I-10 closures (yesterday)

First of all, we owe folks traveling along the northwest corridor of San Antonio a huge apology - we are sorry.
Yesterday (December 21) we had two small segments of westbound I-10 between Ralph Fair Road and Fair Oaks Parkway limited to a single lane and traffic was backed up significantly, causing reported delays of well over an hour. We'd like to explain ourselves a bit.


What we did

For the record, this is a
highway in Oklahoma
published by Equipment World
back in 2015; it is NOT
representative of our roads
in/around San Antonio.

The closures were for emergency repairs to the roadway. Recent wet weather opened a pothole near Ralph Fair Road and caused significant issues on I-10 Tuesday morning. Our guys got out there and created a temporary patch, but it was done during wet-weather conditions. We knew it wouldn't hold up through Christmas.
Yesterday was our opportunity to get in while the ground was dry and do something that would hold a bit better and we reduced significantly the odds of a safety hazard cropping up over Christmas and New Years.
We had another pothole open up near Fair Oaks Parkway we addressed with a long-term fix immediately.


Why we did it
Again, these repairs needed to be done immediately. Waiting wasn't an option; we tried that the first round with the pothole near Ralph Fair Road. That pothole was reported over the weekend and inspected Monday (December 18). We tried to hold off on repairing for a better time, and the pothole simply got worse and created bigger problems by Tuesday.
We simply had no choice but take care of the issue now and not try waiting until after the week of Christmas and New Year.


Why not at night
Asphalt work requires warmer temperatures, often above 60 degrees. We're not getting those warmer temperatures during the nighttime hours, so we had to get the work done during the day.
We know it stinks, and it's not a decision we take lightly at all. We actually have a moratorium on planned construction-related closures this week (and next), and we won't typically do a planned closure on the main lanes of a highway during a weekday anyway.
The point is this: it wasn't poor planning, but poor timing by Mother Nature.


Where we failed

Our communications staff failed to get notice out in a meaningful way. This is what we're apologizing for.
We have in the past been successful alerting folks to unfortunate closures like this. Our goal is simple: let folks know what's happening so they're not left wondering while they sit in traffic. When we got an email from a member of one of our own construction project teams working along I-10 asking why we had the backup we knew we dropped the ball pretty badly.
We should have posted alerts to Twitter and had a blog post explaining the closure. We know traditional media outlets - TV stations, newspaper and radio stations - pick up news bits from our Twitter feeds and our blog. We should have posted the closure to our Drive Texas online travel app. We should have coordinated messaging through our digital message boards operated by TransGuide.
We did none of these.
Travelers were left instead wondering the cause of the long delays near busy shopping centers and along major travel corridors.


What we've learned

The online assets we've used in the past are effective and should be used more consistently in the future - indeed, we will use more consistently in the future. Frankly, we know we can do better - we have done better in the past - and we will do so moving forward. Expect to see us post to Twitter with the hope it gets picked up by traditional media out lets. Expect to see something on our blog.
And if you're listening to satellite radio or your MP3 player, expect to see our digital message boards alerting drivers of the closure. Expect to see something like this on the Drive Texas app.

Next week's construction-related closures

Note: the planned closure on I-10 at Fair Oaks Parkway for Dec. 15-16 has been postponed to January due to the poor weather forecast.

I-10 – Fair Oaks Ranch

• Current until Friday, January 26. Westbound frontage road at Old Fredericksburg Road. All lanes will close while crews replace drain structures. Traffic will follow the signed detour route, including a temporary route under the new overpass at Old Fredericksburg, to reach its destination.

I-10 – Leon Springs

• Sunday, December 17 at 9 p.m. until Monday, December 18 at 5 a.m. Main lanes, both directions, between Boerne Stage Road and La Cantera Parkway. Alternating lanes will close while crews mark the pavement for the workzone.

I-35 – Schertz

• Current until October 2018. Frontage roads, both directions, at FM 1103. The right lane will close while crews replace the FM 1103 overpass bridge.

I-35 – East San Antonio

• Friday, December 15 at 9 p.m. until Monday, December 18 at 5 a.m. Main lanes, both directions, between Thousand Oaks and George Beach. Alternating lanes will close, two at a time, while crews lay asphalt.
• Saturday, December 16. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Southbound exit to eastbound I-410. The ramp will close while crews repair a crash cushion. Traffic will take the next exit and turn around to reach its destination.

I-37 – Downtown San Antonio

• Current and continuous until March 2018 at 9 a.m. Northbound exit ramp to Florida and Carolina avenues (exit 140A). The ramp will close while crews rebuild the slope near the exit. Traffic will exit Cesar Chavez (exit 140B) and turn around to reach its destination.

I-410 – South San Antonio

• Current until Friday, December 22. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. Main lanes, both directions, between Poteet Highway and Somerset Road. Alternating lanes will close while crews seal cracks in the road.

I-410 – West San Antonio

• Current until December 2018. Turnarounds, both directions, at Marbach Road. The turnarounds will remain closed while crews construct the new Marbach overpass bridge. Traffic will use the signalized intersection.
• Monday, December 18 at 8 p.m. until Tuesday, December 19 at 5 a.m. Northbound main lanes and frontage road between Marbach and Meadow Glade. The right lane of the main lanes, left lane of the frontage road will close while crews open a new temporary ramp.

U.S. Hwy 90 – West San Antonio

• Sunday-Tuesday, December 17-19. 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Westbound main lanes between I-410 and Hunt Lane. The right lane will close while crews set barrier.
• Tuesday, December 19 at 8 p.m. until Wednesday, December 20 at 5 a.m. Westbound frontage road between I-410 and Hunt Lane. All lanes will close while crews drill bridge support structure foundations.

Hwy 151 – Northwest San Antonio

• Current until Friday, December 22. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Westbound main lanes between I-410 and Hunt Lane. All lanes will close while crews build concrete bridge barriers and resurface the road to reopen the Hunt Lane exit ramp by Christmas.
• Current until Friday, December 22. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Westbound main lanes between I-410 and Hunt Lane. The right lane will close while crews remove concrete barrier and resurface the road to get the Hunt Lane exit ramp reopened by Christmas.

Loop 1604 – Northwest San Antonio

• Current until Friday, January 26, 2018. North-to-south turnaround at Bandera Road. The turnaround will remain closed while crews do road work. Traffic will use the signalized intersection to turn around.

Other roads – Seguin

• Monday, December 18 at 7 a.m. until Friday, December 22 at 7 p.m. North Austin Street, both directions, between Seideman and Railroad streets. All lanes will close while crews reconstruct the road. Through traffic will use Guadalupe Street to reach its destination.

Other roads – Helotes

• Current until Sunday, December 31. Bandera Road, both directions, at FM 1560. All left- and right-turn lanes will close while crews do road work. Those turning onto FM 1560 or onto Circle A Trail will do so from the through lanes of traffic. Field staff will adjust signal timing as required.

Other roads – Southwest San Antonio

• Current until Tuesday, December 19. 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily. Poteet-Jourdanton Freeway, both directions, between I-35 and I-410. The right lane will close while crews seal cracks in the road.
• Current until Friday, December 22. 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily. Pearsall Road, both directions, between I-410 and Loop 13. Alternating lanes will close while crews seal cracks in the road.
• Saturday, December 16 until Friday, December 22. 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily. West Military, both directions, between US Hwy 90 and I-35. Alternating lanes will close while crews seal cracks in the road.

All closures are pending weather.

Wurzbach and Northwest Military - your chance to be heard

It could be your last chance to provide input on the future of the intersection of Wurzbach Parkway and Northwest Military.

The current plan, based on input from previous open houses hosted by our planning team, is to expand the intersection without building bridges. Challenges with access between the Inverness neighborhood and the Alon Business Center led to scrapping plans with an overpass in favor for an expanded signalized intersection. Traffic engineers estimate morning delays at the intersection improve from 47 seconds to 34 seconds with this solution; evening delay will improve from 77 seconds to 36 seconds, elevating the current level-of-service rating an entire grade.
The current proposal extends all right-turn lanes for added storage space and includes dual left-turn lanes in all directions. The estimated cost as of today is about $7.5 million.
This is all based on current public input. Those yet wishing to be heard may provide their input at our final planned open house tomorrow night. Here's the info:

• Thursday, Dec. 15 between 5 and 7 p.m.
• Barshop Jewish Community Center Auditorium, 12500 NW Military Hwy

The meeting will be an open house format so residents may come and go at their convenience and staff will be available to answer questions.
Construction on the project could start as early as 2020.

