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| Motorists travel the new section of I-10 between Loop 410 and Loop 1604 in east San Antonio. |
Drive through the city’s east side and you will find a completely new look to one of San Antonio’s busiest sections of Interstate 10. For more than four years, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has been overseeing the rebuilding of approximately seven miles of I-10 between I-410 and Loop 1604. The project to bring the highway to the latest design is now coming to an end. To the 75,000 drivers who travel the section of roadway each day, the improvements in safety and mobility are a welcome relief to what was once heavy congestion and crumbling asphalt.
Late last month, workers striped the final section of the highway.
Drivers now have six lanes, improved exit and entrance ramps, rebuilt
overpasses, and a modern highway built to today’s standards. Orange barrels
still line some parts of the roadway. However, those will soon disappear once
workers complete the final touches, including new lighting, signs, and wrapping
up the new eastbound Ackerman entrance ramp.
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| Construction barrels along I-10 in east San Antonio. Workers are putting the finishing touches on one of the city's most important highways. |
Rebuilding the section of I-10 was no easy job. Utilities had
to be relocated, old pavement removed, and overpasses demolished. Drainage
systems were installed, a new road foundation built, concrete poured, and
overpasses constructed. All of this was done while keeping traffic moving.
Imagine rebuilding your house with 75,000 people coming through your living
room each day and you get the idea. Engineers and contractors spent a large
amount of time designing the project to minimize the impacts on motorists. This
included building the highway in phases, working at night, and avoiding
rush-hour closures.
While the section from I-410 to Loop 1604 is practically finished, workers are making progress on another I-10 reconstruction project. This one picks up at Loop 1604 and stretches approximately three miles eastward to Pfeil Road. It includes widening the highway to six lanes, rebuilding overpasses, converting the frontage roads to one-way access, and “reversing” several ramps. The three-year project began early last year.
Meanwhile, workers on an unrelated project are finishing converting the frontage roads from Foster Road to Graytown Road to one-way traffic. The project includes the new Foster Road turnaround and the new overpass at Woodlake Parkway.
Even bigger improvements are scheduled for I-10 in east San Antonio. This summer, TxDOT will oversee a new $101 million contract to improve a section of the I-410 and I-10 interchange. The work is part of an overall effort to rebuild the interchange and meet the transportation needs of a growing city and keep San Antonio moving.
Need Additional
Information?
Website: TxDOT’s I-10 East from I-410 to the Bexar/Guadalupe County Line webpage
Construction Update “Go Ahead!” