I-10 on the east side of San Antonio

Two projects on I-10 east of San Antonio's downtown have elicited more than a handful of phone calls or emails, so it seems a quick post to address the issues is warranted....

Houston Street exit

Earlier this year - in fact, about two weeks after the Spurs were beaten by the Heat in the NBA Finals (too soon?) - Salinas Construction began work to reconstruct the eastbound exit to Houston Street. The timing of the project was actually designed to begin when the Spurs season ended and conclude before 2013-2014 season gets going.

But ... then the Spurs made it to the Finals. Which is what we all wanted here in San Antonio - don't get us wrong here, a lot of TxDOT folks love to cheer for the Spurs - but it pushed the start date of the project back almost a month.

And now we're getting ready for the start of the Spurs new season (first regular-season home game is October 30 vs. the Memphis Grizzlies), and it's looking like we're going to still be working until later this winter.

However, a meeting of the minds last week settled on a commitment to have one lane of the exit ramp available for use by October 25. That won't help those headed to preseason games - which begin later this week - but it will help the regular-season crowd.

One more issue to consider: the city of San Antonio is working on Houston Street as well. That project is scheduled to wrap up December of 2014. If you're driving in the area, you might consider an alternate route. To bypass the TxDOT work, consider exiting WW White and then using the turnaround to get to Houston Street.

While we'll have a single lane available for use before the first game of the season, folks wanting to bypass the Houston Street exit (eastbound I-10) can try using WW White and approaching Houston Street on WESTbound I-10.

I-10 East San Antonio

Over the summer we began work on a project intended to smooth out I-10 on the east end of San Antonio - between New Braunfels Ave and Roland Ave, to be precise - that will also increase the spacing between the highway surface and the overpasses along that short corridor.

This short stretch of I-10 is an active construction zone, though the traffic control plan for the project are under review for revision. When the revisions are drafted, construction will continue.

Within a few short weeks of kicking off, the contractor brought to our attention some issues with the plan to control traffic flow through the project. Because adjustments to our traffic control plan require new designs signed and sealed by an engineer, we can't make changes on the fly.

That means we've got what we've got out there right now, and traffic has been pared down to two eastbound lanes. What's got folks frustrated - understandably so! - is no work is being done behind those barriers.

Well, we've paused work on the project until the adjustments to the traffic control plan are signed and sealed by our engineers. We expect to be ready to go again in November.

We're aware the situation is less than desireable, and we know how frustrating it is to see barriers out there without seeing crews to accompany them. And we can't pull those barriers back without violating provisions of the work contract, so we've kind of painted ourselves into a corner.

For now, we've got a safe corridor to travel, and we've got at least two lanes in each direction. We're looking forward to pushing forward with the project again soon.

Next week's construction-related closures

Interstate 10
Friday-Monday, October 4-6
10 p.m. until 9 a.m. nightly
Westbound main lanes between I-410 and Huebner Road (northwest San Antonio)
The three right lanes will close while crews resurface and restripe the road. Expect delays.

Sunday-Friday, October 6-11
9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly
Westbound main lanes between I-410 and Huebner Road (northwest San Antonio)
The three right lanes will close while crews resurface and restripe the road. Expect delays.

Interstate 35
Friday-Sunday, October 4-6
9 p.m. until 10 a.m. nightly
Southbound main lanes between FM 3009 and Evans Road (Selma-Schertz)
Alternating lanes will close while crews mill and pave the road. Two lanes will be closed at a time, reducing the main lanes to a single lane. Various exit and entrance ramps will temporarily close as needed. Use next available ramp. Expect long delays.

Sunday-Monday, October 6-7
9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m.
Southbound main lanes between Schertz Parkway and Evans Road (Selma-Schertz)
The two right lanes will close while crews mill and pave the road. This closure includes the exit to FM 1518 and the entrance from Schertz Parkway. Traffic will use the next available ramp. Expect long delays.

Sunday-Friday, October 6-11
9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly
Main lanes between Forum Parkway and Schertz Parkway (Live Oak-Selma)
The two left lanes will close in each direction while crews work on the overhead highway signs. Expect delays.

Sunday-Friday, October 6-11
10 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly
Northbound main lanes between Powell Street and Malone (downtown)
Alternating lanes will close while crews fix road joints. This closure will occupy two lanes at a time. Expect delays.

Interstate 37
Wednesday-Friday, October 9-18
6 p.m. until 6 a.m. nightly
Southbound main lanes between Highway 181 and Leal Road (southeast Bexar County
Alternating lanes will close while crews texture the shoulders. Expect delays.

Interstate 410
No closures scheduled.

Loop 1604
Monday-Thursday, October 7-10
9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. daily
Northbound main lanes from Marbach to Emory Peak (west Bexar County)
Traffic will reduce to a single lane while crews build the roadway curb. This closure will only impact one direction of travel. Expect delays.

U.S. Highway 90
No closures scheduled.

U.S. Highway 281
Friday-Monday, October 4-7
10 p.m. until 5 a.m. continuous
Northbound main lanes between Brook Hollow and Loop 1604 (north San Antonio)
All main lanes and accompanying entrance and exit ramps will close while crews replace deficient asphalt associated with the Alamo RMA project. Drivers should seek alternate routes. For more information, please go to www.alamorma.org.

Sunday-Saturday, October 6-12
10 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly
Southbound main lanes between Interpark and North Park Drive (north San Antonio)
The auxiliary lane will close while crews work on the bridge support structures for the Wurzbach Parkway overpass.

Sunday-Saturday, October 6-12
10 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly
Southbound frontage road between Interpark and North Park Drive (north San Antonio)
The two left lanes will close while crews work on the bridge support structures for the Wurzbach Parkway overpass.

Sunday-Saturday, October 6-12
10 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly
Northbound exit ramp to Bitters Road (north San Antonio)
The right lane of the Bitters Road exit ramp will close while crews work on the bridge support structures associated with the Wurzbach Parkway overpass.

Sunday-Saturday, October 6-12
10 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly
Northbound frontage road between Arion Parkway and Maltsberger Lane (north San Antonio)
The left lanes will close while crews work on the bridge support structures associated with the Wurzbach Parkway overpass.

Monday-Thursday, October 7-10
8 a.m. until 6 p.m. daily
Main lanes between the Guadalupe River and the Blanco County line (Spring Branch)
One-way traffic control will be used in targeted areas along this corridor while crews build new drain structures. Expect long delays.

Tuesday, October 8
12 p.m. until 4 p.m.
Southbound main lanes at Brookhollow Road (north San Antonio)
The right lane will close while survey crews test the asphalt.

Other roads
Sunday-Saturday, October 6-12
10 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly
Bitters Road at U.S. Highway 281 (north San Antonio)
The north-to-south turnaround on U.S. 281 and all westbound lanes of Bitters Road will close while crews work on the overpass bridge expansion. Eastbound lanes will remain open. Westbound traffic will use the northbound frontage road of U.S. 281 and u-turn at Winding Way to continue on Bitters Road. Expect delays.

Monday-Friday, October 7-11
9 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily
Blanco Road (FM 2696) at Wurzbach Parkway
Alternating lanes will close while crews pave the road. Expect delays.

Wednesday-Thursday, October 9-10
8 p.m. until 5 a.m.
Medical Drive between Ewing Halsell and Fairhaven Street (Medical Center)
Alternating lanes will close while crews move and set concrete barrier. Expect delays.

All planned lane closures are pending weather.

Fred-Med: week three and beyond.

Crews have officially been working on the "grade seperation" project at the intersection of Fredericksburg Road and Medical Drive for two weeks now, and we feel like we're all still getting to know eachother on the project.

That is, we feel like daily commuters in the area are still getting used to us, and us to them. That's pretty normal!

Because we're just getting going and working out some kinks (and they're barely kinks, even ... just a few things being addressed here and there), let's talk about a few issues that have been brought to our attention to date:

Parking off the job site

With any new project, parking is one of the first issues we face. We have several workers who show up to the job site, and they lack a parking space. As you can imagine, parking isn't really something that's included in our plan sheets, so guys try to park wherever they can when they get to the job. Just think of those awkward moments you showed up for your first few days of a new job, and you were still developing a routine for your parking space - that's what we're doing now.

We've heard from local businessowners about our guys parking in adjacent parking lots, taking up space that should be reserved for clients and customers. We've addressed that issue with the contractor and word will be passed down. The goal is to make sure our guys park within TxDOT right-of-way. It may not always be pretty, but that's what we try to do.

Tree removal

We've finished removing trees from the area that will make up the future westbound lanes (and ramp) of Medical Drive. We'll be trimming and pruning a bit next week still, but actual tree removal is complete.

Trees removed on the westbound side are to make room for the new road structure. We're done removing trees, but we will have tree trimmers out pruning trees through next week.

I've gotten a couple of notes on this. Most are concerned about whether or not we'll replace those trees. We will not - we won't have room to do so. We only removed the trees we needed to remove, though, and we're doing our best to ensure the remaining trees are able to remain in place.

The milestone

The overall project schedule from the contractor shows the project should be complete early 2015. The "milestone" (a major traffic-disrupting task within the project tied to a financial incentive and disincentive) is planned for fall 2014.

Crews are working six days a week, mostly at night, to get this project done. What's really exciting is the proposed method of building the bridge structure that will carry Fredericksburg Road over the sunken lanes of Medical Drive when we're all done.

When we're done, thru lanes of Medical Drive will run under Fredericksburg Road.

The method is a new-to-Texas method, called "slide-in bridge construction", or "accelerated bridge cosntruction". Essentially, the bridge deck is built off to the side and then slid into place. The method reduces (significantly) the time required to shut down a road in order to perform the bridge work.

The technique was actually developed centuries ago by ancient engineers and seems to be favored in Utah. The technique has been used in Nevada, Missouri, Oregon, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. Though it won't likely present a major cost savings on this project, the technique can provide significant cost savings on larger jobs, and significantly reduces the impact on traffic. Just take a look at this weekend-long project, just outside Salt Lake City, replacing a bridge deck on Interstate 80:

 

With the milestone still more than a year out, right now our engineers are just getting excited about it. We look forward to talking about it much more when we get to the point of that work somewhere around this time next year.

 

What to expect now

 

Over the next two weeks, we'll have crews removing some of the curb and sidewalk - particularly along the downhill side of Medical Drive. With that sidewalk gone, pedestrians will need to use alternate routes. It's just not safe to walk through an active work zone, and we don't want people getting hurt.

Some of our closures include sidewalks. Please don't use closed sidewalks - for your safety and for ours!

We'll also start drilling support shafts for the retaining wall that will line the westbound side of Medical Drive. Again, this is on the downhill side of Medical, near where we've just cleared some trees. This drilling work will take place overnight. We're doing our best to be good neighbors to everyone here, and as part of that our priority is to work nights on this job.

With most of the work area for the westbound lanes set to be cleared by the middle of next week, we should be able to move excavation and drilling crews onto the work site in about two weeks.

Drilling is scheduled to begin as early as October 14.



I-35 Selma: Projected rain and its effects

Rain in the forecast has again pushed back the planned closure of the northbound exit ramps to FM 3009. Crews will shut down the ramp the night of Sunday, October 13, to add a lane and fit the ramp to other improvements along I-35 between Loop 1604 and FM 3009.

Inclement weather for the third consecutive weekend will push the closure of the northbound exit ramp to FM 3009 to October 13.

The ramp will remain closed for three weeks. When it is reopened by the end of the month, crews hope to have the north-to-south turnaround ready for use as well.

The ramp had initially been planned to close at the end of September. Continued wet weather has postponed the closure, but is not causing overall delays on the job. Crews planned for the FM 3009 ramp have been working on the southbound exit ramp to Olympia Parkway, which should be reopened in time for the holiday season.

The contractor, Dan Williams Company, makes these decisions with the intent to maximize the use of time while the ramp is closed. They only have three weeks to rebuild the exit ramp, which requires heavy excavation. That dirt work can't be done efficiently with sloppy, muddy ground.

Because rain soaks into the ground and can take several days to dry up, a rainy weekend can spoil a work zone like this for as many as four days.

While rain is postponing the milestone on FM 3009, crews continue to push forward with the cosntruction of the northbound exit ramp to Forum Parkway. Bridge support columns should be finished by the middle of this month, and project supervisors anticipate hanging bridge support beams and laying out the bridge deck before the month is over.

The latest on I-10 Huebner

While the soil nail walls continue to produce a challenge to road builders working on a new eastbound exit ramp to DeZavala (and the east-to-west turnaround bridge at UTSA Boulevard), the remainder of the I-10 Huebner project is running on schedule.

Though some minor changes will come over the next few months - crews are working hard at building the westbound exit to Woodstone Drive (which will be the permanent DeZavala exit) and should have some changes ready for the eastbound exit to DeZavala sooner than later - the next great change on I-10 won't come until January.

That means that, beyond the routine nightly closures that have been implemented on this project just about since it began, no major closures should be announced here until after the holidays.

That's good news for holiday travelers; the big traffic shifts to accommodate work on the DeZavala overpasses was initially projected for late fall this year. The latest schedule produced by the contractor shows they've decided to hold off until January to avoid the busiest shopping and travel season of the year.

Work on the DeZavala overpasses will take about a year to complete. The overall project is slated to be finished mid-2015.