Next week's construction-related closures

Interstate 10

Monday-Friday, December 2-6

9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly

Eastbound main lanes between Loop 1604 and Fredericksburg Road (northwest San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close while crews set barrier.

 

Monday-Friday, December 2-6

9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly

Westbound main lanes between Huebner Road and UTSA Boulevard (northwest San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close while crews set barrier.

 

Monday-Friday, December 2-6

9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly

Eastbound frontage road between Loop 1604 and Fredericksburg Road (northwest San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close while crews move barrier.

 

Monday-Friday, December 2-6

9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly

Westbound frontage road between Huebner Road and UTSA Boulevard (northwest San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close while crews move barrier.

 

Monday-Friday, December 2-6

9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily

Eastbound frontage road between UTSA Boulevard and Fredericksburg Road (northwest San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close while crews move barrier.

 

Monday-Friday, December 2-6

9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily

Westbound frontage road between Huebner Road and UTSA Boulevard (northwest San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close while crews move barrier.

 

Interstate 35

Monday-Friday, December 2-6

8 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily

Northbound main lanes between Loop 1604 and Fisher Road (southwest Bexar County)

The left lane will close while crews set concrete bridge decks.

 

Tuesday-Friday, December 3-6

9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly

Main lanes, both directions, between George Beach and Rittiman roads (northeast San Antonio)

Two lanes will close in each direction while crews survey existing roadway. Expect delays.

 

Interstate 37

No closures scheduled

 

Interstate 410

No closures scheduled

 

Loop 1604

No closures scheduled

 

U.S. Highway 90

No closures scheduled

 

U.S. Highway 281

Tuesday, December 3

Mid-morning hours

Southbound main lanes between Blanco County line and Blazing Meadow (Spring Branch)

The southbound lane will be moved to new roadway.

 

Other roads

Wednesday-Friday, December 4-6

9 p.m. until 6 p.m. nightly

West Avenue at Wurzbach Parkway (north San Antonio)

West Avenue will close at Wurzbach Parkway while crews set bridge support beams. This is a total closure. Traffic will use Interpark, Nakoma and the frontage roads of U.S. Highway 281 to reach its destination. Expect delays.

 

All planned lane closures are pending weather.

Working through the holidays....

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas our projects are still ongoing – and at full swing! But folks driving the area will be hard-pressed to recognize the progress (unless they pay attention to stuff that’s not in the active lanes).

By practice, we restrict lane closures on main lanes during the holidays. The idea is to keep roads clear during the busiest travel days of the year. Work will continue behind previously set barriers, and frontage road closures may continue. But main lane closures are restricted.

Santa opens the new Forum Parkway exit!

Santa helped open the northbound I-35 exit ramp to Forum Parkway this morning, and with the added effort of our contractor (Dan Williams Construction) we’ve ensured that all roads are open to Forum Parkway in time for Black Friday and the holiday shopping season.

The ramp closed earlier this year to be rebuilt as part of a $24 million project that enhances safety and addresses congestion along I-35 between Loop 1604 and Farm to Market 3009. The ramp bridges northbound traffic headed to Forum Parkway over traffic from Loop 1604 onto northbound I-35, separating traffic streams that previously competed for space using a zipper weave. The old ramps were adequate when the interchange was built, but growth fueled the need for change.

Celebrating the new ramp were representatives of the city of Selma, the city of Live Oak and representatives of The Forum at Olympia Parkway. With all roads open to Forum Parkway, our crews are as excited to move on to other portions of the project as the merchants in the area are about having unfettered access to their stores.

All work at Forum Parkway isn’t done, though. In order to be ready for the holiday weekend, a temporary layer of asphalt was put down during the cold snap through the weekend. The final layer will be placed next week, requiring a temporary daytime closure in the process. We’re coordinating that effort with local stakeholders to ensure minimal impacts.

The bottom line: all roads are open to Forum Parkway; Santa even made a trip to check it out twice!

Comal County round-up

The traffic switch on U.S. Highway 281 slated for last week was pushed back by rain, then by sleet, then by wind and ice. Bridge beams were set on Farm to Market 306 near Gruene. Drain boxes are being set to form a retention pond beneath the road at the Seguin Avenue underpass.