The latest on Austin Streeet in Seguin

UPDATE: upcoming work involving closures has been pushed until after New Years due to the wet weather forecast. New work schedule will be announced early January.

If you're talking with our guys on the project please don't mention the word inlet - it's become profanity of on this project. Whether the issue be with fabrication or installation, drain inlets have been a single consistent challenge on this project.
Because of some of these challenges on the south end of the project we are going to close - completely - North Austin between Seideman and Railroad. This will allow Curran to reconstruct the road and reposition some of the inlets in the area, correcting the issues causing problems for us right now.
Oh, yeah ... it would be helpful to know the timeframe of that full closure. Well, we plan to take advantage of the school holiday so we won't need to reroute Seguin ISD school buses. Curran will shut things down the morning of Monday, December 18 and will reopen the road by close of business Friday, December 22.
If we tried to do this work without the full closure we'd end up trying to finish it out with weekend closures through the month of January. This more aggressive approach allows us to save some time on the work and get down to business.
Back in October we said we'd be all done with one-way traffic on this job forever. We're still on pace to make good on that promise. Curran is laying asphalt on the northbound side of the road and has just a couple of inches remaining before we can swap lanes over and work on the southbound side.
All told we're eying a completion date in early 2019. Yes, that's about six months after we had initially expected. Delays involving those cursed inlets and some box culverts have pushed work back and contributed to some fairly significant delays on work.
And now ... time for some quick looks at the job:


Paving crews lay asphalt base for the new road. The elevation difference between the old road and new road should be fairly evident; the old road surface is about even with the workers' waistline as they lay asphalt.

This stretch of northbound Austin Street still needs a good two inches of asphalt before it's ready for traffic.

Box culverts and inlets continue to be a challenge on the project, but the challenge is being met by project staff head-on.



Inlet woes continue to plague the job, but TxDOT staff has worked with Curran to develop workable solutions and get this job finished with relative speed.

Mail Bag: Congested highways, stewardship and some future planning

Why is traffic on 1604 east bound between 281 and Bulverde Road moving so slowly in the afternoons? My trip home has increased by 40 minutes.
- Nan
Why has traffic increased so much recently? I-35 has turned into a parking lot!
- Ericka
Honestly, that's probably because of the area being among the fastest-growing in the United States. For some reason, people love coming here! We think it has something to do with the tacos....
It's why we have major construction along seemingly every corridor - to address the congestion and safety issues that come from adding dozens of cars to our roads each week.

Recent advance notices refer to nightly closures, but nothing about day time closures of the right lane of US 281 NBFR north of Loop 1604. The TCP on the TxDOT website shows permanent pavement added to the left side of the NBFR which avoids the lane closure. Have the plans changed?
- Tom
First of all, we don't have our traffic control plan (TCP) posted online.
When we add permanent pavement to one side of the road, we often need to shift traffic away from that area to create adequate safe work space. That sometimes means adding some temporary pavement to hold traffic for a few weeks or months as needed - which means closures on both sides of the road.
Frankly, any time we do any construction project, every lane will be subject to occasional small closures at some point of the work.

Is Evans Road from Green Mountain to Bulverde Road closed again today (12.5.17)?
- Gladys
First of all, we're sorry we didn't answer this question a bit sooner. The questions to the Mail Bag aren't checked daily, and the Mail Bag isn't intended for immediate reply. For faster responses try us on Twitter.
As for the Evans Road work, that's not TxDOT work anyway. That work was done by SAWS, and questions about the work should have been directed to them.

I noticed the work on I-10 at Old Fredricksuburg and at Scenic Loop is adding extended sections of concrete roadway. Will the widening of I-10 to The Rim also use concrete? Is there a reason the approaches to the bridges were concrete in these projects?
Also, at Old Fred, the retaining walls are prepared for widening the bridge. When is that planned?
- Blake
We are trying to move toward concrete paving wherever we can afford to do so due to the lower cost of long-term maintenance. Going with concrete is super expensive on the front end, though, and isn't something we're able to do with just any project. We typically extend the concrete paving at elevated bridges, such as the overpasses you're mentioning, to accomplish some of our goal.
The HOV lanes we're building between La Cantera and Fair Oaks are not being build on concrete except on the bridges we'll be expanding.
We're glad you noticed the forward-thinking design on the new overpass at Old Fredericksburg Road - we do not have a date for that expansion set, but we wanted to be sure the new bridge would improve constructability for the projects that may come in the future.

I appreciate what you do getting the word out to the SA community on their TxDOT projects. I live in northeast San Antonio and the I-35 project there impacts me greatly. I was wondering if the southbound I-35 exit to Walzem will be relocated. I know you have relocated the I-410 Walzem exit, even though I see people not using it and using the old exit instead.
My worry is if the exit is not closed, we will continue to see traffic occasionally back up onto the main lanes when there is a train. I know that there is one lane of SB I-35 access road that is continuous through the I-35/I-410 interchange. Is this section being only one lane prohibiting the relocation of this exit?
- Nathan
For now we are not relocating that southbound I-35 exit to Walzem. Your suggestion is really interesting, though - it's something we're passing along to our highway planners as an option we ought to consider for improved operational efficiency.

Next week's construction-related closures

I-10 – Fair Oaks Ranch

• Current until Friday, January 26. Westbound frontage road at Old Fredericksburg Road. All lanes will close while crews replace drain structures. Traffic will follow the signed detour route, including a temporary route under the new overpass at Old Fredericksburg, to reach its destination.
• Friday, December 15 at 9 p.m. until Saturday, December 16 at 6 p.m. Main lanes, both directions, at Fair Oaks Parkway. All lanes will close while crews pour concrete overhead. Traffic will exit Fair Oaks Parkway, continue through the intersection and re-enter the highway.

I-10 – Leon Springs

• Sunday-Friday, December 10-15. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between Ralph Fair Road and La Cantera Parkway. Alternating lanes will close while crews set barrier.

I-35 – Schertz

• Current until October 2018. Frontage roads, both directions, at FM 1103. The right lane will close while crews replace the FM 1103 overpass bridge.
• Tuesday, December 12. 9 a.m. until 11 a.m. Southbound exit to FM 1103. The ramp will close while crews restripe the road. Traffic will use the next available ramp and turn around.

I-35 – East San Antonio

• Current until Monday, December 11. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between George Beach and Thousand Oaks. Alternating lanes will close while crews lay asphalt.
• Saturday, December 9 at 5 a.m. until Sunday, December 10 at 6 p.m. Main lanes, both directions, between Thousand Oaks and George Beach drives. Alternating lanes will close, two at a time, while crews lay asphalt.
• Friday, December 15 at 9 p.m. until Monday, December 18 at 5 a.m. Main lanes, both directions, between Thousand Oaks and George Beach. Alternating lanes will close, two at a time, while crews lay asphalt.

I-37 – Downtown San Antonio

• Current and continuous until March 2018 at 9 a.m. Northbound exit ramp to Florida and Carolina avenues (exit 140A). The ramp will close while crews rebuild the slope near the exit. Traffic will exit Cesar Chavez (exit 140B) and turn around to reach its destination.
• Current until Thursday, December 14. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. Southbound main lanes between Presa Street and Military Drive. The left lane will close while crews seal cracks in the road.

I-410 – West San Antonio

• Friday, December 8 at 8 p.m. until Monday, December 11 at 5 a.m. Main lanes and frontage roads, both directions, at U.S. Hwy 90. All lanes will close while crews set steel bridge support beams overhead. This is a total closure of the highway. Southbound traffic will be detoured to westbound US 90 and turn around at Hunt Lane to return to I-410. Northbound traffic will be detoured to eastbound US 90 and turn around at West Military to return to I-410. The southbound lanes should reopen by midday Saturday.
• Current until December 2018. Turnarounds, both directions, at Marbach Road. The turnarounds will remain closed while crews construct the new Marbach overpass bridge. Traffic will use the signalized intersection.
• Current until Friday, December 15. 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes and frontage roads, both directions, at US Hwy 90. All lanes will close while crews set steel bridge support beams overhead. This is a total closure of the highway. Southbound traffic will be detoured to westbound US 90 and turn around at Hunt Lane to return to I-410. Northbound traffic will be detoured to eastbound US 90 and turn around at West Military to return to I-410. While this closure coincides with the nightly closure on I-410, only one highway will close at a time.

U.S. Hwy 87 – Southeast Bexar County

• Current until Thursday, December 14. 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily. Southbound main lanes between Lakefront Street and the Wilson County Line. Alternating lanes will close while crews seal cracks in the road.

