Ramps are the name of the game on I-35 Selma, I-35 SAMMC

The biggest news on I-35 is that the northbound exit to FM 3009 was opened more than a week ahead of schedule.

Crews working for Dan Williams Construction opened the finished exit ramp (we added a lane to the ramp) overnight January 22-23. The ramp was closed less than two weeks ago for reconstruction. The contract allowed DWCo to keep the ramp closed as much as three weeks for the work; that deadline was shattered and the contractor will earn the maximum incentive of about $5,000 per day for five working days for reaching the milestone.

The new northbound exit to FM 3009 adds a lane to the frontage road, giving drivers a little more room to situate themselves as they approach the busy intersection. The new entrance ramp from Schertz Parkway, shown here, also reopened.

The northbound entrance ramp from Schertz Parkway was also reopened. But as one ramp opens another is closed. The northbound exit to FM 1518 was closed, and will not reopen until early spring while crews widen the ramp and add some barrier. The ramp will remain with a single lane, but the ramp is being given some extra room to improve safety for those driving the area.

With the completion of the milestone, Dan Williams' project supervisors are shifting their focus onto the entrance and exit ramps remaining on the project. In addition to the exit ramp to FM 1518, crews are working on retaining walls and barriers for the southbound entrance ramp near Retama Park.

The northbound exit to FM 1518 will remain closed about a month while crews widen and improve the ramp.

The northbound exit to Olympia Parkway is getting an additional lane as well, though crews are committed to keeping it open as long as they can. The current plan involves an overnight closure to tie the work they're doing now to the existing ramp; that closure isn't planned until at least March.

Just as ramps are the focus of work for the DWCo crews on the I-35 Selma project, Lane Construction crews on I-35 SAMMC are spending the majority of their efforts on ramps. Some of this work has a daily impact on traffic, and planned changes over the weekend will impact Monday morning's commute.

As of this morning, crews are working on:

• A temporary exit ramp from southbound I-35 to George Beach
• A temporary entrance ramp from Rittiman to southbound I-35
• The support structures for the future connector from southbound I-35 to southbound I-410 (this is the biggest change with this project; the left-side ramp will be moved to the right side of the road when work is finished)
• The foundation for the northbound frontage road exit to Thousand Oaks.

 

Work near the future Thousand Oaks ramp is well underway.

Sunday night Lane is switching traffic on northbound I-410 to a detour; really, traffic will be shifted over a bit and squeezed as it connects with I-35 just north of SAMMC.  We've got some major closures scheduled through the weekend (see last week's lane closures post), but expect to be out of the way by Monday morning. Still, folks driving through the area may want to add 5-10 minutes to their commute to ensure they reach their destinations on time.

The support structures for the new connector from southbound I-35 to southbound I-410 are quickly going up.

We have also closed the existing entrance ramp near Greatfare Road, which serves traffic coming from the turnaround at the railroad crossing. Most of the traffic in the area is industrial, so it won't impact a large volume of traffic; but those affected will need to go through Rittiman Road before entering the highway.