The big'uns to look for in December

Our contractors are working at blistering paces on projects district-wide to ensure we have no closures impeding holiday travel after school districts let out for the Christmas break. That happens, for nearly all major school districts in our area, at some point the week of December 18-22.
In order to ensure the work we do between about December 18 and January 2 is done without closures you'll see a flurry of overnight closures and at least three semi-major closures in the San Antonio area.
Check our weekly lane closures report for overnight closures. Here is a brief list of our biggest closures to be aware of:

• Friday, December 1 at 8 p.m. until Monday, December 4 at 5 a.m. I-410 main lanes and frontage road, both directions, at US 90. All lanes will close while crews set steel bridge support beams overhead. Southbound traffic will exit westbound US 90, turn around at Hunt Lane and return to southbound I-410. Northbound traffic will exit eastbound US 90, turn around at Military Drive and return to northbound I-410.
• Friday, December 15 at 8 p.m. until Saturday, December 16 at 6 p.m. I-10 main lanes, both directions, at Fair Oaks Parkway. All lanes will close while crews pour concrete to form a bridge deck overhead. Traffic in both directions will exit Fair Oaks Parkway, continue through the intersection and re-enter the highway.
• Friday, December 15 at 8 p.m. until Monday, December 18 at 5 a.m. I-35 main lanes, both directions, between George Beach and Randolph Boulevard. Alternating lanes will close, two at a time, while crews resurface the road. When the closure is picked up the capacity of I-35 will be increased by one lane in each direction (main lanes traffic will be in its final configuration).

Please plan accordingly.

This week's construction-related closures

I-10 – Fair Oaks Ranch

• Current until Friday, December 29. Westbound frontage road at Old Fredericksburg Road. All lanes will close while crews replace drain structures. Traffic will follow the signed detour route, including a temporary route under the new overpass at Old Fredericksburg, to reach its destination.

I-10 – Leon Springs

• Wednesday, November 27 until Friday, December 1. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between Ralph Fair Road and La Cantera Parkway. Alternating lanes will close while crews set barrier.

I-35 – Schertz

• Current until October 2018. Frontage roads, both directions, at FM 1103. The right lane will close while crews replace the FM 1103 overpass bridge.

I-35 – East San Antonio

• Current until Monday, December 11. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between George Beach and Thousand Oaks. Alternating lanes will close while crews lay asphalt.
• Saturday-Sunday, December 2-3. 5 a.m. until 6 p.m. Main lanes, both directions, between Thousand Oaks and George Beach drives. Alternating lanes will close, two at a time, while crews lay asphalt.
• Saturday-Sunday, December 9-10. 5 a.m. until 6 p.m. Main lanes, both directions, between Thousand Oaks and George Beach drives. Alternating lanes will close, two at a time, while crews lay asphalt.

I-37 – Downtown San Antonio

• Current and continuous until Friday, December 1 at 5 p.m. Northbound exit ramp to Florida and Carolina avenues (exit 140A). The ramp will close while crews rebuild the slope near the exit. Traffic will exit Cesar Chavez (exit 140B) and turn around to reach its destination.

I-410 – North San Antonio

• Monday, November 27 until Friday, December 1. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Eastbound main lanes between Nacogdoches and Ira Lee roads. Alternating lanes will close while crews resurface the road. This closure includes ramps as needed.

I-410 – West San Antonio

• Current until December 2018. Turnarounds, both directions, at Marbach Road. The turnarounds will remain closed while crews construct the new Marbach overpass bridge. Traffic will use the signalized intersection.
• Monday, November 27 at 9 p.m. until Tuesday, November 28 at 5 a.m. Southbound main lanes between Ingram Road and Military Drive. All lanes will close while crews install overhead highway signs. Traffic will exit Ingram Road, continue along the frontage road and use the next available entrance ramp.
• Monday-Thursday, November 27-30. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Southbound main lanes between Culebra Road and Military Drive. The right lane will close while crews do bridge work. This closure includes the exit to Military Drive and the entrance from Culebra Road.
• Friday, December 1 at 8 p.m. until Monday, December 4 at 5 a.m. Main lanes and frontage roads, both directions, at US Hwy 90. All lanes will close while crews set steel bridge support beams overhead. This is a total closure of the highway. All traffic will exit US Hwy 90. Southbound traffic will head west to Hunt Lane, turn around and return to I-410. Northbound traffic will head east to West Military, turn around and return to I-410.

