Go Ahead!

Friday, January 6

Next week's construction-related closures

I-10 – East San Antonio

Thursday-Friday, January 12-13. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Westbound main lanes between Foster Road and Martinez Creek. Alternating lanes will close while crews remove overhead highway signs.

I-35 – New Braunfels

Wednesday-Thursday, January 11-12. 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Southbound main lanes at the York Creek Bridge. The right lane will close while crews repair bridge rail.

I-35 – Northeast San Antonio

Sunday-Friday, January 8-13. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between Walzem and Rittiman roads. Alternating lanes will close while crews widen the road and work on overhead highway signs.
Sunday-Friday, January 8-13. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Frontage road, both directions, between Walzem and Rittiman roads. Alternating lanes will close while crews do road work.
Sunday-Friday, January 8-13. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Northbound exit ramp to westbound I-410. Alternating lanes will close while crews work on barrier.
Sunday-Friday, January 8-13. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Southbound exit ramp to southbound I-410. The ramp will close while crews move barrier. Traffic will exit George Beach, turn around and enter southbound I-410 from the northbound frontage road of I-35.
Monday-Friday, January 9-13. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Northbound main lanes between George Beach and Rittiman roads. The left lane will close while crews work on drainage.
Monday-Friday, January 9-13. 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. daily. Frontage road, both directions, between Walzem and Rittiman roads. Alternating lanes will close while crews do road work.

I-35 – East San Antonio

Friday, January 6 at 9 p.m. until Saturday, January 7 at 4:30 p.m. Main lanes, both directions, at New Braunfels Avenue. All lanes will close while crews demolish a portion of the New Braunfels Avenue Bridge. Traffic will exit New Braunfels Avenue, continue through the intersection and re-enter the highway.
Sunday, January 8 at 12:01 a.m. until Monday, January 9 at 5:30 a.m. Main lanes, both directions, at New Braunfels Avenue. All lanes will close while crews demolish a portion of the New Braunfels Avenue Bridge. Traffic will exit New Braunfels Avenue, continue through the intersection and re-enter the highway.

Please note the highway will not be closed Saturday night, beginning at 4:30 p.m., to accommodate traffic for the San Antonio Spurs game.

I-410 – Northeast San Antonio

Sunday-Friday, January 8-13. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Eastbound exit ramp to northbound I-35 and Randolph Boulevard. The right lane will close, including the ramp to Randolph Boulevard, while crews work on barrier. Traffic will exit Thousand Oaks and turn around to reach Randolph Boulevard and the city of Windcrest.
Sunday-Friday, January 8-13. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Eastbound entrance ramp from Austin Highway. The ramp will close while crews move barrier. Traffic will follow the posted detour route.

I-410 – Northwest San Antonio

Current until April 2017. 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-Tuesday, January 9-10. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Southbound main lanes between Culebra Road and Hwy 151. The right lane will close while crews pour concrete.

U.S. Hwy 90 – West San Antonio

Monday-Thursday, January 9-12. 8:30 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Eastbound main lanes between loop 1604 and Hunt Lane. The right lane will close while crews move barrier. This closure includes the entrance ramp from Loop 1604. Traffic will continue along the eastbound frontage road and enter the main lanes prior to I-410.
Wednesday-Thursday, January 11-12. 8:30 p.m. until 5 a.m. Westbound main lanes between Pue Road and Loop 1604. The left lane will close while crews place barrier.

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

Monday-Friday, January 9-13. 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Main lanes, both directions, between I-35 and I-410. The two right lanes will close while crews do concrete work. This includes ramps as needed. Traffic will follow posted detours.

Hwy 151 – Northwest San Antonio

Saturday, January 7. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Eastbound entrance ramp from northbound Loop 1604. The ramp will close while crews move barrier. Traffic will follow the frontage road through Wiseman Boulevard and use the next available ramp.
Monday-Tuesday, January 9-10. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Westbound main lanes between I-410 and Ingram Road. All lanes will close while crews do overhead bridge work. Traffic will exit I-410 and travel the frontage road and use the next available entrance ramp.
Tuesday-Wednesday, January 10-11. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Westbound frontage road between I-410 and Ingram Road. All lanes will close while crews pour bridge deck overhead. Traffic will use West Military Drive to Potranco Road to reach its destination. This detour will be posted.

Loop 1604 – Northwest San Antonio

Sunday-Tuesday, January 8-10. 8:30 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Southbound main lanes between Red Musket and US Hwy 90. The right lane will close while crews set barrier.
Monday-Friday, January 9-13. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. Southbound frontage road between Buffalo Wild Wings and the entrance ramp to the southbound main lanes. Alternating lanes will close while crews lay asphalt.

Other roads – Northeast San Antonio

Sunday-Friday, January 8-13. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Randolph Boulevard, both directions, at I-35. Traffic will be reduced to a single lane, controlled by traffic officers, while crews work on bridge rail overhead.

