Loop 1604 work

Loop 1604 northwest

The design-build project on Loop 1604, which expands the loop to an expressway with overpasses at Braun, Shaenfield and New Guilbeau roads, is moving ahead at full steam. That's even despite the rain storms over the last couple of weeks.

Last month Leslie Road was converted to a one-way road between Shaenfield and Culebra, and local residents are getting accustomed to the new traffic configuration. Crews with Williams Brothers Construction have been adding a temporary widening on Leslie - now effectively the southbound frontage road - to provide some added space for work to be done. The road needs to be rebuilt to meet TxDOT specifications - until now it's been a city road - and match the improvements planned to the area.

Tree trimmers have cut back mesquite trees and other brush that would have been in the way of work, particularly where the southbound frontage road near New Guilbeau will go and along the future northbound frontage road throughout. Those trees that have been removed have been mulched. A few large oak trees - known on the project as 'legacy oaks' have been preserved and sprayed to protect against oak rot.

With trees out of the way, dirt is being moved to form the footprint of the northbound frontage road.

Meanwhile, dirt crews are working - and will be working for the foreseeable future - on the embankment (big dirt mounds) at Braun Road. Because of the room in the center median there, Williams Brothers is moving forward with what will be the overpass structure there. Adjustments to the ramps will need to happen as well.

For now, the everyday driver won't be impacted by the work happening. Planned lane closures are typically at night only, and only a single lane here or there (to set barriers, for instance) at that.

Marbach overpass

Well, there's not a whole lot to say about this project besides we're almost done. We expect to have the overpass open and in use - one lane in each direction - and our project completed in July. We have some minor concrete work to do and some asphalt to lay, and that's about it.

A huge credit to Capital Excavation for working hard at this project for the duration of this project.

This week's construction-related closures

Interstate 10

Monday-Friday, June 16-20

9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. daily

Frontage road, both directions, between Loop 1604 and Huebner Road (northwest San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close while crews move barrier, place asphalt, lay pipe and build storm drain. This closure may include temporary closures of turnarounds, highway entrance or exit ramps, as needed. Expect delays.

 

Monday-Friday, June 16-20

9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly

Frontage road, both directions, between Loop 1604 and Huebner Road (northwest San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close while crews move barrier, place asphalt, lay pipe and build storm drain. This closure may include temporary closures of turnarounds, highway entrance or exit ramps, as needed. Expect delays.

 

Monday-Thursday, June 16-19

9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly

Westbound main lanes between Huebner Road and UTSA Boulevard (northwest San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close while crews move and reset barrier or place asphalt. This closure includes the occasional closure of the UTSA exit ramp, the DeZavala exit ramp and the entrance ramp from DeZavala. Expect delays.

Monday-Friday, June 16-19

8:30 p.m. until midnight nightly

Eastbound main lanes between DeZavala Road and Huebner Road (northwest San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close, two at a time, while crews place asphalt. This closure includes the ramp to Fredericksburg Road. Traffic will exit Huebner Road to reach Fredericksburg Road. Expect delays.

 

Tuesday-Saturday, June 17-21

Midnight until 5:30 a.m. nightly

Eastbound main lanes between DeZavala Road and Huebner Road (northwest San Antonio)

All lanes will close while crews place asphalt. Traffic will exit onto the frontage road and reenter the highway. Expect long delays.

*Note the preceding two eastbound main lane closures are nightly, and are progressive. Crews will begin by closing two lanes down each night at 8:30 p.m. and, at midnight, will close all lanes of eastbound I-10. This includes Friday night into Saturday morning. All lanes will be reopened by5:30 each morning.

 

Interstate 35

Monday-Friday, June 15-20

9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly

Southbound main lanes between Evans Road and Judson Road (northeast San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close while crews pave the road. Expect delays.

 

Monday-Friday, June 15-20

9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly

Northbound main lanes between Highway 218 and Evans Road (northeast San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close while crews pave the road. Expect delays.

 

Interstate 37

No closures scheduled.

 

Interstate 410

No closures scheduled.

 

Loop 1604

Monday-Friday, June 16-20

9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly

Main lanes, both directions, between Big Mesa and Emory Peak (far west Bexar County)

The left lane will close in each direction while crews mill and repave the road. Expect delays.

 

Monday-Thursday, June 16-19

9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily

Main lanes, both directions, between Big Mesa and Emory Peak (far west Bexar County)

The left lane will close in each direction while crews widen the road and build sidewalk. Expect delays.

 

U.S. Highway 90

No closures scheduled.

 

U.S. Highway 281

No closures scheduled.

 

Other roads

Sunday-Friday, June 15-20

8 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly

Fredericksburg Road, both directions, between Louis Pasteur and Data Point (Medical Center)

Alternating lanes will close while crews install storm drain lines and build bridge support structures. Expect delays.

 

Sunday-Friday, June 15-20

8 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly

Medical Drive, both directions, a Spyglass Hill Condominiums (Medical Center)

Alternating lanes will close while crews form and pour sidewalk and move barrier. Expect delays.