U.S. Hwy 90 – West San Antonio

• Current until Friday, December 15. 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes and frontage roads, both directions, at I-410. All lanes will close while crews work on steel bridge beams overhead. This is a total closure of the highway. Eastbound traffic will be detoured to southbound I-410 and turn around at Valley Hi to return to US 90. Westbound traffic will be detoured to northbound I-410 and turn around at Hwy 151 to return to US 90. While this closure coincides with the nightly closure on I-410, only one highway will close at a time.
• Current until Friday, December 15. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, at Loop 1604. All lanes will close while crews set and weld steel bridge support beams overhead. Eastbound traffic will exit Loop 1604, continue through the intersection and re-enter the highway at the next available ramp. Westbound traffic will exit Loop 1604 and turn north, turn around at Marbach to return to US Hwy 90.

U.S. Hwy 181 – Southeast Bexar County

• Current until Thursday, December 14. 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily. Southbound main lanes between I-37 and the Wilson County Line. Alternating lanes will close while crews seal cracks in the road.

U.S. Hwy 281 – North San Antonio

• No closures scheduled next week.

Loop 1604 – Northwest San Antonio

• Current until Friday, January 26, 2018. North-to-south turnaround at Bandera Road. The turnaround will remain closed while crews do road work. Traffic will use the signalized intersection to turn around.

Other roads – Helotes

• Current until Sunday, December 31. Bandera Road, both directions, at FM 1560. All left- and right-turn lanes will close while crews do road work. Those turning onto FM 1560 or onto Circle A Trail will do so from the through lanes of traffic. Field staff will adjust signal timing as required.
• Monday-Wednesday, December 11-13. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. FM 1560, both directions, between Saltillo Flat and Alta Loma. All lanes will close while crews lay asphalt. Traffic will use Braun Road, Loop 1604 and Bandera Road to reach its destination.
• Monday, December 11 until Friday, December 29. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. FM 1560, both directions, between Saltillo Flat and Alta Loma. Alternating lanes will close while crews lay asphalt. One-way traffic will be controlled by a flagger.
• Wednesday, December 13 until Sunday, December 31. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Bandera Road, both directions, between Diamond K Trail and FM 1560. Alternating lanes will close while crews lay asphalt.

Other roads – Southwest San Antonio

• Current until Thursday, December 14. 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily. Pearsall Road, both directions, between I-410 and Loop 13. Alternating lanes will close while crews seal cracks in the road.

Other roads – West San Antonio

• Monday, December 11 at 9 a.m. until Friday, December 15 at 5 p.m. Westcreek Oaks Drive, both directions, at Loop 1604. All lanes will close while crews construct the new southbound frontage road. Traffic will use Military Drive and Potranco Road to reach its destination.

All closures are pending weather.

Seal coats - what they are and why we do them

We've received a slew of comments and complaints about seal coat projects across the region over the last several weeks. It's an annual occurrence for us, answering these questions. Each of them typically echo much of what John, who submitted this question late November, has said:

Recently TXDOT hired some contractors to lay down a layer of rocks on FM 758. The road is now worse than ever. I drive the road daily. Prior to this I never had rocks hitting my car. I have had 5 rocks hit my car in the last week alone from cars passing while waiting to turn onto the road or by cars passing in opposite lane. I now have 2 new chips in my windshield. I have never seen this surface on a highway before. Is it temporary and why not replace with a smooth surface like it was?
- John

The elements of the complaint are fairly easily broken down:

• The road is in horrible shape and covered in loose gravel
• Rocks are spraying cars damaging windshields and paint jobs
• This is poor workmanship the likes of which has never been seen

The truth is most people don't understand what exactly has been done. That's fully on us, by the way - it's up to us to let folks know what's going on, and it's clear we missed that boat (though others have taken the issue up...). Late is better than never, though, correct?

What is a sealcoat?
Sealcoats are intended to moisturize the road to prevent crumbling and extend the life of the pavement.

Asphalt is an amorphous solid dependent on a level of wetness for its structural integrity. Just like our skin, it chaps and cracks in the hot Texas sun. While many add lotion to preserve soft and silky smooth skin, highway engineers add a cocktail of oil and tar to the road to preserve its shape and smoothness. Over time the cocktail seeps into the road, but when we first apply the mix it sets on the surface of the road.
Anyone who has seen a James Bond movie or played Spy Hunter knows how treacherous a road with oil concentrated on the surface can be. To keep a road we've done a seal coat on safe and to improve traction we lay a thin, sparse layer of gravel atop the seal coat mix.

Why not just resurface?

This is a common solution posed by most who drive these newly sealed roads. Heck, we'd love to be able to resurface or reconstruct each road every time we see wear and tear, but the cost would be astronomic. We reserve resurfacing for about every 7-10 years, and seal coat about every 3-5 years.
The cost difference is huge and cannot be overstated. A seal coat will cost literally pennies on the dollar we might spend resurfacing the road. While we are committed to providing and maintaining a safe and reliable transportation system, we are tasked and trusted to be extremely prudent with the limited taxpayer dollars we are given.

The bottom line: sure, resurfacing the road would look a lot nicer. This practice about doubles the lifespan of a road, though, and cuts costs by nearly 20 percent over a 40-year timeframe.

What about the slinging gravel?

The result is a road that looks really dark, like a new road, but has a bit of what looks like loose gravel on its surface. That gravel is mashed into the road surface, typically, using rubber-tired pneumatic rollers.

Although the result is a louder ride with road noise, the biggest problem for drivers comes from the gravel kicking up with the large knobby tires from the trucks on the road. This is why we typically keep "Loose Gravel" warning signs up while we're doing the work, letting drivers know to take care and increase following distances.

After a few short weeks that gravel gets pressed and ground into the road surface and becomes a non-issue.

Next week's construction-related closures

I-10 – Fair Oaks Ranch

• Current until Friday, December 29. Westbound frontage road at Old Fredericksburg Road. All lanes will close while crews replace drain structures. Traffic will follow the signed detour route, including a temporary route under the new overpass at Old Fredericksburg, to reach its destination.
• Friday, December 15 at 9 p.m. until Saturday, December 16 at 6 p.m. Main lanes, both directions, at Fair Oaks Parkway. All lanes will close while crews pour concrete overhead. Traffic will exit Fair Oaks Parkway, continue through the intersection and re-enter the highway.

I-10 – Boerne

• Monday, December 4. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Westbound main lanes at Hwy 46 (Exit 540). The right lane will close while crews resurface the road to tie the new entrance ramp to the main lanes.
• Tuesday, December 5 at 9 p.m. until Wednesday, December 6 at 5 a.m. Westbound main lanes at Scenic Loop Road. The exit ramp to and entrance ramp from Scenic Loop Road will close while crews remove concrete barrier. Traffic will use Exit 542 to reach its destination.

I-10 – Leon Springs

• Sunday-Friday, December 3-8. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between Ralph Fair Road and La Cantera Parkway. Alternating lanes will close while crews set barrier.
• Tuesday-Thursday, December 5-7. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. East-to-west turnaround at Dominion Drive. The turnaround will close while crews work on the traffic signals. Traffic will use the full intersection to reach their destination.

I-10 – Northwest San Antonio

• Monday-Friday, December 4-8. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Eastbound frontage road between Cincinnati and Culebra. The right lane will close while crews do sidewalk work.

I-35 – New Braunfels

• Sunday, December 3 at 10 p.m. until Monday, December 4 at 6 a.m. Northbound main lanes between Solms and Rueckle roads. All lanes will close while crews repair the roadway following a crash. Traffic will exit Solms Road and continue along the frontage road until the next available entrance ramp.

I-35 – Schertz

• Current until October 2018. Frontage roads, both directions, at FM 1103. The right lane will close while crews replace the FM 1103 overpass bridge.

I-35 – East San Antonio

• Current until Monday, December 11. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between George Beach and Thousand Oaks. Alternating lanes will close while crews lay asphalt.
• Saturday, December 2 at 5 a.m. until Sunday, December 3 at 6 p.m. Main lanes, both directions, between Thousand Oaks and George Beach drives. Alternating lanes will close, two at a time, while crews lay asphalt.
• Monday, December 4. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Southbound frontage road ramp to southbound I-410. The ramp will close as needed while crews do concrete work nearby.
• Monday-Friday, December 4-8. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Southbound frontage road between Walzem and Rittiman roads. The right lane will close while crews repair the road.
• Saturday, December 9 at 5 a.m. until Sunday, December 10 at 6 p.m. Main lanes, both directions, between Thousand Oaks and George Beach drives. Alternating lanes will close, two at a time, while crews lay asphalt.
• Friday, December 15 at 9 p.m. until Monday, December 18 at 5 a.m. Main lanes, both directions, between Thousand Oaks and George Beach. Alternating lanes will close, two at a time, while crews lay asphalt.

I-37 – Downtown San Antonio

• Current and continuous until March 2018 at 9 a.m. Northbound exit ramp to Florida and Carolina avenues (exit 140A). The ramp will close while crews rebuild the slope near the exit. Traffic will exit Cesar Chavez (exit 140B) and turn around to reach its destination.
• Thursday, December 7 until Thursday, December 14. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. Southbound main lanes between Presa Street and Military Drive. The left lane will close while crews seal cracks in the road.

I-410 – West San Antonio

• Current until December 2018. Turnarounds, both directions, at Marbach Road. The turnarounds will remain closed while crews construct the new Marbach overpass bridge. Traffic will use the signalized intersection.
• Friday, December 1 at 8 p.m. until Monday, December 4 at 5 a.m. Main lanes and frontage roads, both directions, at US Hwy 90. All lanes will close while crews set steel bridge support beams overhead. This is a total closure of the highway. All traffic will exit US Hwy 90. Southbound traffic will head west to Hunt Lane, turn around and return to I-410. Northbound traffic will head east to West Military, turn around and return to I-410.

U.S. Hwy 87 – Southeast Bexar County

• Saturday-Sunday, December 2-3. 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily. Southbound main lanes between I-37 and the Wilson County Line. Alternating lanes will close while crews seal cracks in the roadway.
• Thursday, December 7 until Thursday, December 14. 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily. Southbound main lanes between Lakefront Street and the Wilson County Line. Alternating lanes will close while crews seal cracks in the road.

U.S. Hwy 90 – West San Antonio

• Current until Friday, December 8. 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. daily. Main lanes, both directions, between I-410 and Leon Creek. Alternating lanes will close as needed while trucks deliver light poles.
• Friday, December 1 at 8 p.m. until Monday, December 4 at 5 a.m. Eastbound ramp to southbound I-410, westbound ramp to northbound I-410. The ramps will close while crews set overhead bridge support beams. Eastbound traffic will turn around at West Military to reach its destination. Westbound traffic will turn around at Hunt Lane to reach its destination.
• Thursday, December 6 until Friday, December 15. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, at Loop 1604. All lanes will close while crews set and weld steel bridge support beams overhead. Eastbound traffic will exit Loop 1604, continue through the intersection and re-enter the highway at the next available ramp. Westbound traffic will exit Loop 1604 and turn north, turn around at Marbach to return to US Hwy 90.

U.S. Hwy 181 – Southeast Bexar County

• Thursday, December 7 until Thursday, December 14. 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily. Southbound main lanes between I-37 and the Wilson County Line. Alternating lanes will close while crews seal cracks in the road.

U.S. Hwy 281 – North San Antonio

• No closures scheduled next week.

Hwy 151 – Northwest San Antonio

• Current until Friday, December 8. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Westbound frontage road between Ingram and Potranco roads. The left lane will close while crews work on overhead highway sign support structures. This closure will not be done on Friday or Saturday nights.

Loop 1604 – Northwest San Antonio

• Current until Wednesday, December 6. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Southbound main lanes between Marbach and US Hwy 90. The right turn lane will close while crews set steel bridge support beams. This closure includes the ramp to westbound US Hwy 90. Traffic will follow the posted detour to reach its destination.
• Current until Friday, January 26, 2018. North-to-south turnaround at Bandera Road. The turnaround will remain closed while crews do road work. Traffic will use the signalized intersection to turn around.
• Friday, December 1 at 9 p.m. until Monday, December 4 at 5 a.m. Southbound main lanes at US Hwy 90. The right-turn lane to westbound US 90 will close while crews place steel bridge support beams overhead.

Other roads – Helotes

• Current until Sunday, December 31. Bandera Road, both directions, at FM 1560. All left- and right-turn lanes will close while crews do road work. Those turning onto FM 1560 or onto Circle A Trail will do so from the through lanes of traffic. Field staff will adjust signal timing as required.

Other roads – Boerne

• Tuesday-Wednesday, December 3-4. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Hwy 46, both directions, between Blanco Road and Coveney Trail. Alternating lanes will close while crews restripe the road.

Other roads – Southwest San Antonio

• Saturday-Sunday, December 2-3. 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily. Pearsall Road, both directions, between I-410 and Loop 13. Alternating lanes will close while crews seal cracks in the road.

Other roads – West San Antonio

• Friday, December 1 at 9 p.m. until Monday, December 4 at 6 a.m. Marbach Road, both directions, west of Loop 1604. All lanes will close while crews reconstruct the intersection. Traffic will use Emory Peak to reach its destination.
• Monday, December 4 at 9 a.m. until Friday, December 8 at 5 p.m. Westcreek Oaks Drive, both directions, at Loop 1604. All lanes will close while crews construct the new southbound frontage road. Traffic will use Military Drive and Potranco Road to reach its destination.

Other roads – Northwest San Antonio

• Monday-Friday, December 4-8. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Southbound Fredericksburg Road between Magnolia and Woodlawn. The right lane will close while crews do sidewalk work.
• Monday-Friday, December 4-8. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Cincinnati Avenue, both directions, between I-10 and Sabinas. The right lane will close while crews do sidewalk work.

All closures are pending weather.

The big'uns to look for in December

Our contractors are working at blistering paces on projects district-wide to ensure we have no closures impeding holiday travel after school districts let out for the Christmas break. That happens, for nearly all major school districts in our area, at some point the week of December 18-22.
In order to ensure the work we do between about December 18 and January 2 is done without closures you'll see a flurry of overnight closures and at least three semi-major closures in the San Antonio area.
Check our weekly lane closures report for overnight closures. Here is a brief list of our biggest closures to be aware of:

• Friday, December 1 at 8 p.m. until Monday, December 4 at 5 a.m. I-410 main lanes and frontage road, both directions, at US 90. All lanes will close while crews set steel bridge support beams overhead. Southbound traffic will exit westbound US 90, turn around at Hunt Lane and return to southbound I-410. Northbound traffic will exit eastbound US 90, turn around at Military Drive and return to northbound I-410.
• Friday, December 15 at 8 p.m. until Saturday, December 16 at 6 p.m. I-10 main lanes, both directions, at Fair Oaks Parkway. All lanes will close while crews pour concrete to form a bridge deck overhead. Traffic in both directions will exit Fair Oaks Parkway, continue through the intersection and re-enter the highway.
• Friday, December 15 at 8 p.m. until Monday, December 18 at 5 a.m. I-35 main lanes, both directions, between George Beach and Randolph Boulevard. Alternating lanes will close, two at a time, while crews resurface the road. When the closure is picked up the capacity of I-35 will be increased by one lane in each direction (main lanes traffic will be in its final configuration).

Please plan accordingly.

This week's construction-related closures

I-10 – Fair Oaks Ranch

• Current until Friday, December 29. Westbound frontage road at Old Fredericksburg Road. All lanes will close while crews replace drain structures. Traffic will follow the signed detour route, including a temporary route under the new overpass at Old Fredericksburg, to reach its destination.

I-10 – Leon Springs

• Wednesday, November 27 until Friday, December 1. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between Ralph Fair Road and La Cantera Parkway. Alternating lanes will close while crews set barrier.

I-35 – Schertz

• Current until October 2018. Frontage roads, both directions, at FM 1103. The right lane will close while crews replace the FM 1103 overpass bridge.

I-35 – East San Antonio

• Current until Monday, December 11. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between George Beach and Thousand Oaks. Alternating lanes will close while crews lay asphalt.
• Saturday-Sunday, December 2-3. 5 a.m. until 6 p.m. Main lanes, both directions, between Thousand Oaks and George Beach drives. Alternating lanes will close, two at a time, while crews lay asphalt.
• Saturday-Sunday, December 9-10. 5 a.m. until 6 p.m. Main lanes, both directions, between Thousand Oaks and George Beach drives. Alternating lanes will close, two at a time, while crews lay asphalt.

I-37 – Downtown San Antonio

• Current and continuous until Friday, December 1 at 5 p.m. Northbound exit ramp to Florida and Carolina avenues (exit 140A). The ramp will close while crews rebuild the slope near the exit. Traffic will exit Cesar Chavez (exit 140B) and turn around to reach its destination.

