We now have several active construction zones along I-10 in northwest San Antonio/Bexar County. With a few questions out there floating, it's time to get some answers out there to catch the questions.
I-10 Huebner
We get two common questions on this project: the first addresses the pavement surface and the second addresses the turnarounds at DeZavala Road.
The turnarounds at DeZavala Road remain a priority, and we're working with Webber Construction to have them reopened as quickly as we can. The wet weather experienced through the area over the last four months (it's been one of the wettest years in memory to date) has slowed work across the 12-county district, and that's held true on I-10 at DeZavala. Much of the work needed near the turnarounds has been pushed a few times for weather.
That said, there's not much left to do before we should be able to allow the turnarounds to reopen. The question we're asking and going to Webber Construction with is whether we can open up those turnarounds before all the work at the intersection is finished. This is an involved discussion - the idea is to have the turnarounds open during the day and closed for work overnight. The hitch is many of the materials needed to do the work remaining, and the crews involved, are scarce overnight.
Bottom line: we're working on it. With an estimated overall completion date of summer 2015, the time between now and opening the turnarounds is wearing very thin.
As for the asphalt surface ... no the final product is not currently out there. We still have a final layer of surface asphalt to lay down, particularly on the main lanes. Webber was doing this work earlier in the month, but a prohibition of closures on the main lanes during Fiesta has halted progress. This prohibition has come at the insistence of city leaders, and we're doing our best to be a good partner in things. Once Fiesta wraps up this weekend, we'll turn Webber loose on the main lanes again and they'll use overnight closures to lay that final surface lane-by-lane.
Ralph Fair Road
This project is nearly complete. Crews with Sundt Construction have a goal of opening all lanes of the Ralph Fair Road bridge over I-10 by the end of May. As activities around that bridge slow down, crews will focus on the eastbound frontage road between Ralph Fair Road and Boerne Stage Road.
One common note we're getting is about potholes along this eastbound frontage road. Our inspectors and engineers are routinely patrolling the area, as are representatives of the contractor. We do have some issues with the pavement at the edge of the road, but what's out there right now are not actual potholes. They're not in the wheel path, either. We are monitoring the situation and will have it addressed as a byproduct of reconstructing that segment of the road. That reconstruction - or, at least, rehabilitation and resurfacing - will be the last major work to do on this project before we are completely wrapped up.
Boerne Stage Road
The project converting frontage roads to one-way between Dominion Drive and Boerne Stage Road has begun, with most of the activity off and away from the active lanes of traffic near Boerne Stage Road.
We have a utility delay (those are becoming all too familiar...) on this project, with a private company scheduled to move lines out of the way in the next few weeks. Until then our contractor, Texas Sterling Construction, is hard at work doing what they can in other areas of the project. Much of this is between the existing westbound exit ramp to Boerne Stage Road and Boerne Stage Road itself - particularly in the grassy area on which we are building a new frontage road (which will pull traffic from I-10 to Boerne Stage Road off Old Fredericksburg Road, freeing up that little corridor for a better flow of commercial traffic).
The overall project duration for this job is about a year and a half, so we're working to finish the job by the end of 2016.
