Mail Bag: 151 direct connector, turn lanes at Boerne Stage Road, 281-46 progress

It's been a while since our last Mail Bag post, so we're sifting through the questions now. We hope to have another round of questions answered next week - keep telling us what you want to know!

In the March 16 post you stated, "the direct connector for southbound Lp 1604 to eastbound Hwy 151 is the most visible piece of the intersection improvements, and is on pace to be ready for use this fall." Does this intersection have an estimated completion date and any word on the southbound 1604 to eastbound 151 connector opening early still?
- Kevin
Great question, Kevin. Some of us have been asking the same thing as May rain storms really pushed back work across the district.
The overall completion for this intersection has a deadline of early 2017, but is still on pace to wrap up before the end of the year. As for the new direct connector, it's clearly not going to open by the end of June. By the end of summer, though? That's a distinct possibility.

When will you stripe the two left turn lanes onto Beorne Stage Rd? Right now it's quite likely someone in the right turn lane won't go far enough out not to clip the inside turn lane.
- Chris
This is a problem, quite frankly, even where we have the final striping in place. In many states, it's the law to turn lane-to-lane. That is, if you start in the far left lane to turn left, you had better land in the far left lane of the road you're turning onto.
For whatever reason, Texas law isn't written the same. (By the way, we're not advocating any law here - just pointing out what drivers from other states experience.)
The bottom line: drivers here are woefully unaccustomed to the safe practice of turning into the same lane from which you've turned. Frankly, drivers need to take the responsibility and catch up with best practices implemented by drivers across the nation. But that aside, those pavement markers are darned important.
We'll make sure those are in place and maintained properly moving forward for you!

Now that you've addressed the no right turn rationale on BSR, can you attempt to explain the dual turnaround lane configuration at RFR? The issue is that you have two lanes of the feeder set to turn left onto RFR in addition to the dedicated turnaround lane. The left most left turn lane, the left turn only, turns directly into another left turn only lane making it another turnaround. The middle lane on the feeder that is straight or left turn is directed into the middle lane which is straight through the light into Rialto Village. This center lane that is straight or left always backs up with the people going straight through, so a lot of us turning left will use the left lane, and just cross the other two lanes to turn right to head north on the feeder. The issue is that sometimes there is someone actually turning left from that center lane.
- Dan
A lot of this has to do with what you'll have, final product, when we're all done with the frontage road and new overpass work between Ralph Fair and Fair Oaks (actually, turning that optional lane into an optional left/straight lane was a modification of the original plan, based on public input). Remember when we're all done you'll not be turning left on Ralph Fair to turn right onto what will then be the eastbound (only) frontage road.
We're also trying to take into account the future development at that location. While you're right that the left-left option effectively creates a dual turnaround, folks coming from the actual turnaround shouldn't be trying to skip across a few lanes to reach the Whataburger right there. Those folks should use the left-left lanes you've mentioned.
So we really do have a method to the madness.
That said, we can take a look at the layout and have our engineers try to find a way to address the issues you've brought up.

When will the turn-around at 281/46 be completed in Comal county? Why has this project progressing at such a slow rate?
- Donald
For those not familiar with this project, this is the construction of new turnarounds for US 281 at Hwy 46 in Bulverde. The contractor out there is CRG, and should have finished up about a year ago. To be frank, since this project started an entire commercial development - including a Wal-Mart store and its surrounding infrastructure - has been constructed.
Unfortunately we don't have a good answer for why the project has progressed as slowly as it has. We've been working to encourage CRG as much as we can, including assessing liquidated damages for late completion of the project.
The good news: our current schedule shows we should be all done out there before the start of the school year.