Other roads – Northwest San Antonio

Monday-Tuesday, January 9-10. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. West Military Drive, both directions, at I-410. All lanes will close while crews pour concrete overhead. Traffic will turn right onto the frontage road and turn around at the next intersection to reach its destination.

All closures are pending weather.

Thursday, January 5

Cold temps = no asphalt work this weekend

By now you've probably heard or seen our closures set for this weekend. If not, check this out and come back to this post.

So Mother Nature is throwing a wrench in the works on us. In order to lay asphalt - like, final surface asphalt - we need to have our temperatures above 50 degrees (actually, for the type of asphalt we were planning to lay on Hwy 151 between Lp 1604 and Wiseman, it's 50 degrees and rising). This weekend ... well, we won't be that warm.

That means we'll have to cancel the closures planned at Hwy 151 and Loop 1604. Bummer, we know. That means you can resume any plans you had to be out and about in the area this weekend (yay!). Right now we don't have a firm reschedule plan, but if we end up getting overnight temperatures that are favorable next week we might be able to get this work done overnight. No promises on that, though ... we may end up having to go for January 13-15 (basically just pushing back work a full weekend). If that's the case, review the plan in this video (and, yes ... PLEASE get this word out via NextDoor and Facebook if you're in this impacted area):

But what about concrete work? Or demolition work? Temperatures don't impact that work as much. We don't have heavy winds in the forecast, so we should be on like Donkey Kong for that massive closure you've been hearing about this week at I-35 and New Braunfels Avenue. And yes, we really are taking a Spurs Break with that closure.

We're also moving forward with the closure of the westbound frontage road of Hwy 151 between I-410 and Ingram Road Saturday night, so if that's your area ... well, be aware and be ready to take Military Drive instead.

Tuesday, January 3

Three major closures this weekend

Earlier today we took to Twitter to discuss a major closure on I-35 at New Braunfels Avenue, which will close all lanes of I-35 for most of the weekend. Well, all but Saturday evening - when crews will take a break from work to stay out of the way of traffic headed to the Spurs game that night.
The closure is the first of a handful that will take place over the next year as crews replace the old bridge, which sustained damage more than a year ago when hit by a big rig truck. While we're fixing it, we've decided to upgrade the thing as well - making it wider, higher and modernizing the look just a bit.
This weekend's closure starts 9 p.m. Friday and runs through 5 a.m. Monday, with a break between 4:30 p.m. and midnight Saturday while the Spurs take on the Hornets. I mean, hey ... it's the Spurs, right?
Anyway, here's the broadcast from today:

But that's not the only closure we've got this weekend that'll impact your drive, if you're planning to be out and about. We have two more:

151-410
This isn't a huge one, but if you're traveling at night and need to get to a local destination at the intersection of Hwy 151 and I-410 this may put a damper on things.
We'll have the westbound frontage road of Hwy 151 closed between I-410 and Ingram Road Saturday night into Sunday morning. Work will begin 9 p.m. Saturday and run until 9 a.m. Sunday so crews can pour concrete overhead. Traffic will need to use West Military and Potranco Road to get around the closure. You'll still have access to the businesses in the area, but it won't be quite as convenient.
The big traffic movement that will be changed with this is going from I-410 to westbound Hwy 151 - which uses this frontage road. Folks looking to do this will also be moved to West Military and Potranco - which means those intersections will be slow going.
The good news: This is all overnight and is one night only.

151-1604
Williams Brothers Construction is trying to place final asphalt surfaces on that area as Hwy 151 meets Loop 1604, and this weekend should be their opportunity. It also means folks should just avoid the area as much as they can. Here's the schedule, so if you do venture out you know what you'll be getting yourself into:
(Note: the original post had the closures written out; we made a quick tutorial video instead so the closure info is a bit more clear.)

Take note again: this area will not be fun to drive through this weekend. Please warn your neighbors (ahem, please share this info via NextDoor and Facebook!!) and plan to find something to do at home, if you can, rather than be out and about driving through this.
*UPDATE: This closure will be pushed back, probably to next week, due to cold temps forecast for the weekend. Asphalt work requires temps 50 degrees and rising, and we're projected to be colder than that (especially with windchill) until Monday.

Because we know you'll ask
Since we've brought up the 151-1604 intersection many are wondering about our plan at Westwood Loop and Hwy 151/Alamo Ranch Pkwy.
We'll post more details later this week on the long-term plan. In the short run, expect to see crews out there tomorrow (Wednesday) restriping some of the road between Westwood Loop and the southbound frontage road of Loop 1604. These new stripes will:

Eliminate the option to turn right onto Westwood Loop when you're headed west from Hwy 151
Eliminate the option to turn left into Santikos from the frontage road portion of Alamo Ranch Parkway coming off the Lp 1604 frontage road (those of you driving the area know what we're talking about)
Force that left lane on the eastbound side of Alamo Ranch Parkway to enter Hwy 151 in the left entrance lane
Offer the right lane of eastbound Alamo Ranch Parkway the option to enter Hwy 151 (via the right entrance lane) or continue to the southbound frontage road of Loop 1604

Again, we'll have more details published later this week (with pictures!), but do expect to see striping crews out there tomorrow.