I-410 – North San Antonio

• Monday, November 27 until Friday, December 1. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Eastbound main lanes between Nacogdoches and Ira Lee roads. Alternating lanes will close while crews resurface the road. This closure includes ramps as needed.

I-410 – West San Antonio

• Current until December 2018. Turnarounds, both directions, at Marbach Road. The turnarounds will remain closed while crews construct the new Marbach overpass bridge. Traffic will use the signalized intersection.
• Monday, November 27 at 9 p.m. until Tuesday, November 28 at 5 a.m. Southbound main lanes between Ingram Road and Military Drive. All lanes will close while crews install overhead highway signs. Traffic will exit Ingram Road, continue along the frontage road and use the next available entrance ramp.
• Monday-Thursday, November 27-30. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Southbound main lanes between Culebra Road and Military Drive. The right lane will close while crews do bridge work. This closure includes the exit to Military Drive and the entrance from Culebra Road.
• Friday, December 1 at 8 p.m. until Monday, December 4 at 5 a.m. Main lanes and frontage roads, both directions, at US Hwy 90. All lanes will close while crews set steel bridge support beams overhead. This is a total closure of the highway. All traffic will exit US Hwy 90. Southbound traffic will head west to Hunt Lane, turn around and return to I-410. Northbound traffic will head east to West Military, turn around and return to I-410.

U.S. Hwy 90 – West San Antonio

• Friday, December 1 at 8 p.m. until Monday, December 4 at 5 a.m. Eastbound ramp to southbound I-410, westbound ramp to northbound I-410. The ramps will close while crews set overhead bridge support beams. Eastbound traffic will turn around at West Military to reach its destination. Westbound traffic will turn around at Hunt Lane to reach its destination.

U.S. Hwy 281 – North San Antonio

• Monday, November 27 until Friday, December 1. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Northbound main lanes at Sonterra Boulevard. The right lane will close while crews set barrier.
• Monday, November 27 until Friday, December 1. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Northbound frontage roads between Loop 1604 and Sonterra Boulevard. The right lane will close while crews set barrier.
• Monday-Friday, December 4-8. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Northbound main lanes between Donella Drive and Sonterra Boulevard. Alternating lanes will close while crews restripe the road. This closure includes the entrance ramp from Donella Drive and Henderson Pass.
• Monday-Friday, December 4-8. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Northbound main lanes at Sonterra Boulevard. The right lane will close while crews set barrier.

Hwy 151 – Northwest San Antonio

• Monday, November 27 until Friday, December 1. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Frontage roads, both directions, between Ingram and Potranco roads. The turn lanes will close while crews work on pedestrian signal poles.
• Monday, November 27 until Friday, December 8. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Westbound frontage road between Ingram and Potranco roads. The left lane will close while crews work on overhead highway sign support structures. This closure will not be done on Friday or Saturday nights.

Loop 1604 – Northwest San Antonio

• Current until Friday, January 26, 2018. North-to-south turnaround at Bandera Road. The turnaround will remain closed while crews do road work. Traffic will use the signalized intersection to turn around.

Other roads – Helotes

• Current until Sunday, December 31. Bandera Road, both directions, at FM 1560. All left- and right-turn lanes will close while crews do road work. Those turning onto FM 1560 or onto Circle A Trail will do so from the through lanes of traffic. Field staff will adjust signal timing as required.

Other roads – West San Antonio

• Friday, December 1 at 9 p.m. until Monday, December 4 at 6 a.m. Marbach Road, both directions, west of Loop 1604. All lanes will close while crews reconstruct the intersection. Traffic will use Emory Peak to reach its destination.
• Monday, December 4 at 9 a.m. until Friday, December 8 at 5 p.m. Westcreek Oaks Drive, both directions, at Loop 1604. All lanes will close while crews construct the new southbound frontage road. Traffic will use Military Drive and Potranco Road to reach its destination.

All closures are pending weather.

Mail Bag: Turnarounds along I-10 East, resurfacing on Lp 1604 and more

I recently discovered a historical marker on Ammann Rd just east of SH 46, celebrating the Pinta Trail. If I had not checked out the Historical Commission of Texas' website, I would have never knew it existed. Are there not a lot of historical marker directional signage on state-maintained roads in Kendall County? I seem to see them in many other portions of the State, but maybe I'm missing the forest for the trees in my own area.
- Mark
This question caused us to go back to our Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices and our traffic operations gurus to find a good answer. Section 2M.11 covers these specific signs.
You're welcome to peruse the MUTCD on your own at any time. It's a handy guide for understanding the why's behind the what's with our signs.
Alright ... the answer (in plain English): We provide signs for all historical markers that are within our right-of-way and are outside city limits. In this case, the marker may have fallen outside our right-of-way and may even be in city limits.
If there are any markers you're seeing without these call-out signs that fit the bill of being in our right-of-way and are outside city limits, let us know!

The schematic for the IH 10 E & FM 1516 intersection calls for a complete reconfiguration, with turnarounds in both directions (for 1516) and two lanes in each direction for the underpass, including replacing existing riprap with retaining wall. Presently TSC has used the eastern half of the 1516 overpass to install an east-to-west turnaround. Why does this differ from the project schematic? And when will the 1516 intersection be reconfigured to match the schematic? If TSC bid an alternate to the schematic, why wasn't the public notified?
- Marshall
Great questions, Marshall. For argument's sake, let's use the schematics posted online as our base for this conversation. Fair?

These schematics are preliminary and used to explain what our overall vision for the project is. This vision remains.
Yes, we fully intend to construct turnarounds at the FM 1516 intersection as we had presented during our public meetings on the work being done. During the detailed design stages of the project we discovered an elevation issue with this intersection, however. If we were to construct the turnarounds under the current bridge, as shown in the preliminary schematics, we would end up with either (1) turnarounds rendered unusable by large trucks because the clearance under the bridge is too short or (2) major flooding problems from turnarounds cut deeply into the ground and set well below the elevation of the roadway around it.
The solution? Build a new bridge.
That's happening during the expansion of I-10 set to begin later next year. We're adding a lane in each direction between I-410 and Loop 1604. In doing this, we're also replacing many of the overpass bridges - including the bridge over FM 1516 - and making them longer, taller and wider. After this bridge work is done the turnarounds will be built permanently.
The turnarounds you're seeing built right now to serve eastbound-to-westbound traffic is a temporary turnaround conceived to ease traffic pressures at the intersection with the one-way roads. We've actually change-ordered this temporary turnaround into the contract Texas Sterling has; their plans never included the turnarounds earlier.

Why is the Thousand Oaks exit off I-35 closed and is this permanent?
- Lucille
It is permanent - and rather than call it "closed" we would call it "moved". We discussed this in a video post earlier, but we moved the exit south a bit to improve the overall operation of the highway out there.

I noticed Asphalt Milling Machines and rollers parked on this of 1604 West bound close to La Cantera. If this for a TxDOT project on 1604 or something else?
- Zane
Nope, that's us! We are resurfacing Loop 1604 (main lanes and frontage roads) between Bandera Road and Rogers Ranch/Bitters Road. Work started back in October and will continue until summer 2018. Expect to see daytime work on the frontage roads. We'll stay off the main lanes during the day, though. Don't expect to see that overnight activity until temperatures heat up, this upcoming spring.

On the SH 16 & 1604 project I see that the base is layers of asphalt. What's the life span for this method? It doesn't seem to work long on normal street traffic.
- Pamela

This is actually pretty standard for us. There are several layers to a roadway. The Express-News did a really interesting story about the Recipe for a Roadway almost two years ago. It's definitely worth a look.
Any roadway is a lot like an onion - there are several layers most of us never see or fully understand. What's more, those layers are not all asphalt - we often mistake other layers as mere digging or blading, when we're really building those additional non-asphalt layers.
Our depths are different than what you see on a city street or in your subdivision - that's important to keep in mind. While many municipal roadways measure their depth in inches, ours are measured in feet. That base of asphalt is at least 18 inches deep and rests atop base layers of a variety of compacted soils.

What is the status of putting the steel beams in place for hwy 151 over 410? I remember a while back it was supposed to occur in November. Now there appears to be no word of it. In fact it seems the hwy 90 work is going faster than 151.
- Steve
The beams should be here in January, and we could be setting beams as soon as February. This falls within the timeframe given back in June.
As for project pace, please do not refer to a single aspect of the projects to make an overall assessment of the progress of projects. Doing so can set yourself up for an unreasonable expectation on both projects.
To be honest, both jobs are on their predetermined pace; the 151-410 project is set to wrap up late summer 2018 as promised when we broke ground. The 410-90 project still has quite a bit of work remaining. While you're seeing steel beams placed, you'll carefully note the frontage work now nearly done on the 151-410 project has a long way to go. You'll also note the bridge work and work on the ramps at Marbach has just begun and has more than a year before that's complete. That sort of work on the 410-151 job has nearly finished.
Hopefully that helps.

(Re)Opening tomorrow: Northbound I-410 exit to Culebra

Crews with Williams Brothers Construction will have the northbound I-410 exit to Culebra Road reopened in time for the morning commute tomorrow - Wednesday, November 22.
We know that's more than seven months after we had initially promised to have the ramp reopened. We've discussed that issue previously, and the only thing we can really add to those explanations is a heartfelt expression of our regret we weren't able to keep the initial commitment.
The new ramp runs under the future northbound entrance from Military Drive, which is currently scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2018.
For those curious about other aspects of the project at I-410 and Hwy 151, here are a few quick hits:

• The turnarounds at Ingram Road (and elsewhere) should be opened by the first part of 2018. We have asphalt work there that's very temperature-dependent and we are working out ways to get that done during the daytime without disrupting too badly traffic on the frontage roads.
• The entirety of work on the main lanes of Hwy 151 is nearing completion, and we could have barriers removed and everything opened up fully as soon as Christmas. This includes, by the way, having that westbound ramp to Hunt Lane reopened. There are still some major items remaining, like concrete and asphalt work, but project bosses are telling us we should be able to squeeze all this in before Santa makes his rounds.
• The steel beams to be set for the direct connectors are still planned to be set by February if all goes well. We have some closure restrictions for the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo coming up in February, so we can't commit to anything specific just yet. Please know we are as anxious as anyone to have those things in place and hope to do so around that timeframe.
• The widening on the southbound frontage road of I-410 over Leon Creek should wrap up by January 2018, allowing us to get that frontage road back to full capacity and, perhaps, get that greenway under the road reopened for use.

Closures impeding Thanksgiving weekend travel?

If you're headed over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house this week the last thing you're going to want to encounter is highway construction.
We feel the same way. The following note was sent to construction supervisors across our district a week ago. This covers all projects in Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Frio, Guadalupe, Kendall, Kerr, Medina, McMullen, Wilson and Uvalde counties.

The overall gist of the memo is simple: we should have no planned lane closures on major roads during the Thanksgiving holiday travel period, defined as beginning noon Wednesday and ending 10 pm Sunday. This doesn't mean we won't have any work going on, but it does mean that work will be done without needing closures.
During the holiday week both maintenance and construction inspectors will drive through projects to ensure major issues that crop up are dealt with in a timely manner. Things they'll specifically look for are work zone signs, barricade placement and pavement markings.
Before the holiday break comes crews will dress up the project areas as much as is practical.
One thing drivers can expect to see is a continuation of detours for long-term closures, like ramps or other features that have been closed long-term.
If something weird happens through the week our folks in the field will pass word along so we are able to post on our Twitter feed and get that information out there. We know many folks aren't on Twitter, but all major news outlets are and they follow us. If something weird happens, the news outlets will know and will be passing word along to you.
This isn't the only period on our calendar with such closure moratoriums. We'll have a similar prohibition on closures running December 15-January 2. Some minor exceptions may be made, but those are extremely rare.
These closure restrictions are long-running norms for us in the San Antonio District, by the way, and are designed to keep us out of your way during peak seasonal traffic and to allows everyone to stay just a little more safe as we prepare for that extra time with family.
And for those of you traveling beyond our little slice of Texas, check www.drivetexas.org for major closures across the great state of Texas. Please make sure you do not check the DriveTexas maps while driving; that's a job for someone in a passenger seat.

Next week's construction-related closures

Note: No closures will be permitted from 22 November at noon until 26 November at 10 p.m.

I-10 – Seguin

• Saturday, November 18. 12:01 a.m. until 5 p.m. Eastbound frontage road at Hwy 46. All lanes will close while crews do road work. Traffic will use FM 464 to reach its destination.

I-10 – Fair Oaks Ranch

• Current until Friday, December 29. Westbound frontage road at Old Fredericksburg Road. All lanes will close while crews replace drain structures. Traffic will follow the signed detour route, including a temporary route under the new overpass at Old Fredericksburg, to reach its destination.
• Friday, November 17 at 9 p.m. until Saturday, November 18 at 6 p.m. Main lanes, both directions, at Fair Oaks Parkway. All lanes will close while crews set bridge deck panels overhead. Traffic will exit Fair Oaks Parkway, continue through the intersection and re-enter the highway.

I-10 – Leon Springs

• Wednesday, November 29 until Friday, December 1. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between Ralph Fair Road and La Cantera Parkway. Alternating lanes will close while crews set barrier.

I-10 – Northwest San Antonio

• Monday-Tuesday, November 20-21. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Eastbound frontage road between Magnolia and Mistletoe. The right lane will close while crews do concrete work.

I-35 – Schertz

• Current until October 2018. Frontage roads, both directions, at FM 1103. The right lane will close while crews replace the FM 1103 overpass bridge.
• Monday, November 21 at 10 p.m. until Tuesday, November 22 at 2 a.m. Southbound main lanes at FM 1103. The left lane will close while crews repair a crash cushion.

I-35 – Northeast San Antonio

• Saturday, November 18. 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. Main lanes, both directions, between Walzem Road and Thousand Oaks. All lanes will close while crews install overhead highway signs. Northbound traffic will exit Walzem Road and southbound traffic will exit Randolph Boulevard. Both traffic directions will follow posted detour signs to re-enter the highway at the next available ramp.

I-35 – East San Antonio

• Current until Monday, November 27. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between George Beach and Thousand Oaks. Alternating lanes will close while crews lay asphalt.
• Monday-Tuesday, November 20-21. 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Main lanes, both directions, between I-410 and Broadway. The right lane will close while crews pour concrete. This closure includes ramps as needed. Traffic will use the next available ramp.
• Saturday-Sunday, December 2-3. 5 a.m. until 6 p.m. Main lanes, both directions, between Thousand Oaks and George Beach drives. Alternating lanes will close, two at a time, while crews lay asphalt.
• Saturday-Sunday, December 9-10. 5 a.m. until 6 p.m. Main lanes, both directions, between Thousand Oaks and George Beach drives. Alternating lanes will close, two at a time, while crews lay asphalt.

I-37 – Downtown San Antonio

• Current and continuous until Friday, December 1 at 5 p.m. Northbound exit ramp to Florida and Carolina avenues (exit 140A). The ramp will close while crews rebuild the slope near the exit. Traffic will exit Cesar Chavez (exit 140B) and turn around to reach its destination.

I-410 – West San Antonio

• Current until Friday, November 24. Northbound exit to Culebra Road. The exit will close while crews widen the main lanes and frontage road. Traffic will exit Ingram Road, turn around and get to Culebra on the southbound frontage road.
• Current until December 2018. Turnarounds, both directions, at Marbach Road. The turnarounds will remain closed while crews construct the new Marbach overpass bridge. Traffic will use the signalized intersection.
• Friday, November 17 at 8 p.m. until Monday, November 20 at 5 a.m. Main lanes and frontage roads, both directions, at US Hwy 90. All lanes will close while crews set steel bridge support beams overhead. This is a total closure of the highway. All traffic will exit US Hwy 90. Southbound traffic will head west to Hunt Lane, turn around and return to I-410. Northbound traffic will head east to West Military, turn around and return to I-410.
• Sunday, November 19 at 8 p.m. until Monday, November 20 at 5 a.m. Northbound main lanes between Hwy 151 and Ingram Road. All lanes will close while crews pour concrete to form the bridge deck over Leon Creek. This closure will not take place simultaneous to work on I-410 at US Hwy 90. If that work persists Sunday night, this closure will be moved to Monday night.
• Friday, December 1 at 8 p.m. until Monday, December 4 at 5 a.m. Main lanes and frontage roads, both directions, at US Hwy 90. All lanes will close while crews set steel bridge support beams overhead. This is a total closure of the highway. All traffic will exit US Hwy 90. Southbound traffic will head west to Hunt Lane, turn around and return to I-410. Northbound traffic will head east to West Military, turn around and return to I-410.