U.S. Highway 281

It’s pretty tough to paint a wet surface. Lines run all over, and it just looks sloppy. So, without the ability to clearly articulate the new lanes of the highway – particularly on the southbound side, where traffic will use new road – we can’t safely put traffic on it.

With the weather clearing up in the next few days, we hope to do the switch the first week of December. Crews are planning to move traffic Tuesday, Dec. 3. That allows us to push through the wet weather and through the long holiday weekend.

Really, the northbound side isn’t moving. Southbound traffic from the Comal-Blanco county line to Blazing Meadows is being moved onto new asphalt. This is the first of a handful of traffic switches on this project as we aim to construct a four-lane divided highway where a two-lane country highway has been for years.

FM 306

The first of four sets of bridge beams were set along FM 306 – this set near Goodwin Lane. The beams serve as the skeleton for what will be the westbound lanes of the highway over Goodwin Lane and the UPRR crossing nearby.

Another set of beams is nearly ready to be set nearly Hunter Road. That, too, will serve as the backbone for westbound lanes. Once the westbound bridges are built and in place, crews will begin working on the eastbound structures.

Meanwhile, most of the drain boxes and inlets are built along the roadway edges – at least between I-35 and Goodwin. The initial construction plans called for the contractor to do just one side at a time – and, at that, to work on this area after finishing work near Hunter Road – but Hunter Industries has determined to do as much of the work at once they can. That means we’re actually doing three or four phases of work (there are somewhere in the ballpark of eight phases on this project) at the same time.

Seguin Avenue

Large drain boxes – about four feet tall, six feet wide and eight feet long – are being set under the roadway area of the Seguin Avenue underpass. They’re being stacked end-to-end and side-by-side to fill the entire area of roadway, forming a large drainage detention pond.

The primary goal of our project is to address congestion in the downtown area of New Braunfels by adding a lane in each direction (effectively making Seguin Avenue a four-lane road with sidewalks, turn lanes, the whole shebang. But expanding a road isn’t the only way to address congestion.

This location is known for flooding over during heavy rainstorms. Part of the problem is the 24-inch pipe funneling the storm water into the river; it’s simply too small to carry the water fast enough to clear the roadway. Because expanding the pipe would be incredibly expensive (not to mention invasive), we’re building a detention pond to hold the storm water while it clears.

Next week's construction-related closures

* Note: construction-related closures will be strictly limited between November 27 and December 31, 2013, to accommodate the high volume of holiday traffic.

Interstate 10

Friday-Monday, November 22-25

10 p.m. until 5 a.m. continuous

Eastbound main lanes between Huebner Road and I-410 (northwest San Antonio)

The three right lanes will close while crews resurface the road. This closure includes alternating entrance and exit ramps as needed. Expect major delays.

 

Monday-Tuesday, November 25-26

9 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. daily

Westbound frontage road between Fredericksburg Road and UTSA Boulevard (northwest San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close while crews set barrier. Expect delays.

 

Monday-Tuesday, November 25-26

9 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. daily

Eastbound frontage road between Loop 1604 and Fredericksburg Road (northwest San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close while crews set barrier. Expect delays.

 

Monday-Wednesday, November 25-27

9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly

Eastbound main lanes between Huebner Road and I-410 (northwest San Antonio)

The three right lanes will close while crews resurface the road. This closure includes alternating entrance and exit ramps as needed. Expect major delays.

 

Monday-Wednesday, November 25-27

9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly

Eastbound frontage road between Loop 1604 and Fredericksburg Road (northwest San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close while crews set barrier. Expect delays.

 

Monday-Wednesday, November 25-27

9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly

Eastbound main lanes between Loop 1604 and DeZavala Road (northwest San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close while crews set barrier. This closure will include the UTSA Boulevard exit ramp. Traffic will exit DeZavala Road and use the turnaround. Expect delays.

 

Monday-Wednesday, November 25-27

9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly

Westbound main lanes between Fredericksburg Road and UTSA Boulevard (northwest San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close while crews set barrier. Expect delays.

 

Interstate 35

Monday-Tuesday, November 25-26

8 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily

Northbound main lanes between Loop 1604 and Fischer Road (southwest Bexar County)

The left lane will close while crews place concrete bridge decks. Expect delays.

 

Tuesday-Wednesday, November 26-27

9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m.

Southbound main lanes on the Cibolo Creek Bridge (Selma-Schertz)

The two right lanes will close while crews prepare to open the southbound exit ramp to Forum Parkway and Olympia Parkway. Expect delays.

 

Interstate 37

No closures scheduled.

 

Interstate 410

No closures scheduled.

 

Loop 1604

No closures scheduled.

 

U.S. Highway 90

No closures scheduled.

 

U.S. Highway 281

No closures scheduled.

 

Other roads

Sunday-Wednesday, November 24-27

8 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly

Eastbound Medical Drive between Ewing Halsell Drive and Fairhaven Street (Medical Center)

The right lane will close while crews install water line. Expect delays.

 

Tuesday, November 26

8 p.m. until midnight

Eastbound Medical Drive between Ewing Halsell Drive and Fairhaven Street (Medical Center)

The right lane will close while crews install water line. Expect delays.

 

All planned lane closures are pending weather.

Stuff on the northwest side....

It's tough to compose meaningful posts that don't sound like a pile of broken records for projects that are in that "nothing really new to report" phase of work. That's the drawback to three-year-long projects: there's no shortage of weeks with nothing really new to report.

Still, we try to provide the updates we can. With that in mind, here's a look at the two major projects in the northwest corridor of San Antonio:

I-10 Huebner

We're still working on the soil nail walls along the project, including at UTSA Boulevard (on the westbound side) and near DeZavala Road and near the Fredericksburg Road connector. The soil nail walls on the eastbound side of I-10 near UTSA Boulevard have been finished, and the retaining wall panels are being set in place.

There's a lot of work on the eastbound side of I-10 leading up to DeZavala. Most of it is work on a storm water detention pond to aid draining in the area - thus all the digging. The good news: beyond a few occasional frontage road lane closures, there's no real impact to daily traffic.

Here's the biggest news on the project: TxDOT officials will significantly limit lane closures between Thanksgiving and Christmas. In fact, we shouldn't have any main lane disruptions in that window of time.

Fred-Med

Between continued excavation and a strong push to finish the Phase I (there are four major phases of work) utility adjustments, there's a lot of digging going on near the intersection of Fredericksburg Road and Medical Drive. The bulk of that will not impact traffic beyond the long-term traffic adjustment that's currently in place (traffic on Medical Drive limited to a single lane each direction down the hill).

We will see some overnight lane closures along Fredericksburg Road through Wednesday of next week, however. Those closures will be the right lane of northbound Fredericksburg Road, and shouldn't really impact traffic horribly during the light-traffic hours we'll be working.

Work is progressing nicely, though, and we're right on schedule. The contractor hopes to have the first phase wrapped up this spring, and has already started working on Phase II work (Phase II should wrap up late summer 2014).

Again, major closures will be limited between Thanksgiving and Christmas ... though the contractor doesn't need many lane closures to do the work that's currently moving.

The biggest change to this project upcoming is the work to be done on the west side of Fredericksburg Road. Excavation is scheduled to begin on the northwest corner of the Fred-Med intersection after Thanksgiving, with work reaching Ewing Halsell by mid-December.

West Avenue closure scheduled, other Wurzbach updates

Williams Brothers Construction will close West Avenue the nights of Wednesday and Thursday, December 4 and 5, to set support beams to build the Wurzbach Parkway overpass.

 

Work will begin—and the road will close—at 9 p.m. each night as required. The road will be reopened by 6 a.m. each morning.

 

While crews set the beams, traffic will follow Nakoma, the U.S. Highway 281 frontage roads and Interpark to reach its destination. This is the same detour route used by traffic when West Avenue was closed six months for the road’s reconstruction in 2012.

The original detour route - Interpark, U.S. Highway 281 and Nakoma Drive - will be used while crews set beams over West Avenue for the Wurzbach Parkway overpass bridge.

The beams span the full width of West Avenue in a single span. Shorter beams will bridge the turnarounds. The turnaround beams will be set during daytime hours, most likely after the full bridge span has been set. Work to set these shorter beams should not impact traffic patterns.

 

If the Parkway is opened between Blanco and West Avenue, eastbound traffic will not be able to turn north on West Avenue during this work. Other traffic on the Parkway—including traffic from West Avenue onto the westbound lanes of the parkway and traffic using the turnaround—should not be hindered.

 

Additional, similar, closures will be scheduled to set bridge deck panels early next year.

 

Read more about the development of Wurzbach Parkway here.

Major traffic switch on U.S. Hwy 281 (Spring Branch)

Well ahead of schedule, Hunter Industries is ready for the first of a handful of major traffic switches on U.S. Highway 281 in the Spring Branch area.

Southbound traffic will be switched onto the new roadway between the Blanco-Comal county line and Blazing Meadows. Orange cones/barrels will mark the single traveling lane moving southbound. Crews will still be working on minor items in the area, so be aware of work.

Northbound traffic will remain in its current place – again, it will be a single lane moving north. Crews will be constructing the proposed improvements for the northbound lanes, working behind concrete barrier and barrels along this corridor.

Please be mindful of our crews doing work in this area!

A new traffic signal at Rebecca Road has been built and the signal heads will be set to "flash". State law notes a flashing traffic signal is to be treated as a stop sign. The signal will be turned on and fully functional for the morning commute December 2. The speed limits have been lowered between the Guadalupe River and the Comal-Blanco county line to 55 miles per hour. A small section near the FM 311 will be posted at 45 miles per hour.

This is the first of just a handful of major traffic switches planned along this project as work progressed toward being finished. While we're moving well ahead of schedule - nearly double the originally scheduled pace - overall project completion may depend on the relocation of the Post Office.

Next week's construction-related closures

Interstate 10

Friday-Monday, November 15-18

10 p.m. until 5 a.m. continuous

Eastbound main lanes between Huebner Road and I-410 (northwest San Antonio)

Three lanes at a time – first the inside lanes, then the outside lanes – will close while crews resurface the road. This closure will include alternating exit or entrance ramps as needed, particularly Sunday. Expect long delays.

 

Saturday, November 16

7 a.m. until noon

Westbound main lanes between Ramsgate and Fredericksburg Road

The right lane will close while crews repair a crash cushion. This closure includes the Woodstone exit ramp and the entrance ramp from Wurzbach Road. Traffic will use the next available ramp. Expect delays.

 

Monday-Friday, November 18-22

9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly

Eastbound main lanes between Loop 1604 and Fredericksburg Road (northwest San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close while crews remove highway signs and traffic barriers. Expect delays.

 

Monday-Friday, November 18-22

9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly

Westbound main lanes between Woodstone Drive and UTSA Boulevard (northwest San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close while crews remove highway signs. Expect delays.

 

Monday-Friday, November 18-22

9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly

Eastbound frontage road between Loop 1604 and Fredericksburg Road (northwest San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close while crews move traffic barriers. Expect delays.

 

Monday-Friday, November 18-22

9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly

Westbound frontage road between Fredericksburg Road and UTSA Boulevard (northwest San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close while crews move traffic barriers. Expect delays.

 

Monday-Friday, November 18-22

9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily

Eastbound frontage road between Loop 1604 and Fredericksburg Road (northwest San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close while crews move traffic barriers. Expect delays.

 

Monday-Friday, November 18-22

9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily

Westbound frontage road between Fredericksburg Road and UTSA Boulevard (northwest San Antonio)

Alternating lanes will close while crews move traffic barriers. Expect delays.

 

Interstate 35

Sunday-Friday, November 17-22

9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly

Southbound main lanes at Rittiman Road (northeast San Antonio)

The two right lanes will close for a half-mile stretch at Rittiman Road while crews set up a work zone. This closure includes the exit to and entrance from Rittiman Road. Expect delays.

 

Sunday-Friday, November 17-22

9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly

Northbound main lanes between George Beach and the I-410 interchange (northeast San Antonio)

The two right lanes will close while crews set up a work zone. Expect delays.

 

Wednesday-Wednesday, November 20-27

8 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily

Northbound frontage road between Fischer and Neighborhood roads (southwest Bexar County)

The left lane will close, including the left lane of the north-to-south turnaround, while crews set concrete bridge deck panels. Expect delays.

 

Interstate 37

No closures scheduled

 

Interstate 410

Sunday-Friday, November 17-22

9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly

Northbound frontage road between Space Center and Rittiman Road (northeast San Antonio)

The left lane will close while crews set up a work zone. Expect delays.

 

Loop 1604

No closures scheduled

 

U.S. Highway 90

No closures scheduled

 

U.S. Highway 281

Wednesday-Thursday, November 20-21

5 a.m.

