Beyond Bexar: Hwy 306, Walnut, FM 1516

This weekend crews will close FM 1516 at Crestway in Converse for some emergency repair work on a box culvert. Work on FM 306 between Hunter Road and Hoffman Lane will start the week after Thanksgiving. Weather issues has delayed the projected opening of Walnut Avenue in New Braunfels.

So ... let's get into all that.

FM 1516
This is the most pressing issue and is our strongest place to start. CRG Construction will close FM 1516 at Crestway Friday night at 8 p.m. and will reopen the road by 5:30 a.m. Monday (Nov. 23). Through the weekend traffic will be detoured on Loop 1604 and FM 78.

Crews will continue work the weeks of and after Thanksgiving with daily closures of a single lane, with flaggers posted to control traffic as needed. The traffic signal at the intersection of FM 1516 and Crestway will be adjusted to flash a red light during this time; flashing red lights are to be treated as a four-way stop sign. The signal will be returned to normal function when the work is complete.
The work will repair a box culvert running across the road that's worn down with age.

Walnut Avenue
When Dean Word Company closed Walnut Avenue earlier this year to construct new roadway lanes as part of a project expanding Walnut to four lanes (two each way) between Landa and Kerlick, the goal was to have Walnut Avenue reopened for through traffic in time for Christmas.
Then the weather came. Over the course of 2015 crews lost about a month (maybe a little more) of good work time. While crews were able to catch some of that up through the dry months of summer, our current projection shows Walnut Avenue reopening in January.
In the meantime Dean Word has been able to finish almost all the drain structures along this project and, as a group of dignitaries from the city of New Braunfels say, the mechanically stabilized wall has been erected relatively quickly. As the wall goes up higher the anchors used get longer, requiring the need to cut deeper into what was the existing roadway - which is why we won't be ready to open the new lanes quite by Christmas. Dean Word remains committed to do well in their hometown, though, and are working hard to have the road reopened in January.
The overall project is slated to wrap up summer 2016.

FM 306
Hunter Industries finished this year the overpasses over the UPRR crossings between I-35 and Hunter Road (well, a little beyond Hunter Road). Now they're going to work on expanding the road, starting where they left off, through Hoffman Lane.
The project itself, an $8 million effort, will continue for about a year and a half - so folks should expect to see a final product in 2017. When we're all done we'll have two lanes in each direction with curbs and sidewalks - effectively matching what now exists between I-35 and Hunter Road. A center left-turn lane will be included at strategic locations.
While closures will be minimal - we're expanding on both sides of the roadway - drivers in the area should expect normal road construction delays associated with the project during their daily commute.