U.S. Hwy 90 – West San Antonio

• Friday, November 17 at 8 p.m. until Monday, November 20 at 5 a.m. Eastbound ramp to southbound I-410, westbound ramp to northbound I-410. The ramps will close while crews set overhead bridge support beams. Eastbound traffic will turn around at West Military to reach its destination. Westbound traffic will turn around at Hunt Lane to reach its destination.
• Friday, December 1 at 8 p.m. until Monday, December 4 at 5 a.m. Eastbound ramp to southbound I-410, westbound ramp to northbound I-410. The ramps will close while crews set overhead bridge support beams. Eastbound traffic will turn around at West Military to reach its destination. Westbound traffic will turn around at Hunt Lane to reach its destination.

U.S. Hwy 281 – North San Antonio

• Monday-Wednesday, November 20-22. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Northbound frontage road at Sonterra Boulevard. The right lane will close while crews set barrier.
• Monday-Wednesday, November 20-22. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Northbound main lanes between Donella Drive and Sonterra Boulevard. Alternating lanes will close while crews restripe the road. This closure includes the entrance ramp from Henderson Pass. Traffic will use the entrance ramp from Sonterra Boulevard to reach its destination.
• Monday, November 27 until Friday, December 1. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Northbound main lanes at Sonterra Boulevard. The right lane will close while crews set barrier.

Hwy 151 – Northwest San Antonio

• Current until December 22. Westbound exit to Hunt Lane. The exit will close while crews reconstruct the roadway to fit the future direct connector ramp from southbound I-410. Traffic will exit Ingram and follow the frontage road to reach its destination.
• Sunday-Wednesday, November 19-22. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Westbound main lanes between I-410 and Potranco Road. All lanes will close while crews remove equipment and barrier from the center median area. Traffic will exit Ingram Road, follow the frontage roads and re-enter the highway after Hunt Lane.
• Monday-Wednesday, November 20-22. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Frontage roads, both directions, between Ingram and Potranco roads. The turn lanes will close while crews install foundations for pedestrian signal poles.
• Wednesday, November 27 until Friday, December 8. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Westbound frontage road between Ingram and Potranco roads. The left lane will close while crews work on overhead highway sign support structures. This closure will not be done on Friday or Saturday nights.

Loop 1604 – Northwest San Antonio

• Current until Friday, January 26, 2018. North-to-south turnaround at Bandera Road. The turnaround will remain closed while crews do road work. Traffic will use the signalized intersection to turn around.

Other roads – Converse

• Monday-Tuesday, November 20-21. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. FM 1516, both directions, between Avenue D and Avenue F. All lanes will close while crews install a wastewater line. Traffic will use Avenue D, Station Street and Avenue F to reach its destination.

Other roads – Helotes

• Monday-Wednesday, November 20-22. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. FM 1560, both directions, between Alta Loma and Saltillo Flats. Alternating lanes will close while crews pour concrete. Traffic will be controlled by officers or flaggers.
• Current until Sunday, December 31. Bandera Road, both directions, at FM 1560. All left- and right-turn lanes will close while crews do road work. Those turning onto FM 1560 or onto Circle A Trail will do so from the through lanes of traffic. Field staff will adjust signal timing as required.

Other roads – West San Antonio

• Friday, November 17 at 9 p.m. until Monday, November 20 at 6 a.m. Marbach Road, both directions, west of Loop 1604. All lanes will close while crews reconstruct the intersection. Traffic will use Emory Peak to reach its destination.
• Friday, December 1 at 9 p.m. until Monday, December 4 at 6 a.m. Marbach Road, both directions, west of Loop 1604. All lanes will close while crews reconstruct the intersection. Traffic will use Emory Peak to reach its destination.
• Monday, December 4 at 9 a.m. until Friday, December 8 at 5 p.m. Westcreek Oaks Drive, both directions, at Loop 1604. All lanes will close while crews construct the new southbound frontage road. Traffic will use Military Drive and Potranco Road to reach its destination.

Other roads – Northwest San Antonio

• Monday, November 20. 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. Southbound Bandera Road between Legend Trail and Loop 1604. The right lane will close while crews move barrier.
• Monday-Tuesday, November 20-21. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Southbound Fredericksburg Road between West Magnolia and West Woodlawn. The right lane will close while crews do concrete work.

All closures are pending weather.

Mail Bag: new signal in New Braunfels, turnarounds at Marbach, 410-151 intersection

First, I want to say I am happy to see a traffic light at the intersection of Hwy 46 and FM 758 in New Braunfels! I travel through this intersection twice a day and it is very dangerous attempting to turn left onto 46 from FM 758. I would like to ask if we will see a flashing yellow left turn for 758 bound traffic from 46.

An instructive gif we used when we turned away
from the left turn yield on green arrangment in San Antonio.

I can already see a red left turn light there causing unnecessary congestion/delay and even making access to Clear Springs restaurant an issue for opposite 46 traffic.
- John
To paraphrase our traffic operations engineer: Yessir! This signal cycle will include a flashing yellow arrow signal. For those who don't know what that means, the flashing yellow arrow allows drivers taking a left to proceed cautiously if the coast is clear. This allows a better traffic flow and minimizes the need for long green time for a secondary movement at a signal.
Timing of the signal, once it's been installed and good to go, will be managed by our friends with the city of New Braunfels.

Closure of the turnarounds at Marbach was very bad planning. It is creating very bad traffic jams on the access roads. I can't believe this bad situation is going to last more than a year.
- Ed

We understand it's difficult, but it's necessary. With the amount of overhead work we're doing and the fact we need to work on the bridge support shelves (called abutments) it's simply impossible to keep the turnarounds open at a location like this. The closure is pretty standard for any construction of the type we're doing.
To mitigate the impact we are working with San Antonio Transportation and Capital Improvements, the city department with oversight for traffic signals and other roadway issues, to optimize the signal timing at the intersection to handle the additional traffic.
As for the duration ... well, we could have them opened back up a LOT faster if we were able to build the bridge all in one shot. That would mean, of course, fully closing I-410 for about eight months while we totally rebuilt the bridge. We'd carry all the main lanes traffic on the frontage roads through the Marbach intersection.

The last major rain event saw pretty bad puddling on the southbound I-410 exit for Hwy 151. What are you doing to fix this?
- Several

We added new asphalt to reverse the flow of water, and so far it's been working wonderfully. The water now runs to the area between the frontage road and exit ramp and drains to the north on up to Leon Creek. Barring a major rain storm, which brings puddling everywhere no matter what we do, we shouldn't see any major issues at this location as long as this temporary ramp is still in use.
Long-term, the exit ramp for Military Drive and the Westover Marketplace shopping center will move back to the north of Leon Creek. That's still on its way.

Closurepocalypse over; get ready for Closuregeddon

Last weekend we had major closures on US 90 at I-410 and on I-10 at Fair Oaks Parkway. Both went relatively smoothly (though that stretch of I-10 had a hiccup after our work was done with a big rig overturning Sunday).
If you avoided these areas per our recommendations, GREAT JOB!
Well ... we're doing it again and you probably want some information on what to expect for this weekend. We're calling it Closuregeddon, after last week's Closurepocalypse.
Here you go:

One closure we don't mention in the video you should probably take note of: I-35 between Walzem Road and Thousand Oaks. We'll have all lanes, both directions, closed Saturday (November 18) between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. This will allow crews to work on overhead highway signs. This is a closure you'll want to avoid as well.


Closure moratoriums coming
We're just putting this out there - please spread the word.
We will have NO planned construction-related closures between noon November 22 and 10 p.m. November 26. You'll also see NO planned construction-related closures between 6 a.m. December 15 and 10 p.m. January 2.

Next week's construction-related closures

I-10 – Boerne

• Wednesday-Friday, November 15-17. 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. nightly. Westbound main lanes at Hwy 46. The right lane will close while crews resurface the road. This closure includes Exit 540 to Hwy 46. Traffic will take the next exit and turn around to reach its destination.
• Wednesday, November 15 at 9 p.m. until Thursday, November 16 at 5 a.m. Westbound main lanes at Scenic Loop Road. All lanes will close while crew move barrier. Traffic will exit Scenic Loop Road, move through the intersection and return to the main lanes.
• Thursday, November 16 at 9 p.m. until Friday, November 17 at 5 a.m. Westbound main lanes at Scenic Loop Road. The left lane will close while crews move barrier.