Next week's construction-related closures

I-35 – East San Antonio

• Current thru July 2016. Exit ramps, both directions, to Eisenhauer Road. The ramps will close while crews build a new exit ramp. Traffic will use the next available ramp and turn around to reach Eisenhauer Road.
• Current thru July 2016. Northbound entrance ramp from Eisenhauer Road. The ramp will close while crews build a new entrance ramp. Traffic will use the next available ramp.
• Friday, June 24 at 9 p.m. until Monday, June 27 at 5 a.m. Northbound main lanes between AT&T Center Parkway and Binz-Engleman. Alternating lanes will close, two at a time, while crews do finish work on the roadway.
• Friday, June 24 at 10 p.m. until Monday, June 27 at 5 a.m. Northbound connector to southbound I-410. The ramp will close while crews repave the road. Traffic will follow the posted detour.
• Friday, June 24 at 10 p.m. until Monday, June 27 at 5 a.m. Southbound main lanes between AT&T Center Parkway and Binz-Engleman. All lanes will close while crews repave the roadway. Traffic will exit Splashtown Drive and re-enter the highway at the next available ramp.
• Friday, June 24 at 10 p.m. until Monday, June 27 at 5 a.m. Northbound connector to southbound I-410. The ramp will close while crews repave the road. Traffic will follow the posted detour.
• Sunday-Friday, June 26-July 1. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between AT&T Center Parkway and Binz-Engleman. Alternating lanes will close while crews do finishing road work.
• Sunday-Friday, June 26-July 1. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Frontage road, both directions, between AT&T Center Parkway and Binz-Engleman. The left lane will close while crews do finish work.
• Sunday-Friday, June 26-July 1. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Frontage road, both directions, between Walzem and Rittiman. Alternating lanes will close while crews do finish work on the road.
• Sunday-Friday, June 26-July 1. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between Walzem and Rittiman. Alternating lanes will close while crews do road work.
• Monday-Friday, June 27-July 1. 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Frontage roads, both directions, between Walzem and Rittiman. Alternating lanes will close while crews do road work.
• Wednesday-Thursday, June 29-30. 7 p.m. until 5 a.m. Northbound exit ramp to westbound I-410. The ramp will close while crews set beams for the Thousand Oaks Bridge. Traffic will exit Walzem Road and continue along the frontage road to reach the connector to westbound I-410.

I-35 – South San Antonio

• Monday-Thursday, June 27-30. 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily. Southbound main lanes between Benton City Road and Loop 1604. All lanes will close while crews resurface the road. Traffic will exit Kinney Road and re-enter the highway at the next available ramp.

I-410 – Northeast San Antonio

• Wednesday-Thursday, June 29-30. 7 p.m. until 5 a.m. Eastbound exit ramp to Randolph Boulevard. The ramp will close while crews set bridge beams. Traffic will follow the posted detour route.

I-410 – Northwest San Antonio

• Saturday, June 25. 5 a.m. until 8 a.m. Southbound frontage road at Hwy 151. All lanes will close while crews set up a crane. Traffic will use the eastbound frontage roads of Hwy 151 to Ingram Road, turn around and approach I-410 along the westbound frontage road of Hwy 151.

US Hwy 90 – West San Antonio

• Current until July 2016. Westbound frontage road between Hunt Lane and East Kriewald. The frontage road will close while crews reconstruct the Medio Creek Bridge.

Loop 1604 – Northwest San Antonio

• Current through Friday, July 1. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. Frontage roads, both directions, between Culebra and Bandera roads. Alternating lanes will close while crews lay asphalt and stripe the roadway. This closure includes ramps as needed. Only one ramp will close at a time.
• Current through Friday, July 1. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Frontage roads, both directions, between Culebra and Bandera roads. Alternating lanes will close while crews lay asphalt and stripe the roadway. This closure includes ramps as needed. Only one ramp will close at a time.

Hwy 151 – West San Antonio

• Current through July 2016. East-to-West turnaround at I-410. The turnaround will close while crews work on bridge support structures overhead.
• Current until December 2016. Westbound exit ramp to Ingram and Potranco roads. The ramp will remain closed while crews install bridge support structures for the direct connector ramps being constructed.
• Current until December 2016. Eastbound entrance ramp from Ingram and Potranco roads. The ramp will remain closed while crews install bridge support structures for the direct connector ramps being constructed.

Other roads – Kendall County

• Sunday-Friday, June 26-July 1. 9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly. US 87 (Main Street), both directions, at Hwy 46. The right lane will close while crews do roadway repair.
• Sunday-Friday, June 26-July 1. 9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly. Hwy 46, both directions, between Main Street and Thunder Valley Road. Alternating lanes will close while crews repair the roadway.

Other roads – East San Antonio

• Wednesday-Thursday, June 29-30. 7 p.m. until 5 a.m. Randolph Boulevard, both directions, between Crestway and I-35. All lanes will close while crews set bridge support beams overhead. Traffic will follow the posted detour.

Other roads – South San Antonio

• Sunday-Tuesday, June 26-30. 7 p.m. until 6 a.m. nightly. WW White between Fairlawn and I-10. The left lane will close while crews resurface the roadway.
• Tuesday, June 28. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Eastbound SW Military Drive at Leon Creek. The right lane will close while crews repair guardrail.

All closures are pending weather.

