Friday, May 5 at 9 p.m. until Saturday, May 6 at 5 p.m. Scenic Loop Road, both directions, at I-10. All lanes will close while crews do overhead bridge work. Traffic will use crossovers at Balcones Creek or at Business 87 to reach its destination.

Other roads – Northeast San Antonio

• Friday, May 19 at 9 p.m. until Sunday, May 21 at 5 a.m. Walzem, both directions, at I-35. All lanes will close while crews do overhead bridge work. Traffic will use the frontage road to the next intersection and turn around to reach its destination.

All closures are pending weather.

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.

Another expansion on Lp 1604 to be discussed

It's not on the northside, nor on the far west side. That doesn't mean we're not paying attention, though.
There's this seven-mile stretch between US 281 and Elmendorf that's currently a two-lane country highway we need to expand to improve safety and prepare for increased capacity.

We need your insights to make this happen effectively. We'll be hosting an open house tonight between 5:30 and 7:30 at the Southside High School cafeteria. You'll need to be there to check out our design and the features involved with this expansion. You'll also get to visit with the engineers designing the project. They'll have notepads ready for your comments regarding their plans.
Here's a snapshot of what we've got on deck:

• Expanding Lp 1604 to a four-lane divided highway
• Add pedestrian accommodations at various select locations
• No additional right-of-way acquired for this work

This is your chance to influence the design of this project - if you're one of those who live, work or play in this area, be sure to come out and see us!