Monday, January 2

2016: A year in review

Ho. Lee. Smokes. A lot of stuff happened in 2016. Apparently a ton of folks littered social media with memes talking about how ready they were for 2016 to be over already. Well, we're not going there today. Instead, let's take a quick look - quick look - at what 2016 meant for TxDOT, particularly here in San Antonio.

Administrative stuff
The biggest change for TxDOT was the change of the guard at the very tip-top. James Bass became the department's new executive director at the start of the year. He's a life-long TxDOT guy (a departure from the Texas Transportation Commission's prior two selections as our head) with a background in finance and accounting. He's a money guy - which is pretty critical when folks look at the influx of money coming to the agency through Propositions 1 and 7 and the growing demand for us to do more with less. His changes have been subtle, but the leadership and direction is clear. We're all glad to have him as our boss (and no, we're not just saying that).
Why mention Mr. Bass here? Because of the emphasis he places on managing our financial resources well. So many folks seem to look at government agencies with skepticism regarding the way money is managed. Well, we take it really seriously here. Mr. Bass is a testament to that.
We also had a major initiative, Texas Clear Lanes, launched by our Transportation Commission. (By the way, did you know we have a local representative on that board? J. Bruce Bugg, Jr., was appointed in 2015 and has quickly become the commission's leader on congestion initiatives.) For more on the impact and influence of the Texas Clear Lanes initiative, check out what Mr. Bugg had to say in the Express-News just last week.
Some other quick things that happened:

Our iconic "Don't Mess With Texas" campaign, regarded as one of the most successful media and public awareness campaigns in the country, turned 30. We even released a commemorative coin to celebrate. And we'll lay odds you didn't even realize that phrase started here, with TxDOT, as a way to get you to remember to stop littering....
The commission announced about $1.3 billion in projects funded through the legislature's moratorium on diversions from transportation coffers. This included funding for the interchange of US 90 and I-410 as well as money to purchase needed right-of-way along US 281 between Stone Oak Parkway and the Bexar-Comal county line.
Our commission approved the largest-ever Unified Transportation Program, identifying about $70 billion in projects needed to help the state's growing transportation needs. The new 10-year plan is twice the size of the previous plan, which is updated annually to serve as a guide for how decisions are made in transportation planning.
While we've maintained our slew of safety campaigns, we also established Safe Phone Zones at most safety rest areas across the state. The idea is to get people who want to use their phones off the road while doing so by offering free wifi at select locations - including on I-10 east of Seguin, I-35 north of Devine and US 90 between D'Hanis and Sabinal.

Projects that wrapped up

Perhaps the biggest project to finish in 2016 was the expansion of Loop 1604 between Bandera and Culebra roads. What was once a four-lane divided highway with traffic signals at Braun, New Guilbeau and Shaenfield roads is now a limited-access expressway with continuous frontage roads servicing local traffic. Here are some other highlights:

Most of the intersection of Loop 1604 and Hwy 151 have opened as well, though that project isn't set (quite yet) to wrap up.
Our Walnut Avenue expansion in New Braunfels finished up as well, matching Walnut Avenue (Business 46) to the city's portion south of Landa Street and our own portion north of Kerlick.
We installed raised medians on Culebra Road inside Loop 1604, which received mixed reviews but have enhanced safety since their installation.

Projects that kicked off

2016 was the year that started a domino effect of several years with a ton of work that starts. With the influx of funds from Prop 1, Prop 7, the ended diversions and some local funding options that are taking effect we should see a lot of additional work get started over the next few years. That doesn't mean we don't have need for more - we do! But some of those mid-sized jobs everyone talks about needing to see done will get going soon. In 2016, we started:

Fair Oaks Parkway bridge
Loop 1604 Hwy 151 to Potranco
Loop 1604 Potranco to US Hwy 90
I-10 East (Foster to Graytown Road)
FM 306 between Hoffman Lane and River Chase
Replacement of the New Braunfels Ave bridge over I-35

That's just the big stuff, but all told we accepted bids on nearly 40 projects locally (meaning within our 12-county district), totaling more than $390 million in work. That doesn't count the work we already had on the books, by the way (like I-35 SAMMC, 151-410, I-10 Leon Springs and other big'ns).

Next year promises to hold more, but we'll talk more about that later this week.

What do you think? Did we miss any highlights?

This week's construction-related closures

We have two major closures set for this weekend to do overhead bridge work (another post on those closures, specifically, to come). Here's what we'll be doing this week: