Those among the nearly 200,000 routinely driving along the I-35 Selma project northeast of San Antonio have noticed gradual - but steady and strong - progress along FM 3009 and at the north-bound exit ramp to Forum Parkway.
These areas are the current focus of road building crews contracted by the TxDOT, while they continue to work on the entrance and exit ramps between Schertz Parkway and FM 1518.
The goal is to have the exit and entrance ramps open - along with both turnaround bridges on FM 3009 - by early May. Getting to that point is going to mean some road blocks - literally - over the next several weeks. Remember: the only time crews can fully shut down main lanes of I-35 on this project are between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5:30 a.m., Sunday night through Friday morning. Any violation of these times means a significant financial penalty charged to the contractor.
Additionally, crews will need to pare the main lanes down to a single lane in each direction for the next week or two (they've been doing it for about a week already) while they rebuild the center median at FM 3009 to fit the new bridge support structures. These closures will begin at 9 p.m. and be picked up by 5:30 a.m., Sunday through Thursday nights. We'll be closing the left two lanes, meaning only a single lane in each direction will remain open.
At Forum Parkway, crews have already began building the asphalt base for the new roadway and plan to open a new entrance ramp, immediately under the Loop 1604 overpass bridge, within the next few weeks. That will allow crews to begin working on the overpass structure that will carry traffic headed for Forum Parkway over vehicles coming from Loop 1604 onto north-bound I-35. As of today, we're running on schedule to open everything up by the beginning of June.
As we approach festival season in south-central Texas, please be aware of the crews working to build and improve your roadways. They're working to help you - help them out by driving safely through the work zones!