 

All planned lane closures are pending weather.

Fred-Med update

Since the traffic shift on a Medical Drive two weeks ago Texas Sterling Company has been aggressively moving on utilities lines along what will be the eastbound lanes of Medical. This includes adjustments to water, sewer, gas, cable, phone and power lines along the road, as well as storm drain lines.

The storm drains are actually finished west of Fredericksburg Road - as of tonight, at least - and crews are starting to move across Fred Road. That work is done at night and requires nightly lane closures.

Once all the utilities lines are in, just like what was done on the westbound side, crews will begin working on the actual roadway that will provide access to Fred Road for those using Medical. TSC bosses are trying to hit the eastbound side more aggressively than the westbound side, taking full advantage of summer weather.

Major excavation for the main lanes of Medical, running under Fred Road, will likely start in August. The actual bridge will be built to the side of Fred Road and slid into place. That work is on schedule for this fall. 

The overall project completion is set for early 2015.

I-35 SAMMC progress

Lane Construction is busy setting whatever bridge support beams that can be set at the interchange of I-35 and I-410 near SAMMC. The beams forming the new connector from southbound I-35 to southbound I-410 are already in place. 

The remaining nights this week crews will be setting beams to make up the bridge that will carry northbound I-410 over a new exit on northbound I-35 to Rittiman Road. Nightly closures will be used to allow this work to happen.

Other schedule highlights:

Crews are working on curbs and lighting for the widening at Fratt Road. Concrete pavement blocks are nebeing built on the southbound main lanes near George Beach, with concrete pouring this week. Storm drain improvements in the center median south of Rittiman Road are being built. The bridge support column caps are completed for the planned bridge near Thousand Oaks. 

The biggest two items to note for next week and beyond:

Major main lane closures will be used by the contractor to remove overhead highway signs Wednesday night or Thursday night (exact dates will be nailed down and published later this week). This work will be done at night, so we will avoid impacting daytime traffic.

Also, alternating lanes - as many as two lanes at a time - will close nightly for the next several weeks while bridge crews work on the new connecting ramps overhead. Again, this is overnight work only, but may well still impact traffic somewhat significantly.

As a reminder, the speed limit through the area is 55 MPH. We are still having a tough time helping people understand this, as speeds through the area routinely top 75 MPH. 

I-35 Selma project update

No project currently active in the San Antonio district elicits more inquiries right now than does the improvement of I-35 between Loop 1604 and FM 3009. The project is in its 20th month of activity and is winding down to total completion.

Posts on the project earlier this year promised the project would be finished "by the end of the school year". At the time those declarations were made, that was indeed the target. Well, the school year has ended ... and work continues.

Complications with equipment and resources, coupled with questions regarding the design of the center median barrier near Cibolo Creek, have pushed our overall completion back a little more than a month beyond what was expected.

So ... what's being done and what is left to do? Let's break it down area-by-area....

Exit and entrance ramps

The northbound exit ramp to Olympia Parkway was the last exit to be finished up, and was completed in the last week or so. As for other ramps on the project....

The ramps between FM 1518 and Schertz Parkway have long been adjusted for efficiency. The northbound dual-lane exit to FM 3009 is finished. The northbound exit to Forum Parkway - the braided ramp running over the ramps from Loop 1604 onto northbound I-35 - is finished, as are the ramps from Loop 1604 running underneath.

Main lane resurfacing

This was a particular portion of the project that needed to be done in order to help with the glare issue we had on the lane striping. Daily commuters will be familiar with the way the sun hit some of the old and new striping at certain times of the day. This glare led to some confusion about actual lane alignments from time to time. We tried a number of solutions to the issue, but ultimately it's the resurfacing work that provides the real fix.

With the main lanes resurfaced - which is being finished up right now, and will last through next week - the new lane striping will clearly delineate the lanes at all times of the day.

So, what kept us from doing this sooner? The center median barrier. We needed to have that finished before we could lay the final surface of asphalt, and we ran into a few snags in the process of finishing that last stretch of barrier near Cibolo Creek. Now the barrier is done, we're in business and finishing up.

Frontage road resurfacing

We're all done with this! In fact, crews have recently removed all of our portable barrier and traffic is flowing freely.

Turnarounds

Ah, the turnarounds. We have four turnarounds on this project. The first was on Loop 1604 at Lookout Road, and it's been done for about a year. We have a south-to-north turnaround at FM 1518, and we have two turnarounds at FM 3009.

Well, the north-to-south turnaround at FM 3009 was finished and put into use earlier this year. The thought at the time was the contractor would then be able to focus on the south-to-north turnaround, but the concrete crews involved with that work were needed elsewhere.

With little else remaining to complete, crews are now working on the remaining turnaround at FM 3009, and some are also working on the turnaround at FM 1518. The contractor's remaining crews are dedicated to these areas, and we expect them to wrap up in July.