It's been a while since we've written about the projects active in Comal County ... lots has happened! In addition to a project wrapping up, we've got one project about to start and another nearing completion.
FM 306
So we're finished with the overpasses between I-35 and Hunter Road, improving dramatically the drive from I-35 to the Gruene area (and beyond).
With that project behind us we're ready to get going on the next major project in the area. Hunter Industries, the company that built the overpasses on and widened FM 306 up to Hunter Road, will widen FM 306 to Hoffman Lane. The look and feel of the finished product will match what's there up to Hunter Road. For those not familiar, that means two lanes in each direction with a center left-turn lane where needed.
Work on the new FM 306 project is already starting up, and folks should start seeing crews on site within the next few weeks. The project will wrap up in 2017.
Walnut Ave
Though folks can't really see the progress each day, we're moving along pretty well. One of our two large retaining walls that will hold up the area we're expanding the roadway through the canyon area is nearing completion and the other is about halfway finished.
The toughest part of any road job is getting the drain system put in - most of that is finished. We've got a few items left through the canyon area, but that will be taken care of as the retaining walls near completion.
The big-ticket item is the opening date for Walnut Avenue - that is, when we anticipate reopening the road for through traffic. For that, we are currently on schedule for the end of the year.
Overall project completion is scheduled for summer 2016.
Conrads-Kohlenberg
Those driving the area often have found southbound exit 191 - that is, the southbound exit to FM 306 - closed earlier this month. This will allow Dan Williams Company to wrap up some of the frontage road work closer to FM 306. The new exit will be opened in mid-October.
In the meantime, traffic is using exit 193 (the exit for Conrads-Kohlenberg) to reach FM 306. The detour only adds time spent on the frontage road, and requires no real route change for folks.
The work being done out there is actually about the entrance and exit ramps; we're "reversing" the ramps. That is, where the exit ramp was a new entrance ramp will be; where the entrance ramp was a new exit ramp will be. The idea is to improve traffic flow and allow a bypass for those who would ordinarily have to go through the intersection of FM 306 to reach their destination via the I-35 main lanes.
The project is on target to wrap up later this year.
Wednesday, September 30
Monday, September 28
Mail Bag: Wurzbach Parkway speed limit, Wurzbach congestion, Loop 1604 northwest traffic patterns
Now that the parkway is in full operation (thank you!), a HUGE amount of traffic seems to collect at the end of the parkway at NW Military during commuting times. The lights have been adjusted though it doesn't seem to balance out with the additional traffic.
Does a long term plan to handle this additional traffic exist? If the Parkway was indeed meant to connect I-35 to I-10, shouldn't it connect us a little closer and not dumping us into Wurzbach at Military which arguably is one of the most trafficked areas of the city during rush hour?
- Joe
Will the timing of the traffic signals at Wurzbach and W. Military be adjusted for the new increase in traffic volume? Westbound Wurzbach was backed up from NW Military to almost Blanco this morning (Thursday).
- Craig
I was so pumped and excited about the opening of the Wurzbach Parkway! However, my excitement came to a crashing halt (literally) when I experienced the traffic backup at the NW Military Hwy traffic signal (Thursday morning). Due to the now-high volume of traffic traveling westbound Wurzbach Parkway, the traffic backup is so extreme, I will now have to choose an alternate route. Is there any adjustment that can be made to the signal at that intersection to make traffic flow more smoothly due to the high volume created by the opening of the westbound Wurzbach Parkway?
- Laura
The potential for gridlock on the west end of Wurzbach, where the parkway transitions to a signalized arterial route, is something we've been discussing internally for years (literally) and discussing with the good folks who will use (and now are using) the Parkway for the last several weeks.
Engineers with the city of San Antonio's Transportation and Capital Improvements division have already optimized the timing of traffic signals along this corridor to help push flow through. That optimization didn't take place until after the Thursday rush hour, though timing adjustments were indeed being made Thursday. Those adjustments will continue to be tweaked as needed to continually help the traffic flow.
What's more, the city council office and TCI have been discussing several options to help these intersections; heck, we've even committed to help through the process (to the tune of $1 million), upgrading these intersections to handle the added capacity.
Meanwhile, we're hoping folks get the message we've been trying to broadcast: when you get to Blanco Road or Northwest Military, consider heading north to Loop 1604 or south to I-410. If you really are coming all the way from the east side, these routes will help redistribute traffic and thin things out all over.
As for the intent of the roadway (Joe's question), providing an additional east-west connector besides I-410 and Loop 1604 is one of the major side-benefits to this. Keep in mind this whole thing was conceived (and started actually being built) when the city was much smaller and development along the northeast and northwest sides of town was still just starting!
The main purpose of this is as a commuter expressway - for "short trips", as the engineers would say. The idea is to connect those coming from, say, Churchill High School with areas like Blossom Athletic Center or (now) Heroes Stadium. That sort of commute is what the Parkway is truly designed for, but its existence certainly helps with the east-west movement between I-10 and I-35.
Why not go all the way to I-10 and I-35, then? Great question; the biggest reason at this point is that the ship for that has sailed long ago. Development along Wurzbach Road is pretty full, preventing any chance at reasonably building the parkway all the way to I-10 without demolishing a slew of businesses and other buildings. On the eastern end we have a similar situation where the development along I-35 prevents a reasonable location for a new access point, and existing access points are fairly well developed.
It's not a great answer, but it's the one we've got for now!
When the Parkway was first presented to the public, it was to only be 45mph and have very limited intersections. Now it will be a race track by the time it dumps on Wurzbach's 40mph at Lock Hill.
- JP
The parkway does feature a limited number of intersections - only major cross-streets. It's a "limited access" road, and we have it posted at 45 miles per hour (that's a design speed we discussed during last week's Mail Bag post).
The segment between Blanco Road and Northwest Military features a lower speed limit than you see on the segments more closely mimicking expressway lanes on the far eastern segments, and between Northwest Military and Lockhill Selma the speed limit drops a bit more. The idea is to ease in and out of the area to which you've referred and prevent a "race track" from happening.
We have a lot of folks expressing a desire to raise the 45mph speed limits, which is subject to speed studies. Those studies are already being lined up by TxDOT traffic operations staff.
Would it be possible to get a temporary light set up at Liberty Field and 1604? The traffic at this intersection is horrible in the mornings! And back tracking to Shaenfield and 1604 isn't much better! Its taken me anywhere from 10 minutes to almost 30 minutes just to get onto 1604.
- Wayne
The short answer is a simple "no", but that doesn't come callous. We've discussed the issue before, several times.
To be fair, we have several folks here at TxDOT driving through this area regularly, including the primary contributor of the blog here. Call us up at any time and commiserate about the traffic!
Based on personal experiences, then, leaving the Bridgewood subdivision during peak hours ranges between 8 and 18 minutes, depending on the route you take and the nature of the day. Wet days (when we get overnight rain) tend to be worse than dry ones.
Leaving through Shaenfield, by the way, carries a solid average of 13 minutes. This is through several samples. Liberty Field and Oscar Wood are right at about the same. Both seem to naturally flow 4-5 cars through when a break on the southbound lanes thanks to the signal at Shaenfield.
At any rate, the reason for no signal at Liberty Field (or Oscar Wood, or Creston Gate, or Tausch Drive, or Leslie Road, or Bowens Crossing...) is the final configuration. The current temporary signals in place along this route are an extension of permanent signals at Shaenfield and at New Guilbeau; we aren't going to have signals at these other intersections long-term. In fact, come summer 2016, the whole issue will be moot.
To construct signals - even temporary ones - at these locations would increase the cost of the project by about an extra $1 million (not including costs to keep the signals on and running), add a lot more work at these intersections (right now we're pretty much finished at these locations) and create more stopping points for the 80,000 cars that move through the route every day. Congestion along Loop 1604 would become gridlock, and the whole scenario would get a whole lot worse than it is right now.
Sound apocalyptic? Perhaps. These scenarios are actually played through some computer programs to simulate traffic patterns and impacts made by various items. This has been considered and modeled, and the outcome was pretty well disastrous.
So the best advice is to be patient - it's what we're doing. The project is moving along much faster than had been anticipated, and provided we have continued favorable weather and other major issues don't spring up, we should have traffic on the main lanes of Loop 1604 by summer 2016.
Regarding "Loop 1604 Northwest" is there an anticipated date when the New Guilbeau turn lanes will open up again? I realize the overpasses will not be completed (to drive on) until late 2016, just curious if the timelines are linked.
Thank you!
By the way, I'm in awe of how quickly the contractors are working! They seem so efficient!
- Hannah
Well this is as fantastic a question as could be asked - one we hadn't thought through on the communications and outreach end of things!
The intersection has to be opened up in order to take out the temporary u-turns, which would need to be obliterated in order to finish the main lanes and open up the overpasses....