One portion of I-35 about to wrap up, continued focus near Rittiman Rd

If there's one thing you take from this post, let it be this:

After July 4, you'll be free from construction activities between Binz Engleman and AT&T Center Parkway. Well, mostly free. The only thing The Lane Construction Company has on its work schedule between Binz Engleman and AT&T Center Parkway is final highway lane striping and laying grass seed in the median. This milestone may be a little late getting here (we were initially hoping to be done with this project by the end of 2015), but the completion is here after a slew of weather-related challenges and difficulty getting resources on the job.

What's more, commuters on Monday (June 27) have a final roadway surface to use for their morning drive. The ramps around Splashtown will all be open to final configuration within a week of that. 

Through that weekend, though, expect a fair amount of closures. We've already got some closures this weekend, but next weekend we'll have all lanes of southbound I-35 closed between Binz-Engleman and AT&T Center Parkway. That will start Friday night (June 24) and continue until Monday morning (June 27). If you're planning to drive through this area over that weekend, do so with your eyes wide open - and know the work is nearly complete.

The smaller project adds an auxiliary lane in both directions of I-35 and eliminates redundant ramps. The project nearly seamlessly blends with the work area of the much larger I-35 SAMMC project, which picks up at George Beach and runs to Randoph Boulevard.

I-35 SAMMC
For the bigger job, we've still got a long way to go before we're finished. Right now Lane's folks are estimating we've got somewhere in the ballpark of a year before we're all done. Initial construction schedules when we started showed a completion date at the end of 2016. A slew of challenges on the project have slowed progress.

That said, we are almost ready to open some ramps ... and close a few others. Here's a look at what's happening:

We're not out of the woods on the ramp-building game quite yet ... but as you can see there's a lot of green happening in the next two months. We've also got things almost done with the new auxiliary lanes.

So what's left that's big? Well, the northbound ramp to Rittiman is a whole situation that won't really be addressed until the new southbound connector to southbound I-410 is finished. And that's a while from coming along. Then we have a few items remaining up there by Randolph Boulevard. Another day we'll talk about that, perhaps?

Next week's construction-related closures

I-10 – Downtown San Antonio

• Sunday-Friday, June 19-24. 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between I-410 and I-35. The right lane will close while crews lay asphalt. This closure includes closures of the ramps around Martin Luther King boulevard and Houston Street.
• Monday-Friday, June 20-24. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between I-410 and I-35. The right lane will close while crews work on guardrail.

I-35 – East San Antonio

• Current thru July 2016. Exit ramps, both directions, to Eisenhauer Road. The ramps will close while crews build a new exit ramp. Traffic will use the next available ramp and turn around to reach Eisenhauer Road.
• Current thru July 2016. Northbound entrance ramp from Eisenhauer Road. The ramp will close while crews build a new entrance ramp. Traffic will use the next available ramp.
• Friday, June 17 at 9 p.m. until Monday, June 20 at 5 a.m. Northbound main lanes between AT&T Center Parkway and Binz-Engleman. Alternating lanes will close, two at a time, while crews do finish work on the roadway.
• Friday, June 17 at 10 p.m. until Monday, June 20 at 5 a.m. Northbound connector to southbound I-410. The ramp will close while crews repave the road. Traffic will follow the posted detour.
• Friday, June 17 at 10 p.m. until Monday, June 20 at 5 a.m. Southbound main lanes between AT&T Center Parkway and Binz-Engleman. All lanes will close while crews repave the roadway. Traffic will exit Splashtown Drive and re-enter the highway at the next available ramp.
• Sunday-Friday, June 19-24. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Northbound main lanes between AT&T Center Parkway and Binz-Engleman. Alternating lanes will close while crews do finishing road work.
• Sunday-Friday, June 19-24. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Frontage road, both directions, between Walzem and Rittiman. Alternating lanes will close while crews do finish work on the road.
• Sunday-Friday, June 19-24. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Southbound main lanes between Rittiman Road and George Beach. The two right lanes will close while crews do work on the retaining walls. This closure includes the ramp to southbound I-410. Traffic will exit Rittiman Road and follow the frontage road to reach the ramp.
• Sunday-Friday, June 19-24. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Frontage road, both directions, between Walzem and Rittiman roads. Alternating lanes will close while crews do utilities work.
• Sunday-Friday, June 19-24. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between Walzem and Rittiman. Alternating lanes will close while crews do road work.
• Monday-Tuesday, June 20-21. 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. Southbound main lanes between Binz-Engleman and AT&T Center Parkway. Alternating lanes will close, two at a time, while crews do concrete work.
• Monday-Friday, June 20-24. 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Frontage roads, both directions, between Walzem and Rittiman. Alternating lanes will close while crews do road work.
• Tuesday-Friday, June 21-24. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Southbound main lanes between Binz-Engleman and AT&T Center Parkway. Alternating lanes will close, two at a time, while crews do concrete work.
• Friday, June 24 at 10 p.m. until Monday, June 27 at 5 a.m. Northbound connector to southbound I-410. The ramp will close while crews repave the road. Traffic will follow the posted detour.

