TransGuide saves lives

Armando Rodriguez discovered this wrong-

way driver headed east on the westbound

lanes of I-10 on the city's northwest side

before the driver could cause harm to other

drivers.

At 1:50 a.m. Sunday 18-year TransGuide veteran Mando Rodriguez got word of a wrong-way driver moving east along I-10 near DeZavala Road. After switching between some of the 193 cameras at his disposal around the city he was able to positively locate the offender and alert the San Antonio Police Department, to which he has a direct line.
Officers were able to head off the driver on the left shoulder of westbound I-10 nearly directly over his office at the intersection of I-10 and I-410 and make an arrest. It was the third wrong-way driver Armando has stopped this year, a new personal record.
Mando and his colleagues have now teamed up to stop six wrong-way drivers since January 1 and have caught 61 since staff started keeping track in 2011. Over that same span 69 wrong-way drivers have caused crashes, killing 27 people and seriously hurting another 25.
The goal is to catch one-hundred percent of offenders before they can do the damage. They need your help to reach that goal.

The mission of Transguide
When TransGuide went operational July of 1995 its primary goal was to monitor traffic and provide live traffic updates to drivers through a system of digital message boards. TransGuide was the first Intelligent Transportation System in the great state of Texas (we have 16 statewide now) and detects disruptions in traffic through a system of sensors and cameras, allowing us to get notifications through social and traditional media as well as through our dynamic message boards. Over the years the mission of TransGuide has not changed, but it has embraced new technologies and agency partners.
For instance SAPD has deployed a dispatcher to the Transguide offices over the years, and a dispatcher for towing services remains at the hub around-the-clock.
Among the new technologies being embraced and employed is radar - a detection system alerting TransGuide staff and SAPD of problems early near the downtown area. Beacons surrounding Wrong Way signs have also been added along freeway entrance ramps to catch the attention of those mistakenly using these ramps as on-ramps.
New cameras with updated equipment (fiber optics and wireless systems are replacing older connectivity methods) are being installed wherever new projects are being built (and no, none of them record video). With expanded coverage comes improved capabilities - about half the crashes occurring since 2011 are outside the TransGuide coverage area. Two-thirds of the fatalities were outside the watch area.

This shows the locations of all WWD crashes in Bexar County since 2011. The black marks are in areas the TransGuide team doesn't yet have eyes.

Historic heroes
The team's arguably best year was 2014, when they caught 11 wrong-way drivers and only missed eight. Then there was 2012, where 13 WWDs were caught (nine got through).
Since 2011 Benjamin Lopez has been the top nabber, thanks in part to his regular work during overnight hours. Seven of the 11 WWDs caught in 2014 were by Benjamin - all of them between midnight and 4 a.m.
The team keeps track of each WWD discovered. Their criteria is simple: the WWD must be discovered on TransGuide equipment and stopped by law enforcement as a result of communication from the TransGuide center. The team is interested in lives saved, not just detection. That's how the events are noted in their record books, too - saved lives. As of May 31 the team has been credited with 61 lives saved.
They're an unsung group and deserve some added recognition. Here's the team:

• Benjamin Lopez, 20 lives saved
• Michael Barker (retired), 10 lives saved
• Mando Rodriguez, 7 lives saved
• Luis Ugarte, 5 lives saved
• Ishmael Trevino, 5 lives saved
• John Paniagua (retired), 4 lives saved
• Derrick Burke (retired), 4 lives saved
• David Rodrigues, 4 lives saved
• Christine Jauregui, 2 lives saved

You, too, can be a hero

Sunday's WWD faces police - and

a likely DWI arrest - after being

located by our TransGuide team.