Southbound main lanes between Blanco County line and Blazing Meadows (Spring Branch)

The southbound lane will move permanently onto new roadway. Northbound lane will be left on its current path.

 

Other roads

Monday-Saturday, November 18-23

8 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly

Eastbound Medical Drive between Ewing Halsell Drive and Fairhaven Street (Medical Center)

The right lane will close while crews put in a water line. Expect delays.

 

All planned lane closures are pending weather.

New and old work along I-35.... (northeast San Antonio)

First, the new....

Work has officially begun on a three-year, $74.4 million project that will expand I-35 between Thousand Oaks Drive and San Antonio Military Medical Center. Lane Construction, one of the nation’s largest road-building contractors with a regional office in Fort Worth, will be doing the work.

The U.S. Department of Defense supplied $20 million for the work, hoping to address congestion and improve safety for those moving through the corridor on the way to SAMMC.

For you and me, this means construction activity will be a daily scene along this corridor. Overnight work this week and next will be used to restripe both main lanes and frontage roads, reducing lane widths by at least a foot project-wide.

All lanes - main lanes and frontage roads - have been skinnied up by about a foot. Be aware of this change as you drive through this corridor - especially around the heavy truck traffic!

The biggest impact for daily commuters is a reduced speed limit along the corridor. For the duration of the project, speed limits are capped at 55 miles per hour. The Department of Public Safety was involved with this decision, and their officers pledged to enforce the lowered limits – and, as a friendly reminder, fines double in active work zones!

 

Work zone speed limits are set at 55 m.p.h. for the next three years. Be aware of the change, and don't be surprised if a uniformed representative of the city or state reminds you of this change personally!

The lane closures folks are most likely to see along this project will be overnight only. Lane Construction is only allowed to close lanes on the main lanes during a very specific set of hours, with financial penalties in place for violating those restrictions. Additionally, by company practice, work will not typically be taking place during weekends.

Through the holiday season, lane closures will be scarce. Next week we’ll see closures to allow for barrier to be set and the remaining road stripes to be painted; then, through the end of the year, the work will be done primarily behind concrete barrier.

Beware, though, of an occasional truck entering or exiting the highway to leave or reach a work zone.

When we’re all done with this project (and this is looking three years down the road), we will have:

• Expanded the highway by one lane in each direction
• Reversed some of the ramps along the corridor; that is, exit ramps will become entrance ramps and vice versa
• The southbound exit ramp from I-35 to I-410 will be moved to the right side of the road (it’s a left-side exit right now) 

The biggest change with this project will be at this interchange - the lanes moving to southbound I-410, at left, will be moved to the right. The idea is to cut down on the traffic weave involving heavy trucks coming from nearby industrial facilities.

While work began Monday (Nov. 11), we’ll be looking to hold a formal, ceremonial groundbreaking in the next few weeks.

The already ongoing....

The biggest news on the I-35 Selma project surrounds the work being done around the northbound exit to Forum Parkway.

Dan Williams Co. is on pace to have that exit ramp open by Thanksgiving (and might even have a day or two to spare). The bigger impact on daily traffic will come next week, though: we plan to have the ramp from Loop 1604 to northbound I-35 reopened in time for Monday’s morning commute.

 

Soon traffic from Loop 1604 will be merging onto northbound I-35 right here, after passing under the nearly complete exit to Forum Parkway.

That's good news!

Of course, we'd be amiss without adding the caveat that weather and equipment challenges could cause some hiccups. Remember: the goal is to have the ramps from Loop 1604 back in action by Monday morning. That means folks will see a fair amount of work over the weekend as crews lay a final surface of asphalt and stripe the lanes for the ramp, then remove the portable barriers and detour signs. All told, that should take most of the weekend to accomplish.

On the southbound side, Dan Williams Co. has scheduled subcontractors to pave the exit ramp to Olympia Parkway and Forum Parkway. Again, the goal is to reopen the exit ramp in time for Thanksgiving, ensuring all roads are open to the Forum this holiday season.

Now, the intersection at FM 3009.... Our friends up in Schertz are anxious to see that work finished, and we are very aware! To be honest, we're just as anxious to finish up. Our inspectors and engineers are spread thin, and our contractor would like to finish up so he can be paid for his work.

 

When work near Forum and Olympia parkways wraps up, crews will hit hard the northbound exit to FM 3009 and the attendant frontage roads and new turnarounds.