All this suggests that, yes, the turns at New Guilbeau (and at Shaenfield!) will open before the bridges are completely finished up. All the overhead work will be finished, of course - including all the beams and panels getting set and the concrete being poured. Then the road extension for the intersection itself will need to be built (that's lacking at the moment).
Based on what we are hearing from our consultant managing the project, we could see the intersection at New Guilbeau reopened early 2016.
Why was the timing of the signal lights at Boerne Stage Rd. and the westbound I-10 frontage road in Leon Springs changed? This was a huge issue when the project first started, but was adjusted and really improved traffic flow. Between September 21-22 the timing was changed and now traffic is horrible. On Boerne Stage Road the light on the east side of the I-10 underpass allows no more than 3-4 cars through for each green light. It's beyond ridiculous and needs to be rectified as soon as possible. I sat through 9 light changes after crossing the eastbound frontage road (in front of HEB) before finally being able to make the left turn onto the westbound frontage road by Rudy's.
- Matthew
A lot of the timing issues out there are associated with the new signal on Boerne Stage Road at HEB - not a signal on the I-10 frontage roads. That said, we'll check out what's going on and see if we can get things fixed back up for you!
We came across a sign at the intersection of Wurzbach Parkway and West Avenue that says "1502 PA". What does that stand for and does it apply to all of Wurzbach Parkway? Thank you.
- Lars
Lars, you're the second person since the start of summer who has asked about the PA 1502 issue. The last time was in one of our very first Mail Bag posts! And yes, this does apply to all of Wurzbach Parkway (between Wiedner Road and Northwest Military Highway).
Here's what we said then:
There's a really quick way to answer this one ... and since it's asked often, it's worth adding here: PA is TxDOT-ese for "Parkway". For Wurzbach Parkway, the state highway designation is "Parkway 1502".
In Texas, we use a number of state highway designations. We have the Interstate highways (NOT Interstate Highways - note the difference in capitalization!) like I-10, I-35, I-37, I-410 (Also note ... NOT "IH Whatever" ... Just a simple "I-" before the number!). We have U.S. Highways (like 281, 90, 87). We have Texas Highways (like 46 and 16). We have State Loops (like Loop 1604). We have State Spurs (like Spur 53, Spur 536 and Spur 371). We have Farm-to-Market (FM) roads, and we have Ranch-to-Market (RM) roads.
By the way ... the difference between the FM and RM designation is all geography. Generally speaking, west of U.S. 281 in our state, the roads are RM roads. East of U.S. 281, the roads are FM roads.
Each of these roads is owned, developed and maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation. If a road doesn't have one of these state highway designations, it's probably not maintained by us in any way.
Does a long term plan to handle this additional traffic exist? If the Parkway was indeed meant to connect I-35 to I-10, shouldn't it connect us a little closer and not dumping us into Wurzbach at Military which arguably is one of the most trafficked areas of the city during rush hour?
- Joe
Will the timing of the traffic signals at Wurzbach and W. Military be adjusted for the new increase in traffic volume? Westbound Wurzbach was backed up from NW Military to almost Blanco this morning (Thursday).
- Craig
I was so pumped and excited about the opening of the Wurzbach Parkway! However, my excitement came to a crashing halt (literally) when I experienced the traffic backup at the NW Military Hwy traffic signal (Thursday morning). Due to the now-high volume of traffic traveling westbound Wurzbach Parkway, the traffic backup is so extreme, I will now have to choose an alternate route. Is there any adjustment that can be made to the signal at that intersection to make traffic flow more smoothly due to the high volume created by the opening of the westbound Wurzbach Parkway?
- Laura
The potential for gridlock on the west end of Wurzbach, where the parkway transitions to a signalized arterial route, is something we've been discussing internally for years (literally) and discussing with the good folks who will use (and now are using) the Parkway for the last several weeks.
Engineers with the city of San Antonio's Transportation and Capital Improvements division have already optimized the timing of traffic signals along this corridor to help push flow through. That optimization didn't take place until after the Thursday rush hour, though timing adjustments were indeed being made Thursday. Those adjustments will continue to be tweaked as needed to continually help the traffic flow.
What's more, the city council office and TCI have been discussing several options to help these intersections; heck, we've even committed to help through the process (to the tune of $1 million), upgrading these intersections to handle the added capacity.
Meanwhile, we're hoping folks get the message we've been trying to broadcast: when you get to Blanco Road or Northwest Military, consider heading north to Loop 1604 or south to I-410. If you really are coming all the way from the east side, these routes will help redistribute traffic and thin things out all over.
As for the intent of the roadway (Joe's question), providing an additional east-west connector besides I-410 and Loop 1604 is one of the major side-benefits to this. Keep in mind this whole thing was conceived (and started actually being built) when the city was much smaller and development along the northeast and northwest sides of town was still just starting!
The main purpose of this is as a commuter expressway - for "short trips", as the engineers would say. The idea is to connect those coming from, say, Churchill High School with areas like Blossom Athletic Center or (now) Heroes Stadium. That sort of commute is what the Parkway is truly designed for, but its existence certainly helps with the east-west movement between I-10 and I-35.
Why not go all the way to I-10 and I-35, then? Great question; the biggest reason at this point is that the ship for that has sailed long ago. Development along Wurzbach Road is pretty full, preventing any chance at reasonably building the parkway all the way to I-10 without demolishing a slew of businesses and other buildings. On the eastern end we have a similar situation where the development along I-35 prevents a reasonable location for a new access point, and existing access points are fairly well developed.
It's not a great answer, but it's the one we've got for now!
When the Parkway was first presented to the public, it was to only be 45mph and have very limited intersections. Now it will be a race track by the time it dumps on Wurzbach's 40mph at Lock Hill.
- JP
The parkway does feature a limited number of intersections - only major cross-streets. It's a "limited access" road, and we have it posted at 45 miles per hour (that's a design speed we discussed during last week's Mail Bag post).
The segment between Blanco Road and Northwest Military features a lower speed limit than you see on the segments more closely mimicking expressway lanes on the far eastern segments, and between Northwest Military and Lockhill Selma the speed limit drops a bit more. The idea is to ease in and out of the area to which you've referred and prevent a "race track" from happening.
We have a lot of folks expressing a desire to raise the 45mph speed limits, which is subject to speed studies. Those studies are already being lined up by TxDOT traffic operations staff.
Would it be possible to get a temporary light set up at Liberty Field and 1604? The traffic at this intersection is horrible in the mornings! And back tracking to Shaenfield and 1604 isn't much better! Its taken me anywhere from 10 minutes to almost 30 minutes just to get onto 1604.
- Wayne
The short answer is a simple "no", but that doesn't come callous. We've discussed the issue before, several times.
To be fair, we have several folks here at TxDOT driving through this area regularly, including the primary contributor of the blog here. Call us up at any time and commiserate about the traffic!
Based on personal experiences, then, leaving the Bridgewood subdivision during peak hours ranges between 8 and 18 minutes, depending on the route you take and the nature of the day. Wet days (when we get overnight rain) tend to be worse than dry ones.
Leaving through Shaenfield, by the way, carries a solid average of 13 minutes. This is through several samples. Liberty Field and Oscar Wood are right at about the same. Both seem to naturally flow 4-5 cars through when a break on the southbound lanes thanks to the signal at Shaenfield.
At any rate, the reason for no signal at Liberty Field (or Oscar Wood, or Creston Gate, or Tausch Drive, or Leslie Road, or Bowens Crossing...) is the final configuration. The current temporary signals in place along this route are an extension of permanent signals at Shaenfield and at New Guilbeau; we aren't going to have signals at these other intersections long-term. In fact, come summer 2016, the whole issue will be moot.
To construct signals - even temporary ones - at these locations would increase the cost of the project by about an extra $1 million (not including costs to keep the signals on and running), add a lot more work at these intersections (right now we're pretty much finished at these locations) and create more stopping points for the 80,000 cars that move through the route every day. Congestion along Loop 1604 would become gridlock, and the whole scenario would get a whole lot worse than it is right now.
Sound apocalyptic? Perhaps. These scenarios are actually played through some computer programs to simulate traffic patterns and impacts made by various items. This has been considered and modeled, and the outcome was pretty well disastrous.
So the best advice is to be patient - it's what we're doing. The project is moving along much faster than had been anticipated, and provided we have continued favorable weather and other major issues don't spring up, we should have traffic on the main lanes of Loop 1604 by summer 2016.
Regarding "Loop 1604 Northwest" is there an anticipated date when the New Guilbeau turn lanes will open up again? I realize the overpasses will not be completed (to drive on) until late 2016, just curious if the timelines are linked.
Thank you!
By the way, I'm in awe of how quickly the contractors are working! They seem so efficient!
- Hannah
Well this is as fantastic a question as could be asked - one we hadn't thought through on the communications and outreach end of things!
The intersection has to be opened up in order to take out the temporary u-turns, which would need to be obliterated in order to finish the main lanes and open up the overpasses....
