The latest on the I-10 Huebner project

The most obvious work being done across the project is between UTSA Boulevard and at the Fredericksburg Road overpass bridge (near Huebner Road). Most of it is work to prepare for the next huge task along the project, which should get going during the first quarther of 2014.

Crews are busily preparing for the next major phase of work on the I-10 Huebner project: the expansion and raising of the DeZavala overpass bridge.

That huge task - the expansion and raising of the DeZavala Road overpass bridges - will pare down traffic to three lanes in each direction. That is, three narrow lanes ... and traffic will experience some dramatic shifts. We'll also have the turnarounds at DeZavala closed through that phase.

But that's still several weeks away. For now, let's talk about the areas being worked on actively.

UTSA Boulevard/DeZavala Road

Work on the retaining wall under UTSA Boulevard - at least on the eastbound side - is nearly complete. After about a year and a half of working on that wall, it's a relief to get it done. (To be fair, five of those 18 months were tied up in the bankuptcy proceedings of Ballenger Construction, and the wall was barely done when Ballenger left the job; current contractors only worked on the wall for about five months.)

The retaining wall on the eastbound side of I-10 at UTSA Blvd is nearly complete.

With the eastbound side reaching completion, work is chugging along on the westbound side. We'll still be working on that side for quite a while, but we are making progress (wet weather notwithstanding).

Crews are nearly finished with excavation for the new retaining wall on the westbound side of I-10 at UTSA Boulevard ... and those soil nail wall crews are slated to get involved here by the end of the year.

Daily commuters may see the barrier and the excavation happening between UTSA Boulevard and DeZavala Road, wondering what exactly is going on there. I mean, let's be honest: there is a lot of material being excavated out there. So what is it?

Plenty of excavation work to go around between UTSA Blvd and DeZavala Road; it will make way for expanded main lanes as well as a detention pond.

Well, to help the road we're working on stay dry, we need to build the drain structures needed to get water off the roadway. That includes a detention pond area in that space between the eastbound access road and the eastbound main lanes. So that's the biggest thing that's happening. But we're also widening the road - the main lanes, that is - between UTSA Boulevard and DeZavala Road. This work will continue through the month and into December. And it's necessary to finish up before getting into the DeZavala overpass phase mentioned above.

Fredericksburg Road

Since the entrance ramp near the Huebner Oaks Shopping Center has been closed - and that is a permanent closure - our contractor has been hard at work building a new retaining wall to match the footprint of the main lanes without the ramp. While we're nearing the end of work on one of the segments of that wall, we are gearing up for some heavy work on another wall.

 

Work on what was an entrance ramp near the Huebner Oaks Shopping Center continues - in the distance, for this picture. The ramp was permanently removed this summer and is being razed to make room for the expansion of the highway.

Once we're done with the work at Fred Road, we'll be able to start hitting the Woodstone exit hard. That exit ramp is getting a second lane and becoming the DeZavala Road/Woodstone Drive exit. Only when that ramp is ready, we'll get rid of the current DeZavala Road exit ramp, which is being eliminated for its redundance.