Some semi-major closures are going on with I-35 in the Selma/Garden Ridge area and will be going on with I-10 on the northwest side of San Antonio (those will begin this weekend - more later).
These have created some questions. Though I'm not going to detail each of those questions, I will answer the biggest questions I've been asked.
Pay attention and tell your friends. Please.
First of all, I-35. These closures are on the south-bound side and involve the exit and entrance ramps between FM 1518 and Olympia Parkway.
Here's the deal: we're reversing those ramps. That means the exit ramp will become the entrance ramp, and the entrance ramp will become the exit ramp. In order to do that, these ramps had to be closed - they're being completely torn out this week. These ramps will remain closed for at least two months. Truthfully, I expect these ramps to remain closed until the holiday season.
While the ramps are closed, traffic headed to Olympia Parkway and Forum Parkway (again, that's south-bound traffic) will use the FM 1518 exit. A new entrance ramp south of Olympia Parkway will serve traffic entering the main lanes.
The biggest impact with this closure is for traffic headed to the commercial centers along Forum Parkway and Olympia Parkway. We are understanding of that, and we're committed to getting these ramps reopened as to minimize the impact - especially before the busy season.
Alright ... let's shift gears to the I-10 project. Those who drive the northwest corridor know well of the pinch point on east-bound I-10 before Huebner Road. This has been due to our work to reconstruct the bridge deck of the Fredericksburg Road overpass bridge. The north-bound connector of Fred Road (also called Loop 345) has also been closed. That work began in June.
The good news: We're on schedule to have everything opened back up early. I want you to read that again, so I'll let you go back and check that sentence out one more time....
Did you do it?
Moving on....
The growing pains: In order to reopen everything, we need to shut down all main lanes of I-10 over the weekend. Beginning Friday night at 9 p.m. we'll shut everything down between DeZavala and Huebner roads - traffic will use the Fredericksburg Road exit and follow the frontage road back onto the main lanes prior to reaching Huebner Road.
This is the third time we've used this closure and detour pattern, so if you're a regular you should have a good idea how to navigate this. If it's me, though, I'm avoiding the area at pretty much all cost.
We hope to have the whole thing opened and restriped - you'll have all three main lanes of the highway back! - in time for Monday's morning commute.
The catch: When we have everything reopened, we'll have the west-bound entrance ramp from Huebner Road closed. That's a permanent closure, as the project includes removing that ramp and (eventually) the current DeZavala exit ramp as they are redundant. The entrance ramp I'm talking about is the one right at Huebner Oaks shopping center.
That's it; that's what we've got going on for now. Thanks for checking in - drive safe, everybody!