All this suggests that, yes, the turns at New Guilbeau (and at Shaenfield!) will open before the bridges are completely finished up. All the overhead work will be finished, of course - including all the beams and panels getting set and the concrete being poured. Then the road extension for the intersection itself will need to be built (that's lacking at the moment).
Based on what we are hearing from our consultant managing the project, we could see the intersection at New Guilbeau reopened early 2016.
Why was the timing of the signal lights at Boerne Stage Rd. and the westbound I-10 frontage road in Leon Springs changed? This was a huge issue when the project first started, but was adjusted and really improved traffic flow. Between September 21-22 the timing was changed and now traffic is horrible. On Boerne Stage Road the light on the east side of the I-10 underpass allows no more than 3-4 cars through for each green light. It's beyond ridiculous and needs to be rectified as soon as possible. I sat through 9 light changes after crossing the eastbound frontage road (in front of HEB) before finally being able to make the left turn onto the westbound frontage road by Rudy's.
- Matthew
A lot of the timing issues out there are associated with the new signal on Boerne Stage Road at HEB - not a signal on the I-10 frontage roads. That said, we'll check out what's going on and see if we can get things fixed back up for you!
We came across a sign at the intersection of Wurzbach Parkway and West Avenue that says "1502 PA". What does that stand for and does it apply to all of Wurzbach Parkway? Thank you.
- Lars
Lars, you're the second person since the start of summer who has asked about the PA 1502 issue. The last time was in one of our very first Mail Bag posts! And yes, this does apply to all of Wurzbach Parkway (between Wiedner Road and Northwest Military Highway).
Here's what we said then:
There's a really quick way to answer this one ... and since it's asked often, it's worth adding here: PA is TxDOT-ese for "Parkway". For Wurzbach Parkway, the state highway designation is "Parkway 1502".
In Texas, we use a number of state highway designations. We have the Interstate highways (NOT Interstate Highways - note the difference in capitalization!) like I-10, I-35, I-37, I-410 (Also note ... NOT "IH Whatever" ... Just a simple "I-" before the number!). We have U.S. Highways (like 281, 90, 87). We have Texas Highways (like 46 and 16). We have State Loops (like Loop 1604). We have State Spurs (like Spur 53, Spur 536 and Spur 371). We have Farm-to-Market (FM) roads, and we have Ranch-to-Market (RM) roads.
By the way ... the difference between the FM and RM designation is all geography. Generally speaking, west of U.S. 281 in our state, the roads are RM roads. East of U.S. 281, the roads are FM roads.
Each of these roads is owned, developed and maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation. If a road doesn't have one of these state highway designations, it's probably not maintained by us in any way.
Friday, September 25
Next week's construction-related closures
I-10 – Northwest San Antonio
- Sunday-Friday, September 27-October 2. 8:30 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly. Frontage road, both directions between Loop 1604 and Huebner Road. Alternating lanes will close for road work.
- Monday-Friday, September 28-October 2. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. Frontage road, both directions, between Loop 1604 and Huebner Road. Alternating lanes will close for road work.
- Monday-Friday, September 28-October 2. 8:30 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between Huebner Road and Loop 1604. Alternating lanes will close for road work.
- Tuesday-Friday, September 29-October 2. 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. Frontage roads, both directions, at Dominion Drive. Alternating lanes will close while crews resurface the road. Police will direct traffic.
I-35 – East San Antonio
- Sunday-Friday, September 27-October 2. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between AT&T Center Parkway and Binz-Engelman. Alternating lanes will close while crews do road work.
- Sunday-Friday, September 27-October 2. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Frontage road, both directions, between Rittiman and Walzem. Alternating lanes will close while crews move barrier.
- Monday-Friday, September 28-October 2. 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. daily. Frontage road, both directions, between Rittiman and Walzem. Alternating lanes will close while crews move barrier.
- Sunday-Friday, September 27-October 2. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between Walzem and George Beach. Alternating lanes, two at a time, will close while crews do road work.
- Sunday-Friday, September 27-October 2. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Frontage road, both directions, between Binz-Engleman and AT&T Center Parkway. Alternating lanes will close while crews do bridge work.
- Monday-Friday, September 28-October 2. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Frontage road, both directions, between Binz-Engleman and AT&T Center Parkway. Alternating lanes will close while crews do bridge work.
- Monday-Friday, September 28-October 2. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Turnarounds, both directions, at Salado Creek. The turnarounds will be closed while crews do bridge work.
I-35 – Northeast San Antonio
- Sunday-Friday, September 27-October 2. 9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly. Northbound exit to westbound I-410. The right lane will close while crews do road work.
- Monday-Friday, September 28-October 2. 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. daily. Northbound exit to westbound I-410. The right lane will close while crews do road work.
I-35 – Downtown San Antonio
- Sunday-Wednesday, September 27-September 30. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Northbound I-35 between McCullough Avenue and U.S. Hwy 281. All upper-level lanes will close while crews do work on overhead highway signs. Traffic will exit McCullough and pass through intersections at McCullough and Brooklyn, then re-enter the roadway.
I-37 – Atascosa County
- Monday-Tuesday, September 28-29. 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. daily. Southbound main lanes between U.S. 281 Alternate and FM 1099. Alternating lanes will close while crews repair asphalt.
I-410 – East San Antonio
- Sunday-Friday, September 27-October 2. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Northbound connector to northbound I-35. Alternating lanes will close while crews move barrier.
I-410 – Southeast San Antonio
- Sunday-Tuesday, September 27-29. 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Southbound main lanes between Southcross and WW White. All lanes will close while crews resurface the road. Traffic will exit Southcross, continue along the access road and re-enter the highway at the next available ramp.
- Wednesday-Friday, September 30-October 2. 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between WW White and I-37. Alternating lanes will close while crews resurface the road.
I-410 – Southwest San Antonio
- Sunday-Friday, September 27-October 2. 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. nightly. Southbound main lanes between Medina Base Road and Old Pearsall Road. The right lane will close while crews work on guardrail.
U.S. Hwy 281 – North-central San Antonio
- Saturday-Sunday, September 26-27. 9 p.m. until 10 a.m. Southbound frontage road between Bitters Road and Nakoma Drive. Alternating lanes will close while crews resurface the road.
- Monday-Saturday, September 28-October 3. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Southbound frontage road between Bitters Road and Nakoma Drive. All lanes will close while crews lay asphalt. Officers will be on hand to direct traffic.
- Monday, September 28-Saturday, October 10. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. daily. Northbound frontage road between Nakoma Drive and Bitters Road. Alternating lanes will close while crews resurface the road.
Loop 1604 – Northwest San Antonio
- Monday-Sunday, September 28-October 4. 10 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly. Southbound frontage road between New Guilbeau and Shaenfield roads. The right lane will close while crews work on curbs and sidewalks.
Other roads – Northeast San Antonio
- Monday-Tuesday, September 28-29. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Westbound Eisenhauer Road at I-35. All lanes will close while crews do overhead bridge work. Traffic will turn right onto the frontage road and turnaround at the next available intersection.
- Monday-Tuesday, September 28-29. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Eastbound Eisenhauer Road at I-35. The left lane will close while crews do overhead bridge work.
- Monday-Wednesday, September 28-30. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Eastbound Rittiman Road at I-35. All lanes will close while crews do overhead bridge work. Traffic will turn right onto the frontage road and turnaround at the next available intersection.
- Monday-Wednesday, September 28-30. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Westbound Rittiman Road at I-35. The left lane will close while crews do overhead bridge work
- Tuesday-Thursday, September 29-October 1. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Eastbound Eisenhauer Road at I-35. All lanes will close while crews do overhead bridge work. Traffic will turn right onto the frontage road and turnaround at the next available intersection.
- Tuesday-Thursday, September 29-October 1. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Westbound Eisenhauer Road at I-35. The left lane will close while crews do overhead bridge work.
- Thursday-Friday, October 1-2. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Westbound Eisenhauer Road at I-35. All lanes will close while crews do overhead bridge work. Traffic will turn right onto the frontage road and turnaround at the next available intersection.
- Thursday-Friday, October 1-2. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Eastbound Eisenhauer Road at I-35. The left lane will close while crews do overhead bridge work.
Other roads – Northwest San Antonio
- Monday-Friday, September 28-October 2. 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Braun Road, both directions, at Loop 1604. All lanes will close while crews do overhead bridge work. Traffic will turn right onto Loop 1604, use the next available turnaround and return to the intersection to reach its destination.
- Friday-Saturday, October 2-3. 10 p.m. until 7 a.m. Braun Road, both directions, at Loop 1604. All lanes will close while crews do overhead bridge work. Traffic will turn right onto Loop 1604, use the next available turnaround and return to the intersection to reach its destination.
- Saturday-Sunday, October 3-4. 6 p.m. until 6 a.m. Braun Road, both directions, at Loop 1604. All lanes will close while crews do overhead bridge work. Traffic will turn right onto Loop 1604, use the next available turnaround and return to the intersection to reach its destination.