I-410 – Northeast San Antonio

• Saturday, June 18. 6 a.m. until 2 p.m. Eastbound connector to northbound I-35. The right lane will close while crews work on a retaining wall. This closure includes the ramp to Randolph Boulevard and Windcrest. Traffic will exit Thousand Oaks, use the turnaround and approach Randolph Boulevard from the southbound frontage road of I-35.
• Sunday-Friday, June 19-24. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Eastbound connector to northbound I-35. The right lane will close while crews work on a retaining wall. This closure includes the ramp to Randolph Boulevard and Windcrest. Traffic will exit Thousand Oaks, use the turnaround and approach Randolph Boulevard from the southbound frontage road of I-35.

US Hwy 90 – West San Antonio

• Current until July 2016. Westbound frontage road between Hunt Lane and East Kriewald. The frontage road will close while crews reconstruct the Medio Creek Bridge.
• Sunday-Friday, June 19-24. 8:30 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between I-410 and Loop 1604. The right lane will close while crews move barrier.

Loop 1604 – Northwest San Antonio

• Current through Friday, June 24. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. Frontage roads, both directions, between Culebra and Bandera roads. Alternating lanes will close while crews lay asphalt and stripe the roadway. This closure includes ramps as needed. Only one ramp will close at a time.
• Current through Friday, June 24. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Frontage roads, both directions, between Culebra and Bandera roads. Alternating lanes will close while crews lay asphalt and stripe the roadway. This closure includes ramps as needed. Only one ramp will close at a time.

Hwy 151 – West San Antonio

• Current through July 2016. East-to-West turnaround at I-410. The turnaround will close while crews work on bridge support structures overhead.
• Current until December 2016. Westbound exit ramp to Ingram and Potranco roads. The ramp will remain closed while crews install bridge support structures for the direct connector ramps being constructed.
• Current until December 2016. Eastbound entrance ramp from Ingram and Potranco roads. The ramp will remain closed while crews install bridge support structures for the direct connector ramps being constructed.
• Sunday-Friday, June 19-24. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Eastbound frontage road between Ingram Road and I-410. The left two lanes will close while crews set bridge deck panels on the new direct connector. This closure includes the eastbound exit ramp to I-410. Traffic will use the previous exit and travel along the frontage road to reach its destination.

Other roads – Comal County

• Sunday-Monday, June 19-20. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Hwy 46, both directions, between Old Boerne Road and US Hwy 281. Alternating lanes will close while crews install traffic signals.

Other roads – Kendall County

• Sunday-Friday, June 19-24. 9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly. Hwy 46, both directions, between Main Street and Thunder Valley Road. Alternating lanes will close while crews repair the roadway.
• Sunday-Friday, June 26-July 1. 9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly. Hwy 46, both directions, between Main Street and Thunder Valley Road. Alternating lanes will close while crews repair the roadway.

Other roads – Northwest San Antonio

• Wednesday, June 22. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. UTSA Boulevard, both directions, at Leon Creek. The road will be down to a single lane, with traffic controlled by flaggers, while crews set bridge deck beams.

All closures are pending weather.

Fender bender? Get it off the road!

We've all done it. If not, you will. When we get in that one of 3-5 crashes we'll experience in our lifetimes there are always a few thoughts that run through our minds.

• First we wonder if everyone is alright (at least, that should be the first thought...).
• Next we try to recall exactly what happened so we can get our story straight for the police.
• Then we call the police or other emergency services division, reporting injuries if they exist.
• Finally we contact our insurance company to report the collision and begin the process of filing a claim.

While these thoughts are good and should be had by a driver who's just experienced a collision, there's a critical step forgotten so often SAPD asked us to begin running public service announcements on the topic.

That's right. Even State Farm recommends including - early - the step of getting out and away from the travel lanes. Allstate as well. Geico and esurance has it as their first bullet point. What's more, it's a state law here in Texas.

That's right: it's a law in the great state of Texas that, after a collision, you are to move your car off the active lane of traffic. If your car is entirely disabled, well ... that's a different story. But if it will still drive, get it - and yourself - out of the way. Here's why:

• Personal safety. It's really dangerous for you to be standing there while active traffic is zooming by. Get yourself out of harm's way and off on the shoulder.
• Traffic congestion. Taking a single lane out of commission increases traffic congestion tremendously. Think about it - when you've got, say, four lanes and one is blocked you're adding the traffic from that lane to the other three. It increases congestion by 30 percent. Take two of the four lanes and you're literally doubling congestion. Add to that the rubbernecking which happens ... yeah. It's not pretty. Pretty soon you've doubled everyone's commute times (if not tripled) because you've stayed in the traffic lane.
• You may be waiting a while. If you've got no injuries and you're waiting for police to arrive to get your statement and file a crash report, you could be waiting a while. While it's important to get your issue resolved, the truth is you're not an emergency situation. Law enforcement will bump you down the list if an emergency arises. Getting out of the way can help your wait be a little less stressful.

Most folks don't pull to the side of the road for fear of disturbing the scene of the crash, thinking they are hurting their chances of a successful insurance claim. This isn't true. Most states - and major cities - have a rule like this on the books, and insurance companies are getting the message. It's telling even the insurance companies are asking you to get the car over to the shoulder and out of traffic before calling the police to get that report.

So ... get with the program. Hopefully today isn't your day for a crash. Statistically that only comes about every 10-15 years. But when it does happen, make sure you know what to do and get your car off the road as quickly as possible.

Next week's construction-related closures

I-10 – Boerne

• Monday-Tuesday, June 13-14. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Westbound main lanes at Business 87. The right lane will close while crews repair a crash cushion.

I-10 – Downtown San Antonio

• Sunday-Friday, June 12-17. 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between I-410 and I-35. The right lane will close while crews lay asphalt.
• Monday-Friday, June 13-17. 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between I-410 and I-35. The right lane will close while crews work on guardrail.

I-35 – East San Antonio

• Current thru July 2016. Exit ramps, both directions, to Eisenhauer Road. The ramps will close while crews build a new exit ramp. Traffic will use the next available ramp and turn around to reach Eisenhauer Road.
• Current thru July 2016. Northbound entrance ramp from Eisenhauer Road. The ramp will close while crews build a new entrance ramp. Traffic will use the next available ramp.
• Friday, June 10 at 10 p.m. until Sunday, June 12 at 5 a.m. Southbound main lanes between Binz-Engleman and AT&T Center Parkway. All lanes will close while crews repave the road. Traffic will exit George Beach and continue along the frontage road to the next available ramp.
• Saturday-Sunday, June 11-12. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Northbound main lanes between AT&T Center Parkway and Binz-Engleman. The two left lanes will close while crews work on the concrete median barrier.
• Sunday-Friday, June 12-17. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between Binz-Engleman and AT&T Center Parkway. Alternating lanes will close while crews do finishing road work.
• Sunday-Friday, June 12-17. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Frontage road, both directions, between Walzem and Rittiman. Alternating lanes will close while crews do road work.
• Sunday-Friday, June 12-17. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between Walzem and Rittiman. Alternating lanes will close while crews do road work.
• Sunday-Friday, June 12-17. 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 road work.
• Monday-Friday, June 13-17. 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Frontage roads, both directions, between Walzem and Rittiman. Alternating lanes will close while crews do road work.
• Friday, June 17 at 10 p.m. until Monday, June 20 at 5 a.m. Northbound connector to southbound I-410. The ramp will close while crews repave the road. Traffic will follow the posted detour.
• Friday, June 17 at 10 p.m. until Monday, June 20 at 5 a.m. Southbound main lanes between AT&T Center Parkway and Binz-Engleman. All lanes will close while crews repave the roadway. Traffic will exit Splashtown Drive and re-enter the highway at the next available ramp.

I-410 – Southwest San Antonio

• Monday, June 13. 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Westbound main lanes at Roosevelt. The right lane will close while crews do concrete work.

U.S. Hwy 90 – West San Antonio

• Current until July 2016. Westbound frontage road between Hunt Lane and East Kriewald. The frontage road will close while crews reconstruct the Medio Creek Bridge.
• Sunday-Thursday, June 12-16. 8:30 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly. Eastbound main lanes between Loop 1604 and I-410. All lanes will close while crews set barrier. Traffic will exit Loop 1604, continue along the frontage road and re-enter the highway at the next available ramp.

U.S. Hwy 281 – Bulverde

• Tuesday, June 14. 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Main lanes, both directions, at Hwy 46. The right lane will close for about a mile on either side of Hwy 46 while crews remove barrier.

Loop 1604 – Northwest San Antonio

• Current through Friday, June 17. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. Frontage roads, both directions, between Culebra and Bandera roads. Alternating lanes will close while crews lay asphalt and stripe the roadway. This closure includes ramps as needed. Only one ramp will close at a time.
• Current through Friday, June 17. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Frontage roads, both directions, between Culebra and Bandera roads. Alternating lanes will close while crews lay asphalt and stripe the roadway. This closure includes ramps as needed. Only one ramp will close at a time.

Hwy 151 – West San Antonio

• Current until Friday, July 1 at 5 p.m. East-to-West turnaround at I-410. The turnaround will close while crews work on bridge support structures overhead.
• Current until December 2016. Westbound exit ramp to Ingram and Potranco roads. The ramp will remain closed while crews install bridge support structures for the direct connector ramps being constructed.
• Current until December 2016. Eastbound entrance ramp from Ingram and Potranco roads. The ramp will remain closed while crews install bridge support structures for the direct connector ramps being constructed.
• Sunday-Friday, June 12-17. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Eastbound frontage road between Ingram Road and I-410. The left two lanes will close while crews set bridge deck panels on the new direct connector. This closure includes the eastbound exit ramp to I-410. Traffic will use the previous exit and travel along the frontage road to reach its destination.

Other roads – Kendall County

• Sunday-Friday, June 12-17. 9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly. Scenic Loop Road, both directions, at I-10. All lanes will close while crews do overhead bridge work. Traffic will follow the posted detour route.
• Sunday-Friday, June 12-17. 9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly. Hwy 46, both directions, between Main Street and Thunder Valley Road. Alternating lanes will close while crews repair the roadway.

Other roads – East San Antonio

• Sunday-Friday, June 12-17. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Eisenhauer Road, both directions, at I-35. The left lane will close while crews work on the overpass bridge.
• Sunday-Friday, June 12-17. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Rittiman Road, both directions, at I-35. The left lane will close while crews work on the overpass bridge.

All closures are pending weather.

Rain, rain, go away....

May 2016 has brought some of the worst flooding on record in Texas. Flash floods brought by torrential downpours seems to have become a way of life the last year-plus. East Texas - particularly around Houston - has been hit the worst, logging more than 100 inches of rainfall since March 2015. Bexar County sits at some 60-70 inches over that period, by the way.
Still, as wet as it's been, let's not forget last May was worse - we got nearly 8 inches of rain in a single month at that point. (The infographic and those memes making their way through Facebook right now are actually about last May, not the one that just finished....)
At any rate, it's been a really wet spring. The impacts to our daily lives have been well documented and you've heard us make the #TurnAroundDontDrown cry pretty darned often. Heck, we even posted on it.
Now the water is receding and we're seeing sunnier skies. We're not out of the wet just yet - more is predicted for the weekend - but we're getting a break. With the sun out, so are our construction crews. In some areas you'll likely see activity pick up to a flurry to try to make up for any potentially lost time.
With that in mind, here's a run-down of the impacts of the rain on our biggest of construction projects (if we miss a project you're interested in, let us know by submitting a question for our mail bag).

 New Braunfels
Walnut Ave - Despite the wet weather crews with Dean Word were able to open Walnut to a single lane each direction before the Memorial Day weekend. Crews still have quite a bit of concrete work remaining to finish the job. That work should be wrapped up in July.
FM 306 - Hunter Industries hasn't seen any major impacts due to weather, and are moving forward with the expansion of FM 306 between Hunter Road and Hoffman Lane.

Boerne/Fair Oaks Ranch
I-10 at Scenic Loop Road - Wet weather set crews back about two weeks on their efforts to expand the intersection of Scenic Loop Road at I-10. That said, we fully expect this project should recover the time over the course of the summer. If you drive this area, expect to see work intensify with warmer and dryer weather.
I-10 Fair Oaks Ranch - The biggest impact has been the delay of moving traffic of the I-10 main lanes over away from the median area, where the bulk of construction will take place as we build a new overpass at Old Fredericksburg Road. That traffic shift was scheduled to happen mid-May; we were only able to get that done on the eastbound side. Right now Sundt Construction is aiming to have the westbound side shifted late June.
I-10 Leon Springs - A lot of the work on the new exit and entrance ramps between Boerne Stage Road and Dominion Drive has been pushed back a couple of weeks, but Texas Sterling Construction is confident they'll be able to make up that time over the summer. That means, of course, a lot more activity as weather allows - we're trying to wrap this project up as close to the end of summer as we can.

San Antonio
I-35 near SAMMC - The asphalt work planned for the last four weeks on the main lanes near Splashtown keeps getting pushed back, and is again slated to happen this weekend (expect major main lane closures for that work). We still have concrete work as well. This project was all set to wrap up right about now until the rain started pummeling us in April; right now we're looking at wrapping up in July. As for work on the interchanges at I-410 and the new exits and entrances at Rittiman, Eisenhauer and Walzem ... well, LANE Construction is telling us the delays haven't been anything they can't make up over the summer.
FM 78 - This work to widen FM 78 under Loop 1604 out in the Converse/Universal City area has actually pushed back a full month due to weather. The biggest victim to RELMCo's work here is the new roadway base for the widened portions - it's tough, after all, to get good compaction on fine dirt when the rain just won't stop. This project, to be frank, is still waiting for the ground to dry out enough to begin that base work before it starts progressing again at a good pace.
Loop 1604 Northwest - Somehow Williams Brothers Construction seems to remain relatively unfazed by the rain, but will be on a much-bolstered work schedule to have expansion of Loop 1604 between Bandera and Culebra roads complete by next week. This will require a slew of (let's be honest) frustrating closures drivers will encounter, but the consolation is the fact we're at the end of the job. These closures are allowing crews to lay asphalt and paint, which are about all that's left to do on the job. We still have some concrete work - which will also require occasional frontage road closures - but the bottom line is work should be wrapped up next week. Again, if this is your commute, expect to see intermittent delays through the end of next week ... and then thing should be a whole lot better.
Hwy 151 and I-410 - Well, the old eastbound on-ramp from Potranco still isn't open and the driveways in and out of Westover Marketplace are still being worked on. This is all stuff that had initially been anticipated to be finished in April, for those keeping track. Then April rains washed us back. Then May rains came, and kept on coming. We're hoping for a much more dry June to help us get this stuff all done. The good news is Williams Brothers Construction has kept their bridge crews busy, getting as much aerial work done as possible. This should minimize the overall delay on this project, which is set to finish in 2018.

Next week's construction-related closures

A lot of these are repeats of what was planned for previous weeks but keep getting pushed back by the rain....

I-10 – Fair Oaks Ranch

• Sunday-Tuesday, June 5-7. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Eastbound main lanes between Fair Oaks Parkway and Ralph Fair Road. The left lane will close while crews shift traffic lanes.
• Sunday-Friday, June 5-10. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Eastbound main lanes between Fair Oaks Parkway and Ralph Fair Road. The right lane will close while crews set barrier.

I-10 – Downtown San Antonio

• Monday-Friday, June 6-10. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Main lanes, both directions, between I-410 and I-35. The right lane will close while crews do guardrail work.
• Sunday-Friday, June 5-10. 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between I-410 and I-35. The right lane will close while crews lay asphalt.

I-35 – East San Antonio

• Current thru June 2016. Exit ramps, both directions, to Eisenhauer Road. The ramps will close while crews build a new exit ramp. Traffic will use the next available ramp and turn around to reach Eisenhauer Road.
• Current thru June 2016. Northbound entrance ramp from Eisenhauer Road. The ramp will close while crews build a new entrance ramp. Traffic will use the next available ramp.
• Sunday-Friday, June 5-10. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Southbound frontage road between Walzem and Eisenhauer. All lanes will close while crews work on underground storm drain. Traffic will use the entrance ramp from Walzem, then re-exit the highway at Rittiman Road.
• Sunday-Friday, June 5-10. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Southbound frontage road between Walzem and Eisenhauer. All lanes will close while crews work on underground storm drain. Traffic will use the entrance ramp from Walzem, then re-exit the highway at Rittiman Road.
• Sunday-Friday, June 5-10. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Frontage road, both directions, between Walzem and Rittiman. Alternating lanes will close while crews do road work.
• Sunday-Friday, June 5-10. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between Walzem and Rittiman. Alternating lanes will close while crews do road work.
• Monday-Friday, June 6-10. 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 road work.
• Monday-Friday, June 6-10. 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Frontage roads, both directions, between Walzem and Rittiman. Alternating lanes will close while crews do road work.
• Monday-Friday, June 6-10. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Frontage roads, both directions, between Binz-Engleman and AT&T Center Parkway. Alternating lanes will close while crews do road work.
• Wednesday-Thursday, June 8-9. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Southbound main lanes between Binz-Engleman and AT&T Center Parkway. All lanes will close while crews install overhead highway signs. Traffic will exit George Beach and continue along the frontage road to the next available ramp.
• Friday, June 10 at 10 p.m. until Sunday, June 12 at 5 a.m. Southbound main lanes between Binz-Engleman and AT&T Center Parkway. All lanes will close while crews repave the road. Traffic will exit George Beach and continue along the frontage road to the next available ramp.
• Saturday-Sunday, June 11-12. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Northbound main lanes between AT&T Center Parkway and Binz-Engleman. The two left lanes will close while crews work on the concrete median barrier.