U.S. Hwy 90 – West San Antonio

• Friday, December 1 at 8 p.m. until Monday, December 4 at 5 a.m. Eastbound ramp to southbound I-410, westbound ramp to northbound I-410. The ramps will close while crews set overhead bridge support beams. Eastbound traffic will turn around at West Military to reach its destination. Westbound traffic will turn around at Hunt Lane to reach its destination.

U.S. Hwy 281 – North San Antonio

• Monday, November 27 until Friday, December 1. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Northbound main lanes at Sonterra Boulevard. The right lane will close while crews set barrier.
• Monday, November 27 until Friday, December 1. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Northbound frontage roads between Loop 1604 and Sonterra Boulevard. The right lane will close while crews set barrier.
• Monday-Friday, December 4-8. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Northbound main lanes between Donella Drive and Sonterra Boulevard. Alternating lanes will close while crews restripe the road. This closure includes the entrance ramp from Donella Drive and Henderson Pass.
• Monday-Friday, December 4-8. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Northbound main lanes at Sonterra Boulevard. The right lane will close while crews set barrier.

Hwy 151 – Northwest San Antonio

• Monday, November 27 until Friday, December 1. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Frontage roads, both directions, between Ingram and Potranco roads. The turn lanes will close while crews work on pedestrian signal poles.
• Monday, November 27 until Friday, December 8. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Westbound frontage road between Ingram and Potranco roads. The left lane will close while crews work on overhead highway sign support structures. This closure will not be done on Friday or Saturday nights.

Loop 1604 – Northwest San Antonio

• Current until Friday, January 26, 2018. North-to-south turnaround at Bandera Road. The turnaround will remain closed while crews do road work. Traffic will use the signalized intersection to turn around.

Other roads – Helotes

• Current until Sunday, December 31. Bandera Road, both directions, at FM 1560. All left- and right-turn lanes will close while crews do road work. Those turning onto FM 1560 or onto Circle A Trail will do so from the through lanes of traffic. Field staff will adjust signal timing as required.

Other roads – West San Antonio

• Friday, December 1 at 9 p.m. until Monday, December 4 at 6 a.m. Marbach Road, both directions, west of Loop 1604. All lanes will close while crews reconstruct the intersection. Traffic will use Emory Peak to reach its destination.
• Monday, December 4 at 9 a.m. until Friday, December 8 at 5 p.m. Westcreek Oaks Drive, both directions, at Loop 1604. All lanes will close while crews construct the new southbound frontage road. Traffic will use Military Drive and Potranco Road to reach its destination.

All closures are pending weather.

Mail Bag: Turnarounds along I-10 East, resurfacing on Lp 1604 and more

I recently discovered a historical marker on Ammann Rd just east of SH 46, celebrating the Pinta Trail. If I had not checked out the Historical Commission of Texas' website, I would have never knew it existed. Are there not a lot of historical marker directional signage on state-maintained roads in Kendall County? I seem to see them in many other portions of the State, but maybe I'm missing the forest for the trees in my own area.
- Mark
This question caused us to go back to our Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices and our traffic operations gurus to find a good answer. Section 2M.11 covers these specific signs.
You're welcome to peruse the MUTCD on your own at any time. It's a handy guide for understanding the why's behind the what's with our signs.
Alright ... the answer (in plain English): We provide signs for all historical markers that are within our right-of-way and are outside city limits. In this case, the marker may have fallen outside our right-of-way and may even be in city limits.
If there are any markers you're seeing without these call-out signs that fit the bill of being in our right-of-way and are outside city limits, let us know!