Wednesday, September 23
I-35 near SAMMC; an exit ramp to change
Last weekend LANE Construction adjusted their plans to avoid full closures of the main lanes of I-35 between AT&T Center Parkway and Binz-Engelman on the city's east side. They also moved their schedule to avoid closures on Saturday, impacting Sunday morning and Monday night traffic instead. The closures allowed bridge crews to set beams along I-35 over Salado Creek to form the new auxiliary lanes.
A similar plan will be implemented overnight a few times in the next few weeks while crews remove ovverhead highway signs.
Now crews working on some ramp adjustments and work that adds auxiliary lanes in each direction between George Beach and AT&T Center Parkway will temproarily shut down an exit ramp.
Starting tomorrow night (Friday, September 24) the northbound exit ramp to Binz-Engelman will close to allow crews to work on new, longer ramps. The ramp will reopen in November.
While the ramp is closed traffic headed to Binz-Engelman will exit Splashtown Drive and follow the frontage road. There are no signalized intersections along this route, so the traffic should be relatively unencumbered.
A temporary entrance ramp for folks headed north from AT&T Center Parkway will be built while crews rebuild this entrance ramp, allowing folks attending events at that location an easy way to continue home post-event. A new, longer, exit ramp to Binz-Engelman will take the place of the current ramp when work is finished. The entrance ramp from AT&T Parkway will also be lengthened.
Work on this segment of I-35 (running between AT&T Center Parkway and George Beach) will wrap up early 2016.
Meanwhile, LANE continues to move at Rittiman and Eisenhauer roads to finish the work at those two intersections and complete the widening there. Most of the resources on the segment between George Beach and Windcrest has been allocated to the southern portion of the project, focusing on getting the southbound I-410 connector and new northbound exit to Rittiman Road complete.
Work on the segment between George Beach and Windcrest is running ahead of schedule and currently on pace to wrap up late summer 2016. The contract allows LANE until the end of 2016 to finish the job.
Mail Bag: the Braun Road intersection at Loop 1604, speed limits on Wurzbach Parkway and UTSA Blvd turnarounds.
Loop 1604 northwest
Are there any plans to reformat the intersection under the new overpass to alleviate traffic on Braun? Perhaps an additional turn lane?
- Josh
Are there any plans to add a second left turn lane at the stoplight turning onto northbound 1604 from eastbound Braun Road?
- Mike
Just wondering when the intersection of Braun and 1604 will get two left turn lanes instead of just one.
- Eric
The intersection at 1604 and Braun desperately needs a second turn lane.
- Ryan
Josh, Mike, Eric and Ryan ... you ask a great question! This is a question we've talked through a few times before, including a brief mention in a video a few months back. However, the need to address it again is pretty plain, as you're not the only ones asking. By the way, forgive the editorial license to cut some of your notes down to the single sentence - we wanted to show folks the numbers and just how oft-asked this question is.
The current configuration, with eastbound Braun Road offering a single left-turn lane onto northbound Loop 1604, will continue as-is until the current phase of construction is complete and we have traffic active on the overpass at Braun Road. The reason for this is signal sequencing; currently we are able to run traffic in opposing directions concurrently; opening that center lane to an optional left/straight lane, as has been often suggested, would create conflicts and require traffic signals to be sequenced so that only one direction would be allowed to move at a time. That would actually make the congestion at this location much worse.
As for those many have pointed out are breaking the law by making an illegal left turn from the center through lane, we recommend contacting the city of San Antonio's finest and asking for some additional enforcement. The actions of some are causing a dangerous situation for those who are obeying the posted regulatory signs.
Once the project is finished the intersection will be sequenced much like other cross-street intersections at expressways. We'll have two left-turn lanes from eastbound Braun to northbound Loop 1604. It's going to be awesome for everyone - but it's going to take some doing to get to.
While you're waiting for that, consider some alternate routes. Driving FM 1560 through Helotes to reach Loop 1604 at Bandera or Hausman, for instance, isn't a horrible option. Certainly worth a look!
The buttress located on the southbound on ramp back onto old 1604 which separates the continued access road to Culebra is extremely dangerous as it is too close to the actual merging lane - both lanes merging back onto 1604 are also too narrow for safe driving. There is a significant count of large trucks and semis that travel this route and this is by far the worst temporary fix I have seen in a long time. Please consider revamping this one spot for the safely of all travelers.
- Nina
Nina, thank you for your observations. For those who don't know what she's talking about, we're on southbound Loop 1604 between Shaenfield and Culebra roads. The entrance ramp putting traffic back onto the main lanes and avoiding the intersection of Culebra is the issue here.
First, safety is our top priority. No question. With that in mind, this is the permanent entrance ramp for traffic; when we're finished with work, this will be a single-lane entrance ramp allowing southbound traffic from Shaenfield to enter the main lanes toward Hwy 151 and beyond.
That said, it was built with more width; those lanes on the ramp are 11 feet wide and feature four-inch stripes on the sides and a four-inch dashed line in the middle (total of an additional 12 inches). We also have at least six inches of clearance between these lines and the concrete railing (or barrier) on either side of the ramp. Total width of the two-lane ramp right now: about 24 feet.
Let's put that into perspective. Your typical highway lane is 12 feet wide, with occasional lanes reaching 13 feet in width. We do have some going as much as 15 feet wide, such as on the Loop 1604 frontage roads on the north side of San Antonio, in areas requiring "shared use" - meaning cars and bicycles can use them at the same time.
In work zones, we are allowed to take lanes down to 10 feet on non-Interstate highways (we do try to stay at 11 feet on the Interstates). That means that, at 11 feet, these two entrance ramps actually exceed the Federal Highway Adminstration's standard for safety.
What's more, the concrete rail we have out there is buffered with a 400-foot striped gore area to guide traffic safely onto the ramp.
All that said, your suggestion has been forwarded on to our project engineers; if there is something that makes good engineering sense that can be done, they'll do it!
Wurzbach Parkway
I'm thrilled to see Wurzbach Parkway finally opening up. Why is there a long section that is only 45 MPH when there are sections at 60 MPH and 55 MPH? 45 MPH seems to cripple the parkway's usefulness.
- Adam
The posted speed limit on Wurzbach Parkway between Blanco Road and Wetmore is intentionally posted at 45 MPH because of specification requirements in the design stages. When a road is designed and a curb or sidewalk is involved, specification books don't allow a design speed above 45 miles per hour.
That doesn't mean the currently posted speed can't be changed, however. If requested by the local municipalities, a speed study can be done and the speed limits be changed. For the time being, however, this stretch of roadway continues to be a 45 MPH road, and folks driving the area should keep the lead feet off the skinny pedal and enjoy the drive
By the way, the difference in time for this stretch between traveling 60 MPH and 45 MPH is 1.8 minutes. That's a far cry from crippling the usefulness of a road when you consider the time saved over other routes
I-10 Huebner
When will the new turnaround next to UTSA blvd open?
- Zane
The blog from October 28, 2014 stated that the east-to-west turnaround at UTSA would "definitely" be open before Thanksgiving...
This was Thanksgiving 2014? Any updates...
- Jay
Jay, you're right to ask - at the time of that post, the plan was indeed Thanksgiving 2014. Here we are now, a full 10 months later, and we're just now getting it open. The paving subcontractor on this project - Angel Brothers Construction - has used the turnaround bridge as a staging area for equipment they use during their overnight paving work. We've been asking for several months for that equipment to be moved, but without any financial disincentive we haven't had an easy go of making that happen to our liking. Once the equipment was finally moved here about six weeks ago, we noted the presence of several very large and very dark oil and tar stains on the brand-new bridge deck. Rather than open traffic up immediately, we've been trying to get Angel Brothers to clean those stains up. Well, stubborn stains as they are (a simple blast of selzer water isn't getting the job done) they've just not been lifted. Now we're at a point where we're trying to simply get the turnaround open and in use, then figure out how to seek proper compensation for the stains on our nice, new bridge. In order to do so, we need the bridge striped. Angel Brothers is doing that work, also. We're waiting for those striping crews to be able to finish the bridge out, along with the striping to blend the bridge into the westbound frontage road coming from UTSA Boulevard, to have the whole thing opened. Unfortunately we don't have a date to announce - that date has shifted so many times over the last ten months, it's nearly worthless at this point anyway - but we do carry this work as an absolute priority.
I-10 Leon Springs
How may I obtain a "general" idea of the monthly plans rather than the more specific weekly plans for traffic conditions along the Dominion, Ralph Fair, and Boerne exits.
- Ann
Ann, we try and provide a paragraph or so on the general overview of things with each post on here. That's typically a look at what's happening during the upcoming month as well as what to expect that particular week.
With each project meeting a three-week work schedule (an internal document wildly subject to change) is discussed, and the information from these schedules is taken and used for what you see on these posts. It's not a perfect system, but with the limited resources we've got it's the system we're using.