The sad truth we've learned is the overwhelming majority of these wrong-way drivers are driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. In our crash reports we've seen some test with blood alcohol levels well over .25 - plenty to cause an individual to black out and succumb to alcohol poisoning. These people can barely walk and are still getting behind the wheel of a vehicle.
When you are out celebrating a good week, or busy forgetting a rough one, remember to plan ahead for a safe - sober - ride home. Be that sober ride for your friends and family where possible. Staying sober means completely abstaining from alcohol during the day or evening. A sober driver sticks to Sprite or Coke or root beer and makes sure none of their friends make the truly horrible decisions that can ruin lives.
A sober driver is a hero.
In fact, sober drivers should tally their evenings in terms of lives saved - each individual you drive home is a life saved from death, dismemberment or financial (and social) ruin.
With that in mind, how many lives will you save this weekend?

Those yellow "exit-only" designations on OSBs

First of all, an OSB is an overhead sign bridge - one of those big green things that tell you where you need to go, identify the highway you're on or let you know what lane an exit might be in. They may be considered the most important navigation tool a driver has, and paying attention to them is critical as they relay some really, really important information.
One thing an OSB might have is a yellow "exit only" designation. This marks a lane that's for exiting only, alerting a driver the lane under the yellow tab on the sign is about to exit the highway.
A short while back a reader named Juan reached out and asked about these yellow exit only designations. Here's Juan's email verbatim:

I'm curious about the usage of yellow "exit only" designations on overhead signs on local highways. I think they're generally very helpful, since they allow observant drivers to plan ahead as they approach the exits.
I've noticed one or two locations, though, where the yellow "exit only" signs are absent. Most recently, I was entering a congested northbound 281 from San Pedro Ave, planning to exit on Bitters Rd. The Wurzbach Pkwy exit sign didn't have one of these yellow "exit only" markers attached, and I didn't realize until too late that my lane was being forced to exit.
Fortunately, of course, the Wurzbach Parkway exit was perfectly acceptable for me, since I was just going to Bitters Rd anyway. But I can imagine it being more of an inconvenience for someone whose destination was farther north.
Is there some nuanced reasoning for these signs being present at most "exit only" locations but not at all of them? Or is this simply an oversight?

Juan, thanks for your patience in us getting an answer to this. We've visited with our traffic operations engineers at length to find the right answer and make sure you get the question addressed as completely as possible.
Most of the answer is found in our Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices, which can be found online here. There are some situational issues here the MUTCD doesn't address, though, so we'll take a crack at it.

Use of the Exit Only panel
First of all, let's define when we are supposed to be using those Exit Only tabs on the OSBs. The MUTCD tells us they're only to be used when we have a lane drop on the freeway through lanes. Because auxiliary lanes aren't freeway through lanes - they tie an entrance ramp to an adjacent exit ramp - we haven't typically used the Exit Only tabs at these locations, and these make up the majority of the lanes that might qualify as "exit only" locations across the area.

Auxiliary lanes

Auxiliary lanes are those temporary lanes you have linking an entrance ramp and the next exit ramp. They allow entering traffic an opportunity to accelerate to highway speeds and comfortably merge with freeway traffic. They're a fairly simple way to address some of our congestion issues in targeted locations - like on I-35 in the Schertz-Selma area, where we added auxiliary lanes and adjusted some of the entrance and exit ramps a few years ago.
Auxiliary lanes are typically striped differently than normal through lanes, using extra wide lines and the large dashes. We'll also use, where needed, arrows on the road surface to ensure drivers are aware they're not in a through lane.
We do have guidance in one of our handbooks telling us when an auxiliary lane is longer than 2,000 feet we should sign it as though it's a through lane dropping. We try to follow that the best we can. Most auxiliary lanes are much shorter than this, though, and do not require the additional marking with the yellow tab on the OSBs.

Some inconsistencies
We know of some areas where we've got an unnecessary Exit Only panel, and others where we should but don't. For example, on northbound US 281 between San Pedro and Bitters, the auxiliary lane is about 2,500 feet. We should have that Exit Only panel but we don't - likely an oversight during the last construction project we had.
Our traffic operations team looks for and keeps tabs on these locations to make sure the issue is addressed during our next construction project in the area. Those OSBs are crazy expensive (can cost more than $50,000) and we don't like to pull them down without already having the work planned through other projects. So, where we know we have work going on in an area, we'll take a survey of our signs and make sure to include any needed upgrades or revisions.