The schematic for the IH 10 E & FM 1516 intersection calls for a complete reconfiguration, with turnarounds in both directions (for 1516) and two lanes in each direction for the underpass, including replacing existing riprap with retaining wall. Presently TSC has used the eastern half of the 1516 overpass to install an east-to-west turnaround. Why does this differ from the project schematic? And when will the 1516 intersection be reconfigured to match the schematic? If TSC bid an alternate to the schematic, why wasn't the public notified?
- Marshall
Great questions, Marshall. For argument's sake, let's use the schematics posted online as our base for this conversation. Fair?

These schematics are preliminary and used to explain what our overall vision for the project is. This vision remains.
Yes, we fully intend to construct turnarounds at the FM 1516 intersection as we had presented during our public meetings on the work being done. During the detailed design stages of the project we discovered an elevation issue with this intersection, however. If we were to construct the turnarounds under the current bridge, as shown in the preliminary schematics, we would end up with either (1) turnarounds rendered unusable by large trucks because the clearance under the bridge is too short or (2) major flooding problems from turnarounds cut deeply into the ground and set well below the elevation of the roadway around it.
The solution? Build a new bridge.
That's happening during the expansion of I-10 set to begin later next year. We're adding a lane in each direction between I-410 and Loop 1604. In doing this, we're also replacing many of the overpass bridges - including the bridge over FM 1516 - and making them longer, taller and wider. After this bridge work is done the turnarounds will be built permanently.
The turnarounds you're seeing built right now to serve eastbound-to-westbound traffic is a temporary turnaround conceived to ease traffic pressures at the intersection with the one-way roads. We've actually change-ordered this temporary turnaround into the contract Texas Sterling has; their plans never included the turnarounds earlier.

Why is the Thousand Oaks exit off I-35 closed and is this permanent?
- Lucille
It is permanent - and rather than call it "closed" we would call it "moved". We discussed this in a video post earlier, but we moved the exit south a bit to improve the overall operation of the highway out there.

I noticed Asphalt Milling Machines and rollers parked on this of 1604 West bound close to La Cantera. If this for a TxDOT project on 1604 or something else?
- Zane
Nope, that's us! We are resurfacing Loop 1604 (main lanes and frontage roads) between Bandera Road and Rogers Ranch/Bitters Road. Work started back in October and will continue until summer 2018. Expect to see daytime work on the frontage roads. We'll stay off the main lanes during the day, though. Don't expect to see that overnight activity until temperatures heat up, this upcoming spring.

On the SH 16 & 1604 project I see that the base is layers of asphalt. What's the life span for this method? It doesn't seem to work long on normal street traffic.
- Pamela

This is actually pretty standard for us. There are several layers to a roadway. The Express-News did a really interesting story about the Recipe for a Roadway almost two years ago. It's definitely worth a look.
Any roadway is a lot like an onion - there are several layers most of us never see or fully understand. What's more, those layers are not all asphalt - we often mistake other layers as mere digging or blading, when we're really building those additional non-asphalt layers.
Our depths are different than what you see on a city street or in your subdivision - that's important to keep in mind. While many municipal roadways measure their depth in inches, ours are measured in feet. That base of asphalt is at least 18 inches deep and rests atop base layers of a variety of compacted soils.