That said, we can certainly make a more concerted effort to include a look at what to expect for the next month or so in our posts!
When do you expect to have another update on Leon Springs area, specifically Dominion Drive to Ralph Fair Road? Thanks for all your hard work on these updates!
- Mike
Well, thanks Mike! Our latest update was posted last week. Your question predates that post, we know - but we're including this in order to let folks know about the post!
Moving forward we are going to try to have posts on this (and other!) projects at least twice a month so folks can stay in the know.
I keep hearing about the access roads near Boerne Stage road being converted to one-way sometime soon. Will there be alternative access built for the locations along the eastbound side (for instance, Las Palapas, the shopping center with Double Daves & Subway)?
- Austin
Austin, these frontage roads will operate much like other frontage roads in metro or urban areas. With a turnaround and a new frontage road at Boerne Stage Road your trips from Dominion to Las Palapas will take a lot less time than you imagine.
Folks concerned about the frontage road conversion along I-10 in the Leon Springs area often mistakenly think of traffic patterns as they exist today. However, we're building a new westbound frontage road from about Fralos to Boerne Stage Road. Yes, that adds another traffic signal to an already bogged-down Boerne Stage Road between Rudy's and HEB. However, those traveling the frontage road will find a much quicker travel time than they have been accustomed to. The turnaround at Boerne Stage Road should easily facilitate those headed from The Dominion to any shop in the HEB complex there at Boerne Stage Road.
Because of this, no additional roads will be built on the eastbound side. If you're interested, you can see the aerial overview of what's going to be out there right here.
Are there any plans to reformat the intersection under the new overpass to alleviate traffic on Braun? Perhaps an additional turn lane?
- Josh
Are there any plans to add a second left turn lane at the stoplight turning onto northbound 1604 from eastbound Braun Road?
- Mike
Just wondering when the intersection of Braun and 1604 will get two left turn lanes instead of just one.
- Eric
The intersection at 1604 and Braun desperately needs a second turn lane.
- Ryan
Josh, Mike, Eric and Ryan ... you ask a great question! This is a question we've talked through a few times before, including a brief mention in a video a few months back. However, the need to address it again is pretty plain, as you're not the only ones asking. By the way, forgive the editorial license to cut some of your notes down to the single sentence - we wanted to show folks the numbers and just how oft-asked this question is.
The current configuration, with eastbound Braun Road offering a single left-turn lane onto northbound Loop 1604, will continue as-is until the current phase of construction is complete and we have traffic active on the overpass at Braun Road. The reason for this is signal sequencing; currently we are able to run traffic in opposing directions concurrently; opening that center lane to an optional left/straight lane, as has been often suggested, would create conflicts and require traffic signals to be sequenced so that only one direction would be allowed to move at a time. That would actually make the congestion at this location much worse.
As for those many have pointed out are breaking the law by making an illegal left turn from the center through lane, we recommend contacting the city of San Antonio's finest and asking for some additional enforcement. The actions of some are causing a dangerous situation for those who are obeying the posted regulatory signs.
Once the project is finished the intersection will be sequenced much like other cross-street intersections at expressways. We'll have two left-turn lanes from eastbound Braun to northbound Loop 1604. It's going to be awesome for everyone - but it's going to take some doing to get to.
While you're waiting for that, consider some alternate routes. Driving FM 1560 through Helotes to reach Loop 1604 at Bandera or Hausman, for instance, isn't a horrible option. Certainly worth a look!
The buttress located on the southbound on ramp back onto old 1604 which separates the continued access road to Culebra is extremely dangerous as it is too close to the actual merging lane - both lanes merging back onto 1604 are also too narrow for safe driving. There is a significant count of large trucks and semis that travel this route and this is by far the worst temporary fix I have seen in a long time. Please consider revamping this one spot for the safely of all travelers.
- Nina
Nina, thank you for your observations. For those who don't know what she's talking about, we're on southbound Loop 1604 between Shaenfield and Culebra roads. The entrance ramp putting traffic back onto the main lanes and avoiding the intersection of Culebra is the issue here.
First, safety is our top priority. No question. With that in mind, this is the permanent entrance ramp for traffic; when we're finished with work, this will be a single-lane entrance ramp allowing southbound traffic from Shaenfield to enter the main lanes toward Hwy 151 and beyond.
That said, it was built with more width; those lanes on the ramp are 11 feet wide and feature four-inch stripes on the sides and a four-inch dashed line in the middle (total of an additional 12 inches). We also have at least six inches of clearance between these lines and the concrete railing (or barrier) on either side of the ramp. Total width of the two-lane ramp right now: about 24 feet.
Let's put that into perspective. Your typical highway lane is 12 feet wide, with occasional lanes reaching 13 feet in width. We do have some going as much as 15 feet wide, such as on the Loop 1604 frontage roads on the north side of San Antonio, in areas requiring "shared use" - meaning cars and bicycles can use them at the same time.
In work zones, we are allowed to take lanes down to 10 feet on non-Interstate highways (we do try to stay at 11 feet on the Interstates). That means that, at 11 feet, these two entrance ramps actually exceed the Federal Highway Adminstration's standard for safety.
What's more, the concrete rail we have out there is buffered with a 400-foot striped gore area to guide traffic safely onto the ramp.
All that said, your suggestion has been forwarded on to our project engineers; if there is something that makes good engineering sense that can be done, they'll do it!
Wurzbach Parkway
I'm thrilled to see Wurzbach Parkway finally opening up. Why is there a long section that is only 45 MPH when there are sections at 60 MPH and 55 MPH? 45 MPH seems to cripple the parkway's usefulness.
- Adam
The posted speed limit on Wurzbach Parkway between Blanco Road and Wetmore is intentionally posted at 45 MPH because of specification requirements in the design stages. When a road is designed and a curb or sidewalk is involved, specification books don't allow a design speed above 45 miles per hour.
That doesn't mean the currently posted speed can't be changed, however. If requested by the local municipalities, a speed study can be done and the speed limits be changed. For the time being, however, this stretch of roadway continues to be a 45 MPH road, and folks driving the area should keep the lead feet off the skinny pedal and enjoy the drive
By the way, the difference in time for this stretch between traveling 60 MPH and 45 MPH is 1.8 minutes. That's a far cry from crippling the usefulness of a road when you consider the time saved over other routes
I-10 Huebner
When will the new turnaround next to UTSA blvd open?
- Zane
The blog from October 28, 2014 stated that the east-to-west turnaround at UTSA would "definitely" be open before Thanksgiving...
This was Thanksgiving 2014? Any updates...
- Jay
Jay, you're right to ask - at the time of that post, the plan was indeed Thanksgiving 2014. Here we are now, a full 10 months later, and we're just now getting it open. The paving subcontractor on this project - Angel Brothers Construction - has used the turnaround bridge as a staging area for equipment they use during their overnight paving work. We've been asking for several months for that equipment to be moved, but without any financial disincentive we haven't had an easy go of making that happen to our liking. Once the equipment was finally moved here about six weeks ago, we noted the presence of several very large and very dark oil and tar stains on the brand-new bridge deck. Rather than open traffic up immediately, we've been trying to get Angel Brothers to clean those stains up. Well, stubborn stains as they are (a simple blast of selzer water isn't getting the job done) they've just not been lifted. Now we're at a point where we're trying to simply get the turnaround open and in use, then figure out how to seek proper compensation for the stains on our nice, new bridge. In order to do so, we need the bridge striped. Angel Brothers is doing that work, also. We're waiting for those striping crews to be able to finish the bridge out, along with the striping to blend the bridge into the westbound frontage road coming from UTSA Boulevard, to have the whole thing opened. Unfortunately we don't have a date to announce - that date has shifted so many times over the last ten months, it's nearly worthless at this point anyway - but we do carry this work as an absolute priority.
I-10 Leon Springs
How may I obtain a "general" idea of the monthly plans rather than the more specific weekly plans for traffic conditions along the Dominion, Ralph Fair, and Boerne exits.
- Ann
Ann, we try and provide a paragraph or so on the general overview of things with each post on here. That's typically a look at what's happening during the upcoming month as well as what to expect that particular week.
With each project meeting a three-week work schedule (an internal document wildly subject to change) is discussed, and the information from these schedules is taken and used for what you see on these posts. It's not a perfect system, but with the limited resources we've got it's the system we're using.
That said, we can certainly make a more concerted effort to include a look at what to expect for the next month or so in our posts!
When do you expect to have another update on Leon Springs area, specifically Dominion Drive to Ralph Fair Road? Thanks for all your hard work on these updates!
- Mike
Well, thanks Mike! Our latest update was posted last week. Your question predates that post, we know - but we're including this in order to let folks know about the post!
Moving forward we are going to try to have posts on this (and other!) projects at least twice a month so folks can stay in the know.