Next week's construction-related closures

*No construction-related closures will be permitted Friday, May 26, at 5 p.m. until Monday, May 29, at midnight in observance of Memorial Day Weekend.


I-10 – East San Antonio

• Tuesday, May 30 until Friday, June 9. 7:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily. Westbound frontage road between Woodlake Parkway and FM 1516. Alternating lanes will close while crews install storm drains. Traffic will be one-way, controlled by flaggers.

I-35 – New Braunfels

• Tuesday-Friday, May 30-June 2. 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. Southbound main lanes between the Hays County line and FM 306. Alternating lanes will close, two lanes at a time, while crews resurface the road.

I-35 – Northeast San Antonio

• Current 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.
• Tuesday-Wednesday, May 30-31. Main lanes, both directions, between Walzem and Crestway Drive. The left lane will close while crews work on overhead highway signs.
• Wednesday-Thursday, May 31-June 1. Main lanes, both directions, between Randolph Boulevard and Walzem. The left lane will close while crews work on overhead highway signs.

I-35 – East San Antonio

• Tuesday-Thursday, May 30-June 1. 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Southbound main lanes at New Braunfels Avenue. All lanes will close while crews do overhead bridge work. Traffic will exit New Braunfels Avenue, continue along the frontage road and re-enter the highway at the next available ramp.

I-35 – Downtown

• Current until Wednesday, May 31. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, at U.S. Hwy 90. The left lane will close while crews do bridge work.
• Sunday, June 4. 6 a.m. until 5 p.m. Northbound main lanes at U.S. Hwy 90. The two right lanes will close while crews do bridge work. This includes the on ramp from Theo Avenue. Traffic will head south to Division Avenue, turn around and use the available ramp.

I-410 – East San Antonio

• Current until Wednesday, May 31. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Southbound connector ramp to eastbound I-10. The ramp will close while crews move barrier. Traffic will exit Houston Street, turn around and approach eastbound I-10 from the northbound lanes.

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.

U.S. Hwy 90 – West San Antonio

• Tuesday-Thursday, May 30-June 1. 9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly. Westbound frontage road at Hunt Lane. All lanes will close while crews install drain structures. Traffic will be diverted onto the main lanes to reach its destination.
• Thursday-Friday, June 1-2. 11 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. Eastbound main lanes at Hunt Lane. The left lane will close while crews pour concrete.

U.S. Hwy 90 – Downtown San Antonio

• Current through June 1. Eastbound exit ramp to I-35. The ramp has been reduced to a single lane while crews do bridge repair work.
• Current until Wednesday, May 31. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Eastbound exit ramp to northbound I-35. The ramp will close while crews do bridge repair work. Traffic will exit Theo Malone and turn around to reach northbound I-35.

U.S. Hwy 281 – Near North San Antonio

• Tuesday-Wednesday, May 30-31. 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. Southbound main lanes between I-410 and Jones-Maltsberger. The right lanes will close while crews resurface the road.
• Wednesday-Thursday, May 31-June 1. 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. Southbound main lanes between Jones-Maltsberger and Basse Road. The right lanes will close while crews resurface the road.
• Thursday-Friday, June 1-2. 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. Southbound main lanes between Hildebrand and Josephine. The right lanes will close while crews resurface the road.

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.

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.

Other roads – New Braunfels

• Tuesday-Friday, May 30-June 2. 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. nightly. Hwy 46, both directions, between FM 758 and I-35. Alternating lanes will close while crews resurface the road.

Other roads – Northeast San Antonio

• Tuesday-Friday, May 30-June 2. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Walzem, both directions, at I-35. Alternating lanes will close while crews do overhead bridge work.

