The northbound main lanes of I-35 will close at the southern interchange with I-410 (near SAMMC) May 18 while bridge crews set support beams that will make up the new southbound connector from I-35 to I-410.
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| Later this month crews will hang bridge support beams over the northbound lanes of I-35, using these support columns and caps. This work will require the complete closure of northbound I-35 for at least a few hours. |
Crews will shut down the main lanes at 3 a.m. Sunday morning (May 18) and have traffic reopened gradually throughout the day, with all lanes back in service in time for Monday's morning commute. For the few hours the main lanes will be totally closed, traffic will exit George Beach and take the frontage road onto the southbound frontage of I-410, turn around at Binz-Engleman and renter the highway after going through Rittiman Road.
While this closure directly impacts I-35, drivers on northbound I-410 should also be impacted by this. Southbound lanes will be left relatively unscathed.
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| When the northbound lanes of I-35 are closed, traffic will be rerouted along the northbound I-35 and northbound I-410 frontage roads through Rittiman Road. |
Lane Construction, the prime contractor working on the project, selected this closure date and times to minimize the impact on traffic. The plans on the project allowed a total closure through the weekend, but Lane's planners say they've noticed the lowest volumes of traffic during the very early morning hours on Sundays.
Though not as major as closing main lanes of an interstate, crews will close the north-to-south turnaround at Rittiman Road tonight to give crews safe access to retaining walls as the main lanes of the highway are expanded. The south-to-north turnaround will close in a few weeks. Both closures are long-term, lasting into the summer. Traffic will use the intersection to turn around.
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| When the turnarounds at Rittiman Road close (this week), more traffic will be moving through the intersections. The signals will be adjusted accordingly to optimize traffic flow. |
Further work at Rittiman will require occasional closures of the intersection itself to build support structures for the bridge expansion. Those closures naturally will happen overnight as needed, with ample notice provided.
Meanwhile, work outside the traveling lanes continue in a number of areas: bridge support columns and caps at Thousand Oaks; setting barrier at Rittiman; bridge support structures at the I-410 interchange; road widening at several locations.
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| Several areas, such as this new configuration for the northbound exit to Randolph Boulevard and Windcrest, are underway behind barriers and away from the traveling public. |
One thing to note:
the entire project has a 55-mile-per-hour speed limit! We even have digital speed trailers set up to show you your speed and remind you to slow down. More often than not, these trailers are showing speeds of 65- or 70-mph. We can't stress this enough:
SLOW DOWN! It's always better to just slow down rather than get a reminder from one of San Antonio's finest....
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| Please note the speed limit through the work zone is 55 MPH. This is set for safety reasons. Please help us make sure everyone on our project gets to return home from work safely every single day! |