But, because of the priority (due to financial incentives and disincentives) at Forum Parkway, focus for the next two weeks will be squarely on the ramps near Forum and Olympia parkways. Once those ramps are built - and, by all accounts, work could be finished up by the end of the month down in that area - crews will move to the FM 3009 area. This will mean finally getting to the rebuild that will close the northbound exit to FM 3009 for as much as three weeks. It will mean finally finishing up the turnarounds at FM 3009, and a final layer of asphalt for the road.

We've already added the second left-turn lane on the frontage road, hoping to help traffic flow better at the intersection. Now we just need to finish the structures. That work will begin (again) in earnest the first week of December.

Closure on I-10 tomorrow

A last-minute lane closure has been set up for tomorrow morning so crews can repair a crash cushion damaged by a collision:

Interstate 10

Thursday, November 14

9 a.m. until noon

Westbound main lanes between UTSA Boulevard and Fredericksburg Road (northwest San Antonio)

One right lane will close while crews repair a crash cushion. This closure includes the entrance ramp from UTSA Boulevard and the exit ramp to Fredericksburg Road. Expect long delays.

MAJOR TRAFFIC SWITCH: Starcrest Lane at Wurzbach Parkway

Traffic on Starcrest Lane moved one step closer to its final configuration Tuesday when Texas Sterling Construction moved traffic through the new intersection of Wurzbach Parkway and Starcrest Lane. The switch will bring a ripple effect of traffic switches in the vicinity impacting park-goers, daily commuters and those working along the industrial northeast end of the San Antonio Airport.

Starcrest Lane now officially dead-ends into Wurzbach Parkway near the Texas Disposal Systems trash dump site. Eastbound traffic is now running under the parkway overpass, then along the eastbound access road before crossing over Mud Creek on the bridge built more than a year ago. Westbound traffic runs over the Mud Creek bridge before using the access road to seamlessly merge into the old path of Starcrest at the trash dump.

The switch will require crews to close Buckhorn Drive - the south entrance to McAllister Park - in order to construct the road base and final pavement surface of the full parkway immediately at that intersection. Temporary driveways have already been built to satisfy traffic for the week, but next week (Monday through Friday) access to the park will be limited to the access points along Jones-Maltsberger. When crews are done, longer driveways will be in place, lined with barrels. This work will make more difficult the left-turns into or out of the park people have been trying to make for more than a year.

Left turns along Starcrest have been prohibited nearly two full years.

The closure of the Buckhorn Drive intersection will not impact hikers or bikers on the Salado Creek Greenway. Those using the shared-use path should use caution in the area and stay out of the active work area. The trail will continue crossing at the temporary crosswalk until the westbound bridge over Mud Creek is completed in early 2014.

The traffic switch also opens up Northeast Entrance Road, affording service to those working at the northeast end of the San Antonio Airport. With Northeast Entrance Road open, crews plan to close East Bitters Monday at the county brush site. The closure on East Bitters is permanent; the road will dead-end into a culdesac at the parkway. Texas Sterling will begin building the parkway up at the crossing of East Bitters, connecting the final piece of the parkway still totally lacking any kind of structure.

Finally, the switch will allow crews to demolish the old and dilapidated lanes of Starcrest. Some of the road will be rebuilt, but a large portion will be forever obliterated and returned to greenspace. For more on the progress of Wurzbach Parkway, click here.

West Avenue bridge beams on tap

The project superintendent responsible for the middle segment of Wurzbach Parkway announced Tuesday bridge beams are being fabricated and are scheduled to arrive at the project later this month.

 

With bridge support beams—beams that run the length of the bridge and form the primary structure—will come other bridge-building crews. The overpass itself could be finished before the end of the school year, depending on the allocation of resources on the project.

 

The overpass will not be put into use, however, until the middle segment of the parkway is complete. That isn’t scheduled to happen until 2015.

 

When crews set the beams, West Avenue will be completely closed overnight at Wurzbach Parkway. This closure will be put in place just three nights. Traffic will follow the same detour route used last year when West Avenue was closed.

 

That route followed Nakoma Drive, the frontage roads of U.S. Highway 281 and Interpark.

 

West Avenue will not be closed during daytime hours.

 

Exact dates for this work have not been set. Those dates will be announced in this publication.

 

For more of the latest on the Wurzbach Parkway project, check out our latest newsletter.