In a Thursday afternoon meeting about the closure of the Loop 1604 ramps to northbound I-35, representatives of The Forum shopping center and the city of Live Oak expressed some surprise the traffic wasn't backed up more than it was in the area.
Because of the ramp closure, traffic is being routed onto the frontage roads at Pat Booker Road. Before reaching the northbound main lanes of I-35, all traffic has to pass through the traffic signal at Forum Parkway. Everyone - including just about every TxDOT engineer involved with the project - thought traffic would stack up onto Loop 1604. We expected a bit of a traffic disaster.
However, even at peak traffic hours the total wait to get onto the Interstate is about fifteen minutes. And that's going the long way. During the day, when traffic is a little lighter, the detour takes between 8 and 10 minutes to get through.
Even with these phenomenal figures, we're actually going to try and improve the flow a little more. We're looking into a minor traffic pattern change on the westbound frontage road at Pat Booker Road, paring traffic down to one lane to allow drivers using the east-to-west turnaround a protected acceleration lane. We're evaluating timing of traffic signals, giving us a better flow of traffic. So much for talk of the traffic patterns out there.
Let's talk progress....
Within a few hours of setting up the closure last week, we had drill rigs in place digging foundation holes for our bridge support columns. Work on those columns has been moving quickly, and later this week we hope to have additional columns underway. Drivers should also start seeing retaining walls for the bridge structure start going up.
Everyone on the project is working toward the same goal: to have that north-bound exit to Forum Parkway reopened as soon as possible. We're working on a few out-of-the-box ideas to move faster than even our projected January target date; if any of those ideas are approved, we'll be sure to announce them.
Olympia Parkway
For now, the best way to get to The Forum and The Shops at The Forum from northbound I-35 is Olympia Parkway.
On the southbound side, the Olympia Parkway exit is closed - we're moving the exit further north, closer to the bridge. The idea behind that is to give traffic a little more time to move around on the frontage road, and we just built a new entrance ramp before Forum Parkway. Until the new ramp - which will have two lanes - is complete, traffic is using the Schertz Parkway exit.
We hope to have the Olympia Parkway exit finished in time for the holiday shopping season.
The next milestone....
The night of September 22 (a Sunday), crews will close the northbound exit ramp to FM 3009. The ramp is tied to a milestone that allows just three weeks for work; when crews reopen the ramp, it will have two lanes and the north-to-south turnaround will be ready for use. The entrance ramp from FM 1518 will also be opened.
That is, if the weather (and the equipment) cooperates.
That will mean that, by mid-October, all the northbound frontage road lanes currently closed will reopen. Until that point, all northbound traffic to FM 3009 will use the Schertz Parkway exit.