I-10 – Fair Oaks Ranch

• Current until Friday, December 29. Westbound frontage road at Old Fredericksburg Road. All lanes will close while crews replace drain structures. Traffic will follow the signed detour route, including a temporary route under the new overpass at Old Fredericksburg, to reach its destination.
• Saturday, November 11 at 4 a.m. until Sunday, November 12 at 6 p.m. Main lanes, both directions, at Fair Oaks Parkway. All lanes will close while crews set bridge support beams overhead. Traffic will exit Fair Oaks Parkway, continue through the intersection and re-enter the highway. No traffic will be permitted across the Fair Oaks Parkway bridge during this closure.

I-10 – Leon Springs

• Sunday-Friday, November 12-17. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between Ralph Fair Road and La Cantera Parkway. Alternating lanes will close while crews set barrier.
• Monday, November 13. 9 a.m. unlit 3 p.m. East-to-west turnaround at Dominion Drive. The turnaround will close while crews work on the traffic signal control cabinet.

I-10 – East San Antonio

• Saturday, November 11 at 5 a.m. until Monday, November 13 at 5 a.m. Eastbound main lanes between Roland Road and Amanda Street. The two left lanes will close while crews repair the shoulder and left lanes.

I-35 – Schertz

• Current until October 2018. Frontage roads, both directions, at FM 1103. The right lane will close while crews replace the FM 1103 overpass bridge.

I-35 – Northeast San Antonio

• Saturday, November 18. 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. Main lanes, both directions, between Walzem Road and Randolph Boulevard. All lanes will close while crews install overhead highway signs. Northbound traffic will exit Walzem Road and southbound traffic will exit Randolph Boulevard. Both traffic directions will follow posted detour signs along the frontage road and re-enter the highway at the next available ramp.

I-35 – East San Antonio

• Current until Monday, November 27. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between George Beach and Thousand Oaks. Alternating lanes will close while crews lay asphalt.
• Saturday, November 11. 5 a.m. until 3 p.m. Northbound main lanes at New Braunfels Avenue. The right lane will close while crews work on retaining walls.

I-37 – Downtown San Antonio

• Current and continuous until Friday, December 1 at 5 p.m. Northbound exit ramp to Florida and Carolina avenues (exit 140A). The ramp will close while crews rebuild the slope near the exit. Traffic will exit Cesar Chavez (exit 140B) and turn around to reach its destination.

I-410 – West San Antonio

• Current until Wednesday, November 15. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Northbound main lanes between Marbach and Hwy 151. Two right lanes will close while crews set barrier.
• Current until Wednesday, November 22. Northbound exit to Culebra Road. The exit will close while crews widen the main lanes and frontage road. Traffic will exit Ingram Road, turn around and get to Culebra on the southbound frontage road.
• Current until Sunday, November 26. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Northbound main lanes and frontage roads at US Hwy 90. The right lane will close while crews work on overhead bridge support columns. This closure includes the ramp from westbound US 90. Traffic will head south to Valley Hi and turn around to reach its destination.
• Current until December 2018. Turnarounds, both directions, at Marbach Road. The turnarounds will remain closed while crews construct the new Marbach overpass bridge. Traffic will use the signalized intersection.
• Friday, November 10 at 8 p.m. until Monday, November 13 at 5 a.m. Southbound ramp to eastbound US Hwy 90, northbound ramp to westbound US Hwy 90. The ramps will close while crews set overhead bridge support beams. Southbound traffic will turn around at Valley Hi to reach its destination. Northbound traffic will turn around at Hwy 151 to reach its destination.
• Friday, November 17 at 8 p.m. until Monday, November 20 at 5 a.m. Main lanes and frontage roads, both directions, at US Hwy 90. All lanes will close while crews set steel bridge support beams overhead. This is a total closure of the highway. All traffic will exit US Hwy 90. Southbound traffic will head west to Hunt Lane, turn around and return to I-410. Northbound traffic will head east to West Military, turn around and return to I-410.

I-410 – Northwest San Antonio

• Monday-Friday, November 13-17. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Eastbound main lanes between Northwest Military and Jones-Maltsberger. Alternating lanes will close while crews install guardrail.
• Monday-Friday, November 13-17. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Eastbound frontage roads between Vance Jackson and Honeysuckle Lane. Alternating lanes will close while crews do concrete work.
• Monday-Friday, November 13-17. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Eastbound frontage roads between Airport Boulevard and Nacogdoches Road. Alternating lanes will close while crews lay asphalt. This closure includes ramps as needed.

U.S. Hwy 90 – West San Antonio

• Current until Wednesday, November 15. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Eastbound frontage road between Ray Ellison and I-410. All lanes will close while crews set bridge panels. Traffic will use Crooked Trail and the southbound frontage road of I-410 to reach its destination.
• Friday, November 10 at 8 p.m. until Monday, November 13 at 5 a.m. Main lanes and frontage roads, both directions, at I-410. All lanes will close while crews set steel bridge support beams overhead. This is a total closure of the highway. All traffic will exit I-410. Eastbound traffic will head south to Valley Hi, turn around and return to US Hwy 90. Westbound traffic will head north to Hwy 151, turn around and return to US Hwy 90.
• Monday, November 13 at 9 p.m. until Tuesday, November 14 at 5 a.m. Main lanes, both directions, at Loop 1604. All lanes will close while crews set bridge support beams overhead. Traffic will exit Loop 1604, continue along the frontage road and re-enter at the next available ramp.
• Monday, November 13 until Wednesday, November 22. 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes and frontage roads, both directions, between Hunt Lane and I-410. All lanes will close while welders secure the steel bridge support beams overhead. During most nights the closure will be a single direction only.
• Wednesday, November 15 until Wednesday, November 22. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily, weekdays only. Westbound frontage road between I-410 and Hunt Lane. Alternating lanes will close while crews lay asphalt.
• Friday, November 17 at 8 p.m. until Monday, November 20 at 5 a.m. Eastbound ramp to southbound I-410, westbound ramp to northbound I-410. The ramps will close while crews set overhead bridge support beams. Eastbound traffic will turn around at West Military to reach its destination. Westbound traffic will turn around at Hunt Lane to reach its destination.

U.S. Hwy 281 – North San Antonio

• No closures the week of November 12-18.
• Monday-Wednesday, November 20-22. 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Northbound main lanes between Donella Drive and Sonterra Boulevard. Alternating lanes will close while crews set barrier.

Hwy 151 – Northwest San Antonio

• Current until December 22. Westbound exit to Hunt Lane. The exit will close while crews reconstruct the roadway to fit the future direct connector ramp from southbound I-410. Traffic will exit Ingram and follow the frontage road to reach its destination.

Loop 1604 – Northwest San Antonio

• Current until Friday, January 26, 2018. North-to-south turnaround at Bandera Road. The turnaround will remain closed while crews do road work. Traffic will use the signalized intersection to turn around.

Other roads – Seguin

• Tuesday, November 14. 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. The intersection of Baxter East and Austin Street. The intersection will close while crews repave the road. Traffic will follow the posted detour route.
• Wednesday, November 15. 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. The intersection of Rosemary East and Austin Street. The intersection will close while crews repave the road. Traffic will follow the posted detour route.

Other roads – New Braunfels

• Current until Friday, November 17. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. Hwy 46, both directions, between FM 758 and I-35. Alternating lanes will close while crews resurface the road.

Other roads – Converse

• Wednesday-Thursday, November 15-16. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. FM 1516, both directions, between FM 78 and Converse Center Street. All lanes will close while crews install a wastewater line. Traffic will use Converse Center Street and FM 78 to reach its destination.

Other roads – Boerne

• Wednesday, November 15 at 9 p.m. until Thursday, November 16 at 5 a.m. Scenic Loop Road, both directions, at I-10. All lanes will close while crews move barrier. Traffic will use the frontage roads and the turnaround at Balcones Creek to reach its destination.

Other roads – West San Antonio

• Current until Friday, November 17. Dodge City, both directions, at Loop 1604. All lanes will close while crews reconstruct the intersection. Traffic will use Emory Peak to reach its destination.
• Current until Friday, November 17. Red Musket, both directions, at Loop 1604. All lanes will close while crews reconstruct the intersection. Traffic will use Spurs Ranch to reach its destination.
• Friday, November 17 at 9 p.m. until Monday, November 20 at 6 a.m. Marbach Road, both directions, west of Loop 1604. All lanes will close while crews reconstruct the intersection. Traffic will use Emory Peak to reach its destination.
• Friday, December 1 at 9 p.m. until Monday, December 4 at 6 a.m. Marbach Road, both directions, west of Loop 1604. All lanes will close while crews reconstruct the intersection. Traffic will use Emory Peak to reach its destination.

All closures are pending weather.