I keep hearing about the access roads near Boerne Stage road being converted to one-way sometime soon. Will there be alternative access built for the locations along the eastbound side (for instance, Las Palapas, the shopping center with Double Daves & Subway)?
- Austin
Austin, these frontage roads will operate much like other frontage roads in metro or urban areas. With a turnaround and a new frontage road at Boerne Stage Road your trips from Dominion to Las Palapas will take a lot less time than you imagine.
Folks concerned about the frontage road conversion along I-10 in the Leon Springs area often mistakenly think of traffic patterns as they exist today. However, we're building a new westbound frontage road from about Fralos to Boerne Stage Road. Yes, that adds another traffic signal to an already bogged-down Boerne Stage Road between Rudy's and HEB. However, those traveling the frontage road will find a much quicker travel time than they have been accustomed to. The turnaround at Boerne Stage Road should easily facilitate those headed from The Dominion to any shop in the HEB complex there at Boerne Stage Road.
Because of this, no additional roads will be built on the eastbound side. If you're interested, you can see the aerial overview of what's going to be out there right here.
Tuesday, September 22
Loop 1604; bridges, bridges, bridges....
For those who've not driven through Loop 1604 between Bandera and Culebra roads for a few weeks ... well, bridges are starting to pop up almost everywhere.
The approach WB is taking is really interesting, almost like an assembly line of sorts. As dirt crews finished up with the Braun Road overpass, they moved to the New Guilbeau intersection and made room for the bridge crews to move in at Braun. Now those dirt crews are wrapping up at New Guilbeau, and ready to move on to Shaenfield ... meanwhile, bridge crews are wrapping up at Braun and ready to move south to New Guilbeau.
The process has allowed a tremendous amount of progress to happen in a few short months. Right now project supervisors are saying they could have the new main lanes of Loop 1604 in use as early as this time next year; that is, late summer 2016. Overall completion of the project, including the new direct connector and overpass at Loop 1604 and Hwy 151, is scheduled for the end of 2016.
Progress on the Shaenfield overpass should start getting increasingly more visible by that time. Dirt crews are expected to migrate to Shaenfield in early October, and the overall support structure there should be in place by the end of the year.
If you're driving on Alamo Ranch Parkway, by the way, expect to see a lot more activity over the next few weeks. Crews are moving in to build support columns for the direct connector from southbound Loop 1604 to eastbound Hwy 151, and there's some work needed to begin preparing for the overpass landing for the new Hwy 151 overpass at Loop 1604. That overpass will land at Alamo Ranch Parkway and will be finished by the end of 2016.
In the last two months (yes, it's only been two months ... well, two-and-a-half) traffic on Loop 1604 has been cleared from the old "main lanes" and onto the new "frontage road" (it's all the same right now...), Williams Brothers Construction has been able to set bridge support beams and start placing bridge deck panels for the Braun Road ovverpass, build drill shafts to support retaining walls and other bridge support structures at New Guilbeau and Shaenfield roads, and begin getting those retaining walls built up at New Guilbeau.
What's more, drill shafts and some retaining walls have started and are well underway for a new overpass taking Hwy 151 over Loop 1604.
The approach WB is taking is really interesting, almost like an assembly line of sorts. As dirt crews finished up with the Braun Road overpass, they moved to the New Guilbeau intersection and made room for the bridge crews to move in at Braun. Now those dirt crews are wrapping up at New Guilbeau, and ready to move on to Shaenfield ... meanwhile, bridge crews are wrapping up at Braun and ready to move south to New Guilbeau.
The process has allowed a tremendous amount of progress to happen in a few short months. Right now project supervisors are saying they could have the new main lanes of Loop 1604 in use as early as this time next year; that is, late summer 2016. Overall completion of the project, including the new direct connector and overpass at Loop 1604 and Hwy 151, is scheduled for the end of 2016.
Here's an interesting bit of work to keep an eye out for: asphalt between Helotes Creek and Braun Road. The walls creating the bridge approaches at New Guilbeau are nearing completion, and as soon as that wraps up Williams Brothers will lay asphalt to start building the main lanes between the two landmarks. This will only be the base layer ... we won't be driving on those main lanes until next year.
At the Braun Road overpass, which has been causing overnight closures of Braun Road at Loop 1604 routinely throughout each of the last few weeks, crews are scheduled to begin building bridge rails through this weekend and next week. WB hopes to have no more need for regular closures on Braun Road by the middle of October.
Progress on the Shaenfield overpass should start getting increasingly more visible by that time. Dirt crews are expected to migrate to Shaenfield in early October, and the overall support structure there should be in place by the end of the year.
If you're driving on Alamo Ranch Parkway, by the way, expect to see a lot more activity over the next few weeks. Crews are moving in to build support columns for the direct connector from southbound Loop 1604 to eastbound Hwy 151, and there's some work needed to begin preparing for the overpass landing for the new Hwy 151 overpass at Loop 1604. That overpass will land at Alamo Ranch Parkway and will be finished by the end of 2016.
Friday, September 18
Next week's construction-related closures
I-10 – Northwest San Antonio
- Sunday-Friday, September 20-25. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. Frontage road, both directions, between Loop 1604 and Huebner Road. Alternating lanes will close for road work.
- Sunday-Friday, September 20-25. 8:30 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly. Frontage road, both directions between Loop 1604 and Huebner Road. Alternating lanes will close for road work.
- Monday-Friday, September 21-25. 8:30 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between Huebner Road and Loop 1604. Alternating lanes will close for road work.
- Sunday, September 20. 3 a.m. until 3 p.m. Southbound main lanes between Binz-Engleman and AT&T Parkway. Two left lanes will close while crews install bridge support beams.
- Sunday, September 20. 3 a.m. until 1 p.m. Turnarounds, both directions, at Salado Creek. The turnarounds will be closed while crews install bridge support beams.
- Sunday-Friday, September 20-25. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Frontage road, both directions, between Rittiman and Walzem. Alternating lanes will close while crews move barrier.
- Sunday-Friday, September 20-25. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between Walzem and George Beach. Alternating lanes, two at a time, will close while crews do road work.
- Sunday-Thursday, September 20-24. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between Binz-Engleman and AT&T Center Parkway. Alternating lanes will close, two at a time, while crews move barrier.
- Sunday-Thursday, September 20-24. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Frontage road, both directions, between Rittiman and Walzem. Alternating lanes will close while crews move barrier.
- Monday-Tuesday, September 21-22. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Northbound main lanes between AT&T Parkway and Binz-Engleman. Two left lanes will close while crews install bridge support beams
- Monday-Friday, September 21-25. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Turnarounds, both directions, at Salado Creek. The turnarounds will be closed while crews do bridge work.
- Sunday-Friday, September 20-25. 9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly. Northbound exit to westbound I-410. The right lane will close while crews do road work.
- Monday-Friday, September 21-25. 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. daily. Northbound exit to westbound I-410. The right lane will close while crews do road work.
- Tuesday, September 22-Thursday, October 1. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Northbound I-35 between McCullough Avenue and U.S. Hwy 281. Alternating lanes will close, two or more at a time, while crews do road work. Traffic will be diverted onto the frontage road on occasion as needed.
- Tuesday-Thursday, September 22-24. 8 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly. Southbound main lanes between Conrads-Kohlenberg and FM 306. The two right lanes will close while crews move barrier and relocate ramps.
- Sunday, September 20. 3 a.m. until 3 p.m. Northbound connector to southbound I-35. The ramp will close while crews set bridge support beams. Traffic will exit Kirby Road, turn left at Binz-Engleman Road, then left again onto the southbound I-35 frontage road.
- Sunday-Friday, September 20-25. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Northbound connector to northbound I-35. Alternating lanes will close while crews move barrier.
- Sunday-Friday, September 20-25. 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Southbound main lanes between Rigsby Road and Southcross. All lanes will close while crews resurface the road. Traffic will exit Rigsby Road and re-enter the highway at the next available ramp.
- Friday, September 18-Friday, October 2. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. Northbound frontage road between Wurzbach Parkway and Bitters Road. The right lane will close at spot locations while crews do work across driveways. Business access will be maintained.
- Monday-Sunday, September 21-27. 10 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly. Southbound frontage road between New Guilbeau and Shaenfield roads. The right lane will close while crews work on curbs and sidewalks.
- Wednesday-Thursday, September 23-24. 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. Northbound frontage road at Helotes Creek. The right lane will close while crews do bridge work.
- Sunday-Monday, September 20-21. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Westbound Rittiman Road at I-35. All lanes will close while crews do overhead bridge work. Traffic will turn right onto the frontage road and turn around at the next available intersection.
- Sunday-Monday, September 20-21. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Eastbound Rittiman Road at I-35. The right lane will close while crews do overhead bridge work.
- Monday-Tuesday, September 21-22. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Westbound Eisenhauer Road at I-35. All lanes will close while crews do overhead bridge work. Traffic will turn right onto the frontage road and turnaround at the next available intersection.