I-410 – Southwest San Antonio

• Sunday-Friday, June 5-10. 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between Medina Base Road and I-35. The right lane will close while crews pave the roadway.

I-410 – South San Antonio

• Monday, June 6. 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. Westbound main lanes at Roosevelt Road. The right lane will close while crews work on concrete barrier.

U.S. Hwy 90 – West San Antonio

• Current until July 2016. Westbound frontage road between Hunt Lane and East Kriewald. The frontage road will close while crews reconstruct the Medio Creek Bridge.
• Sunday-Monday, June 5-6. 8:30 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. Eastbound main lanes between Loop 1604 and I-410. The left lane will close while crews do asphalt work.
• Monday-Tuesday, June 6-7. 8:30 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. Main lanes, both directions, at Loop 1604. All lanes will close while crews do overhead bridge work. Traffic will exit Loop 1604, pass through the intersection and re-enter the highway.

Loop 1604 – North San Antonio

• Tuesday-Wednesday, June 7-8. 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. Northbound main lanes at Lookout Road. The left lane will close while crews work on barrier.

Loop 1604 – Northwest San Antonio

• Current through Wednesday, June 15. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. Frontage roads, both directions, between Culebra and Bandera roads. Alternating lanes will close while crews lay asphalt and stripe the roadway. This closure includes ramps as needed. Only one ramp will close at a time.
• Current through Wednesday, June 15. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Frontage roads, both directions, between Culebra and Bandera roads. Alternating lanes will close while crews lay asphalt and stripe the roadway. This closure includes ramps as needed. Only one ramp will close at a time.
• Saturday-Tuesday, June 4-7. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Southbound frontage road at New Guilbeau Road. The left turn lane will close while crews install overhead signs. Traffic will travel to Shaenfield and turn around to reach New Guilbeau Road.
• Saturday-Tuesday, June 4-7. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Southbound frontage road at Braun Road. The left turn lane will close while crews install overhead signs. Traffic will travel to Shaenfield and turn around to reach Braun Road.
• Monday, June 6. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Main lanes, both directions, between Bandera and Culebra roads. The right lane will close briefly – about two hours at a time – in various locations as needed while crews test the dynamic message boards.

Hwy 151 – West San Antonio

• Current until Friday, July 1 at 5 p.m. East-to-West turnaround at I-410. The turnaround will close while crews work on bridge support structures overhead.
• Current until December 2016. Westbound exit ramp to Ingram and Potranco roads. The ramp will remain closed while crews install bridge support structures for the direct connector ramps being constructed.
• Current until December 2016. Eastbound entrance ramp from Ingram and Potranco roads. The ramp will remain closed while crews install bridge support structures for the direct connector ramps being constructed.

Other roads – Kendall County

• Wednesday-Friday, June 8-10. 9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly. Scenic Loop Road, both directions, at I-10. All lanes will close while crews do overhead bridge work. Traffic will follow the posted detour route.

Other roads – East San Antonio

• Sunday-Friday, June 5-10. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Eisenhauer Road, both directions, at I-35. The left lane will close while crews work on the overpass bridge.
• Sunday-Friday, June 5-10. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Rittiman Road, both directions, at I-35. The left lane will close while crews work on the overpass bridge.

Other roads – Southeast San Antonio

• Sunday-Friday, June 5-10. 7 p.m. until 6 a.m. nightly. W.W. White (Loop 13), both directions, between Sinclair Road and I-10. The left lane will close while crews repair the road.

Other roads – Northwest San Antonio

• Saturday-Wednesday, June 4-7. 9 a.m. until 3 a.m. daily. New Guilbeau Road at Loop 1604. The right lane will close under the Loop 1604 main lanes while crews install overhead highway signs.
• Saturday-Wednesday, June 4-7. 9 a.m. until 3 a.m. daily. Westbound Braun Road at Loop 1604. The left lane will close under the Loop 1604 main lanes while crews install overhead highway signs.

All closures are pending weather.