What is the status of putting the steel beams in place for hwy 151 over 410? I remember a while back it was supposed to occur in November. Now there appears to be no word of it. In fact it seems the hwy 90 work is going faster than 151.
- Steve
The beams should be here in January, and we could be setting beams as soon as February. This falls within the timeframe given back in June.
As for project pace, please do not refer to a single aspect of the projects to make an overall assessment of the progress of projects. Doing so can set yourself up for an unreasonable expectation on both projects.
To be honest, both jobs are on their predetermined pace; the 151-410 project is set to wrap up late summer 2018 as promised when we broke ground. The 410-90 project still has quite a bit of work remaining. While you're seeing steel beams placed, you'll carefully note the frontage work now nearly done on the 151-410 project has a long way to go. You'll also note the bridge work and work on the ramps at Marbach has just begun and has more than a year before that's complete. That sort of work on the 410-151 job has nearly finished.
Hopefully that helps.

(Re)Opening tomorrow: Northbound I-410 exit to Culebra

Crews with Williams Brothers Construction will have the northbound I-410 exit to Culebra Road reopened in time for the morning commute tomorrow - Wednesday, November 22.
We know that's more than seven months after we had initially promised to have the ramp reopened. We've discussed that issue previously, and the only thing we can really add to those explanations is a heartfelt expression of our regret we weren't able to keep the initial commitment.
The new ramp runs under the future northbound entrance from Military Drive, which is currently scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2018.
For those curious about other aspects of the project at I-410 and Hwy 151, here are a few quick hits:

• The turnarounds at Ingram Road (and elsewhere) should be opened by the first part of 2018. We have asphalt work there that's very temperature-dependent and we are working out ways to get that done during the daytime without disrupting too badly traffic on the frontage roads.
• The entirety of work on the main lanes of Hwy 151 is nearing completion, and we could have barriers removed and everything opened up fully as soon as Christmas. This includes, by the way, having that westbound ramp to Hunt Lane reopened. There are still some major items remaining, like concrete and asphalt work, but project bosses are telling us we should be able to squeeze all this in before Santa makes his rounds.
• The steel beams to be set for the direct connectors are still planned to be set by February if all goes well. We have some closure restrictions for the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo coming up in February, so we can't commit to anything specific just yet. Please know we are as anxious as anyone to have those things in place and hope to do so around that timeframe.
• The widening on the southbound frontage road of I-410 over Leon Creek should wrap up by January 2018, allowing us to get that frontage road back to full capacity and, perhaps, get that greenway under the road reopened for use.

Closures impeding Thanksgiving weekend travel?

If you're headed over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house this week the last thing you're going to want to encounter is highway construction.
We feel the same way. The following note was sent to construction supervisors across our district a week ago. This covers all projects in Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Frio, Guadalupe, Kendall, Kerr, Medina, McMullen, Wilson and Uvalde counties.

The overall gist of the memo is simple: we should have no planned lane closures on major roads during the Thanksgiving holiday travel period, defined as beginning noon Wednesday and ending 10 pm Sunday. This doesn't mean we won't have any work going on, but it does mean that work will be done without needing closures.
During the holiday week both maintenance and construction inspectors will drive through projects to ensure major issues that crop up are dealt with in a timely manner. Things they'll specifically look for are work zone signs, barricade placement and pavement markings.
Before the holiday break comes crews will dress up the project areas as much as is practical.
One thing drivers can expect to see is a continuation of detours for long-term closures, like ramps or other features that have been closed long-term.
If something weird happens through the week our folks in the field will pass word along so we are able to post on our Twitter feed and get that information out there. We know many folks aren't on Twitter, but all major news outlets are and they follow us. If something weird happens, the news outlets will know and will be passing word along to you.
This isn't the only period on our calendar with such closure moratoriums. We'll have a similar prohibition on closures running December 15-January 2. Some minor exceptions may be made, but those are extremely rare.
These closure restrictions are long-running norms for us in the San Antonio District, by the way, and are designed to keep us out of your way during peak seasonal traffic and to allows everyone to stay just a little more safe as we prepare for that extra time with family.
And for those of you traveling beyond our little slice of Texas, check www.drivetexas.org for major closures across the great state of Texas. Please make sure you do not check the DriveTexas maps while driving; that's a job for someone in a passenger seat.