At UTSA Blvd crews have been working to complete the new east-to-west turnaround, which when opened will open up an extra lane on the frontage road approaching the cross-street. Part of the work in this area means reconstructing some of the access road itself - on both sides of the road - to match the new grade of the roadway.
Some of this work will mean closing the driveway off the frontage road to Costco later this month so crews can rebuild the sidewalks, driveways and roadway. This work was initially scheduled for this weekend, but Webber wants its resources focused on work at DeZavala Road. Supervisors have pushed that work near Costco to late February.
When that work happens in a couple of weeks, traffic headed to Costco will find normal access on UTSA Blvd. hopefully the work on the frontage road will be complete by the end of February and the turnaround will be in use in March.
Meanwhile, crews working on the new westbound overpass at DeZavala Road are continuing to work at getting the bridge finished and reopening the lanes that are now closed. This is a milestone on the project, and Webber has until April to do the work; right now they are talking about their efforts the last four months to accelerate work and the resulting expectation to have the bridge finished this month. Keeping resources focused on DeZavala could mean Webber finishes this work a full two months early; those who have kept up will remember they were able to finish the eastbound side two months early as well.
In fact, if the weather and other factors hold out, Webber will have the bridge finished for Valentine's Day. Crews will begin preparing to open the bridge next week. Drivers should anticipate a slew of closures on I-10 the night of Feb. 13 through the morning of Feb. 16 while crews are moving traffic onto the new bridge. While we will keep the main lanes open, traffic will be limited to a single lane in each direction on the main lanes for much of the weekend.
This means, when Valentine's Day weekend is done, the turnarounds at DeZavala Road will reopen, relieving considerably the pressures on traffic at the DeZavala Road intersection. It means restoring the westbound exit to UTSA Blvd, allowing a direct route to the road and relieving pressure from surrounding roads.
Oh, and the permanent westbound entrance ramp from Huebner Road will open (a temporary ramp has been in use for nearly eight months).
It means the I-10 main lanes will be in final configuration on the westbound side over DeZavala four through lanes plus an auxiliary lane to handle traffic entering or exiting the highway over DeZavala.
The eastbound lanes will remain at three lanes while crews finish building the center median through the area and complete the eastbound entrance ramp from UTSA Blvd. the eastbound lanes will be moved to final configuration early March.
Though these major items may make the project look complete, several items remain project-wide. Retaining walls at a few locations remain, and a few overhead highway signs are yet to be installed. Highway lighting will be finalized and, where disconnected, will have wiring put in at the end of the project to prevent risk of theft.
The last thing to be done is a final layer of asphalt to be placed project-wide with fresh paint for the lane striping. Project managers expect to lay that final surface and paint the roadway this summer.