- Monday-Tuesday, September 21-22. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Eastbound Eisenhauer Road at I-35. The left lane will close while crews do overhead bridge work.
- Monday-Wednesday, September 21-23. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Eastbound Rittiman Road at I-35. All lanes will close while crews do overhead bridge work. Traffic will turn right onto the frontage road and turnaround at the next available intersection.
- Monday-Wednesday, September 21-23. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Westbound Rittiman Road at I-35. The left lane will close while crews do overhead bridge work
- Tuesday-Thursday, September 22-24. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Eastbound Eisenhauer Road at I-35. All lanes will close while crews do overhead bridge work. Traffic will turn right onto the frontage road and turnaround at the next available intersection.
- Tuesday-Thursday, September 22-24. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Westbound Eisenhauer Road at I-35. The left lane will close while crews do overhead bridge work.
- Thursday-Friday, September 24-25. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Westbound Eisenhauer Road at I-35. All lanes will close while crews do overhead bridge work. Traffic will turn right onto the frontage road and turnaround at the next available intersection.
- Thursday-Friday, September 24-25. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Eastbound Eisenhauer Road at I-35. The left lane will close while crews do overhead bridge work.
- Monday-Friday, September 21-25. 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Braun Road, both directions, at Loop 1604. All lanes will close while crews do overhead bridge work. Traffic will turn right onto Loop 1604, use the next available turnaround and return to the intersection to reach its destination.
- Friday-Saturday, September 25-26. 10 p.m. until 7 a.m. Braun Road, both directions, at Loop 1604. All lanes will close while crews do overhead bridge work. Traffic will turn right onto Loop 1604, use the next available turnaround and return to the intersection to reach its destination.
- Saturday-Sunday, September 26-27. 6 p.m. until 6 a.m. Braun Road, both directions, at Loop 1604. All lanes will close while crews do overhead bridge work. Traffic will turn right onto Loop 1604, use the next available turnaround and return to the intersection to reach its destination.
Thursday, September 17
Major weekend closure: I-35
Note: Plans for these closures were changed Friday afternoon. The new plans are less impactful, and were brought by the contractor in an effort to appease those driving the area. These changes will also require longer hours for work. See below for the new plan.
Drivers along I-35 near SAMMC have likely noticed signs flashing a warning about closures set for this weekend along the corridor. Here are a few details about the what, why and when:
What
Sunday (Sept. 20) the two left lanes of the southbound main lanes will close between George Beach and AT&T Center Parkway. Crews will also close the direct connector from northbound I-410 to southbound I-35 in order to keep traffic off the closed portion of I-35. Traffic will exit FM 78, turn left at Binz-Engleman and continue on to the southbound I-35 frontage road.
Monday night into Tuesday morning (Sept. 21-22), the two left lanes of the northbound main lanes will close between AT&T Center Parkway and Binz-Engleman.
Why
All these closures will allow Lane Construction to set bridge support beams that will help add some width to I-35 as it runs over Salado Creek. The number of beams to be set is pretty minimal, so the work should go pretty quickly. All told, the project should wrap up early 2016. When we're done you'll see new lanes - auxiliary lanes - and some revisions to the ramps that will greatly improve the flow of traffic here.
When
Sunday closures (southbound side) will start at 3 a.m. and be wrapped up, weather permitting, by 3 p.m.
Monday evening closures (northbound side) will start at 9 p.m. and continue until 5 a.m. Tuesday.
Here are the highlights
Drivers along I-35 near SAMMC have likely noticed signs flashing a warning about closures set for this weekend along the corridor. Here are a few details about the what, why and when:
What
Sunday (Sept. 20) the two left lanes of the southbound main lanes will close between George Beach and AT&T Center Parkway. Crews will also close the direct connector from northbound I-410 to southbound I-35 in order to keep traffic off the closed portion of I-35. Traffic will exit FM 78, turn left at Binz-Engleman and continue on to the southbound I-35 frontage road.
 |
| You'll take a few turns, but reaching southbound I-35 from northbound I-410 will be as simple as exiting FM 78 (Kirby Road) Sunday morning. |
Why
All these closures will allow Lane Construction to set bridge support beams that will help add some width to I-35 as it runs over Salado Creek. The number of beams to be set is pretty minimal, so the work should go pretty quickly. All told, the project should wrap up early 2016. When we're done you'll see new lanes - auxiliary lanes - and some revisions to the ramps that will greatly improve the flow of traffic here.
When
Sunday closures (southbound side) will start at 3 a.m. and be wrapped up, weather permitting, by 3 p.m.
Monday evening closures (northbound side) will start at 9 p.m. and continue until 5 a.m. Tuesday.
Here are the highlights
- NO CLOSURES SATURDAY
- Southbound main lanes will have two (out of three) lanes closed between George Beach and AT&T Center Parkway Sunday, 3 a.m. until 3 p.m.
- Northbound main lanes will have two (out of three) lanes closed between AT&T Center Parkway and Binz-Engleman Monday night, 9 p.m. until Tuesday at 5 a.m.
- NO FULL MAIN LANE CLOSURES
- Closure of NB I-410 ramp to SB I-35 still in effect Sunday, 3 a.m. until 3 p.m.
Wednesday, September 16
Mail Bag: Boerne Stage Road, graffiti and Wurzbach Parkway
Note: we've got dozens of questions to get to through the Mail Bag; we'll get them answered in the order in which they are received, and answer as many as we can at one time. Keep checking back if you've submitted a question!
(There is) Graffiti on the one-way sign on the access road of 1604 heading east between Braun Road and Bandera Road. The sign is in front of the Stonefield Estates subdivision.
- Rachel
To start, we'll let our maintenance guys know (if they've not already addressed this) and make sure they can get it cleaned up. Often we can't clean it and have to simply replace the sign; it's frustrating and really expensive.
Beyond that, "there's an app for that" ... done by the city of San Antonio. It's pretty cool. You see graffiti, you take a picture of it and enter it into the app. Not only will the request for cleanup be sent to the proper agency, but it will help put a stop to the graffiti altogether.
When will the Boerne Stage Road project be completed? Nobody seems to be working on the project. Please advise.
- Holly
The Boerne Stage Road project is a Bexar County project; we don't have the details on the job. However, we do have an active project along I-10 right there, and we've posted an update on that project pretty recently.
If you're asking about the Boerne Stage Road expansion, get in touch with the county - that's your best bet.
Wondering what the plan and purpose is for the current construction on Culebra road at 1604.
It sure is causing some traffic headaches.
- Cody
There are two projects currently impacting traffic at Loop 1604 and Culebra, but the latest project is likely the culprit for your headaches.
The first project, an effort to expand Lp 1604 to an expressway between Bandera and Culebra, impacts traffic coming from Culebra onto northbound Lp 1604 - particularly during the afternoon traffic rush. That work will eventually make everything better for traffic on Culebra by allowing southbound Loop 1604 traffic bypass Culebra (using a Reverse Diamond or Super X ramp configuration).
The newer project adds raised concrete medians to the middle of Culebra Road between Loop 1604 and Grissom Road. This is a safety project, pure and simple, with the goal of removing what are called conflict points along the route and is part of an effort to prepare Culebra Road inside Loop 1604 to be turned over to the city. The plan eliminates a number of left-turn options, except at cross streets and some select other locations, in favor of maintaining a continuous flow of traffic along the route. It's consistent with what's done in a number of locations across the city, including (for instance) Callaghan Road or San Pedro.
Is there a projected date when the Wurzbach Parkway will be completed?
- Ed
Ed, you're one of dozens of folks who've submitted similar messages; your note also betrays just how long we've been sitting on these questions to get this post finished!
If you've not heard by now, here's the good news: the eastbound lanes of Wurzbach Parkway opened yesterday (that's September 15) at about 3:50 p.m. There's a ton of great news coverage out there on it; check here, here, here or here. Or here. And there's this one, run before opening.
We also broadcasted the opening of the new eastbound lanes via live video feed, which went over Twitter through Periscope (and if you don't have a clue what those are, well ... neither did we until a few months ago).
The bottom line: eastbound lanes are now open. Westbound lanes are targeted to open Sept. 23. We still have work on US 281, with the new northbound exit to Wurzbach Parkway and the turnarounds at Nakoma - which should all be finished by early October.
I-10 at La Cantera is a mess Saturday mornings because of the heavy traffic heading into Fiesta Texas around opening time. Is there anything that can be done to alleviate it now and the future? I know it's only during summer peaks tone but it makes it impossible to travel westbound on I-10 from 9 a.m.-noon.
- Christina
Christina, we're sorry for not responding to this one sooner - this note was sent well before the end of summer as the end-of-summer crowds were flooding the area for a last chance at some fun at one of our local amusement parks.