Other roads – East San Antonio

• Wednesday-Thursday, May 30-June 1. 9:30 p.m. until 5 a.m. New Braunfels Avenue, both directions, at I-35. All lanes will close while crews do bridge work on the New Braunfels Avenue overpass. Traffic will turn right onto the frontage road and turn around to reach its destination.

All closures are pending weather.

Harper Road ramps on I-10 reopened

A few weeks ago Angel Brothers Construction shut down the westbound exit ramp and the eastbound entrance ramp of I-10 out at Harper Road.
The closure allowed crews to whittle away at the road bed, which has built up over years of resurfacing projects to create a low-crossing area with the Ingram Road overpass. We have contracted Angel Brothers to rebuild the main lanes of I-10 a whole foot lower than it currently is, increasing clearance to 16 feet 5 inches in both directions.
The work will put an end - or a major slow-down - on large truck traffic moving through downtown Ingram and Kerrville. Trucks had been taking this route to avoid hitting the bridge.
Well, we expected the ramps to be closed about eight weeks. Angel Brothers reopened the ramps in three. The early completion is going to earn the company an additional $120,000 on the $2.2 million project, which started in April and will wrap up by the end of August.

It's time (again) to mow our lawn

With nearly 4,300 miles of roadway in our district - about a quarter of which are in Bexar County alone - folks can imagine it becomes quite an ordeal for us to mow our lawn. Unlike many of the 2.5 million who live in our district, we can't pay a neighbor kid $10 to mow the grass and call it good. Mowing our grass is pretty darned costly - about $1 million to do it district-wide - so we only do it a few times a year.


It's that time of year.

Keep an eye out for mowing crews
and help them stay safe!

Mowers started moving in the Hill Country areas after the wildflowers got a chance to finish their bloom, pollenate and seed. If you've driven along some of those country routes you may have already seen our guys doing their thing.
Mowers started up in Bexar County earlier this month and have already knocked out a few hundred acres' of lawn for us. In an effort to help you keep an eye out for our mowers to keep them safe we want to let you know where they plan to be (weather permitting) over the next few weeks. Note this only includes our crews in Bexar County.


This week
I-10 between Edison Drive and Ralph Fair Road
I-10 between Edison Drive and Martin Street
I-10 between Flores Street and Roosevelt Ave
I-35 between Reyborn Drive and St. Mary's Street
I-35 between New Braunfels Ave and Walzem
I-410 between Crownhill Blvd and Perrin-Beitel
US 281 between Greyson and Cibolo Creek


May 30-June 3
I-35 between Reybourn Drive and the Bexar-Atascosa county line
I-410 between Hunters Pond and Jones-Maltsberger
I-410 between FM 78 and Hunter's Pond
US 90 between Barclay and the Bexar-Medina county line
US 90 between Nogalitos and Barclay St
Hwy 151 between US 90 and Loop 1604


June 4-10
US 90 between Barclay and the Bexar-Medina county line
Hwy 151 between US 90 and Loop 1604
New Laredo Hwy (Lp 353) between I-35 and SW Military
Hwy 16 between Seneca Drive and Hwy 211
Hwy 16 between I-410 and the Bexar-Atascosa county line
Poteet-Jourdanton Freeway between I-410 and I-35
Old Pearsall Road between SW Military and I-410
SW Military between Five Palm and the MPRR crossing


That's not all

Areas with the most growth get hit first,
generally speaking.

We have more - a lot more - coming, and we'll try to get that out as we get schedules from our field staff. Please keep in mind these locations are highly weather-dependent. Locations are prioritized by need, focusing first where growth may hinder a driver's line of sight, until we get all necessary tracts trimmed.
We typically wrap up our mowing cycle by mid-July, if the weather permits.


In a work zone
Quick word in parting: our crews typically will not mow within active construction zones. Those areas are maintained by our construction contractors and will be mowed as directed by our field office staff. These areas are actually mowed several times each year.