We actually already do take some huge precautions to help the situation at the intersection of I-10 and La Cantera, including the use of police officers (SAPD) to direct traffic at the intersection. Unfortunately, the backup stems not from the intersection or the ramps in the area, but from the bottleneck that's at the gates to the park. No matter what we do, traffic will only move as fast as folks can pay for their parking permits.
But know that we're always looking at the issue. We've tried some interesting stuff in the past, including routing traffic (as much as we can) to Camp Bullis to stack up the traffic queue for that amusement park along the eastbound frontage road.
It helps, but as you've noted the solution we've got isn't perfect. The good news is you can typically get around the snarl by using Loop 1604 to Vance Jackson, heading north through The Rim, then rejoining I-10 near Home Depot.
(There is) Graffiti on the one-way sign on the access road of 1604 heading east between Braun Road and Bandera Road. The sign is in front of the Stonefield Estates subdivision.
- Rachel
To start, we'll let our maintenance guys know (if they've not already addressed this) and make sure they can get it cleaned up. Often we can't clean it and have to simply replace the sign; it's frustrating and really expensive.
Beyond that, "there's an app for that" ... done by the city of San Antonio. It's pretty cool. You see graffiti, you take a picture of it and enter it into the app. Not only will the request for cleanup be sent to the proper agency, but it will help put a stop to the graffiti altogether.
When will the Boerne Stage Road project be completed? Nobody seems to be working on the project. Please advise.
- Holly
The Boerne Stage Road project is a Bexar County project; we don't have the details on the job. However, we do have an active project along I-10 right there, and we've posted an update on that project pretty recently.
If you're asking about the Boerne Stage Road expansion, get in touch with the county - that's your best bet.
Wondering what the plan and purpose is for the current construction on Culebra road at 1604.
It sure is causing some traffic headaches.
- Cody
There are two projects currently impacting traffic at Loop 1604 and Culebra, but the latest project is likely the culprit for your headaches.
The first project, an effort to expand Lp 1604 to an expressway between Bandera and Culebra, impacts traffic coming from Culebra onto northbound Lp 1604 - particularly during the afternoon traffic rush. That work will eventually make everything better for traffic on Culebra by allowing southbound Loop 1604 traffic bypass Culebra (using a Reverse Diamond or Super X ramp configuration).
The newer project adds raised concrete medians to the middle of Culebra Road between Loop 1604 and Grissom Road. This is a safety project, pure and simple, with the goal of removing what are called conflict points along the route and is part of an effort to prepare Culebra Road inside Loop 1604 to be turned over to the city. The plan eliminates a number of left-turn options, except at cross streets and some select other locations, in favor of maintaining a continuous flow of traffic along the route. It's consistent with what's done in a number of locations across the city, including (for instance) Callaghan Road or San Pedro.
Is there a projected date when the Wurzbach Parkway will be completed?
- Ed
Ed, you're one of dozens of folks who've submitted similar messages; your note also betrays just how long we've been sitting on these questions to get this post finished!
If you've not heard by now, here's the good news: the eastbound lanes of Wurzbach Parkway opened yesterday (that's September 15) at about 3:50 p.m. There's a ton of great news coverage out there on it; check here, here, here or here. Or here. And there's this one, run before opening.
We also broadcasted the opening of the new eastbound lanes via live video feed, which went over Twitter through Periscope (and if you don't have a clue what those are, well ... neither did we until a few months ago).
The bottom line: eastbound lanes are now open. Westbound lanes are targeted to open Sept. 23. We still have work on US 281, with the new northbound exit to Wurzbach Parkway and the turnarounds at Nakoma - which should all be finished by early October.
I-10 at La Cantera is a mess Saturday mornings because of the heavy traffic heading into Fiesta Texas around opening time. Is there anything that can be done to alleviate it now and the future? I know it's only during summer peaks tone but it makes it impossible to travel westbound on I-10 from 9 a.m.-noon.
- Christina
Christina, we're sorry for not responding to this one sooner - this note was sent well before the end of summer as the end-of-summer crowds were flooding the area for a last chance at some fun at one of our local amusement parks.
We actually already do take some huge precautions to help the situation at the intersection of I-10 and La Cantera, including the use of police officers (SAPD) to direct traffic at the intersection. Unfortunately, the backup stems not from the intersection or the ramps in the area, but from the bottleneck that's at the gates to the park. No matter what we do, traffic will only move as fast as folks can pay for their parking permits.
But know that we're always looking at the issue. We've tried some interesting stuff in the past, including routing traffic (as much as we can) to Camp Bullis to stack up the traffic queue for that amusement park along the eastbound frontage road.
It helps, but as you've noted the solution we've got isn't perfect. The good news is you can typically get around the snarl by using Loop 1604 to Vance Jackson, heading north through The Rim, then rejoining I-10 near Home Depot.
Tuesday, September 15
I-10 Leon Springs plugging along
The new, widened Ralph Fair Road overpass bridge over I-10 is finished and opened to capacity; Sundt Construction managed to save us some time and money on the project overall. Most of that money savings was in an adjustment to the traffic control plan that kept two-way traffic west of the Ralph Fair Road intersection through the duration of construction.
All told, the current work will wrap up late summer 2016. Meanwhile, Sundt Construction is preparing to start the next project in the area - construction of a new overpass for I-10 over Old Fredericksburg Road. That project, funded by Proposition 1 money, will begin later this fall and will take about three years to complete.
 |
| The overpass bridge running Ralph Fair Rd over I-10 was opened by Sundt Construction in August. |
The only remaining issue, based on calls we've fielded, is the timing of the traffic signals at that location. Those signals should be timed appropriately, but we will continue to monitor what's happening. Frankly, we do have a capacity issue - particularly with eastbound traffic coming through the intersection on both sides of the highway. That issue won't be solved by re-timing signals, but by converting the frontage roads to one-way all the way out to Fair Oaks Parkway. More on that in a minute.
The other traffic signal issue is at Boerne Stage Road. The issue that we've noticed is actually amplified by the installation of a new signal on Boerne Stage Road at HEB; this signal was installed as part of the Bexar County project expanding Boerne Stage Road, and was funded by HEB. The timing of that signal is not yet in sync with signals on the I-10 frontage roads at Boerne Stage Road. We are working with Bexar County staff to get those signals synced up (they actually talk to one another through wireless technology) to maximize efficient traffic flow.
 |
| This new signal on Boerne Stage Road at the HEB shopping center is still not synced with the signals on I-10 at Boerne Stage Road. Once this signal is synced,traffic woes in the area should improve. |
The actual construction that's happening in the area - a project that converts the frontage roads of I-10 to one-way between Boerne Stage Road and Dominion Drive, including some intersection improvements at I-10 and Boerne Stage - is consistently moving along on pace to finish up in 2016. The only major snags we've run into with this project are utility conflicts. We have conflicts remaining with a private telecommunications company in a few locations, with water lines and with some power lines.
We've been working on these issues now for nearly nine months, preventing progress with construction in critical areas. That's not to say the project has been delayed yet - we aren't showing a delay at this point, but we could see one if we're not able to get moving on laying asphalt soon. Asphalt can't go down until some of the drain structures - including storm drain lines and inlets - are built. It's those structures that are hung up because of the utility delays.
 | |
| The new westbound frontage road, running behind Fralos and Sonic and the Leon Springs Elementary, has been cut and, for the most part, graded. The significant road work here can't begin until all drain structures are in the ground; that means progress is in the hands of the utility companies setting in the area. |
Most of these issues are located near the new westbound frontage road area, running behind the Leon Springs Elementary School and the I-10 main lanes, and at the area underneath I-10.
While waiting for these utility conflicts to be addressed, Texas Sterling Construction has been working out-of-the-box a bit, looking for areas to work in order to continue progress on the project. This means working on the frontage road improvements near Dominion Drive (crews will be installing decorative brick pavers at that location over the next few weeks) and near Leon Creek (bridge builders will start building bridge support structures next week).
 |
| Workers set brick pavers into the concrete median at Dominion Drive. |
 |
| Bridge crews work on the eastbound frontage road bridge over Leon Creek; work on the bridge on the westbound side will begin late October. |
Monday, September 14
Wurzbach Parkway officially opening
Last week we announced Wurzbach Parkway would likely open earlier than expected. Project staff has confirmed crews will open eastbound lanes of the parkway tomorrow afternoon.
Westbound lanes will open next week, with Wednesday being the target.
As folks prepare to navigate the Parkway and how it may best suit their daily commute, check out some helpful hints here.
On our end, we're happy to have the project finished. That's our job, after all - provide safe and reliable transportation solutions for Texas. There's nobody - nobody - more excited to have a project like this done than we are!
Westbound lanes will open next week, with Wednesday being the target.
As folks prepare to navigate the Parkway and how it may best suit their daily commute, check out some helpful hints here.
On our end, we're happy to have the project finished. That's our job, after all - provide safe and reliable transportation solutions for Texas. There's nobody - nobody - more excited to have a project like this done than we are!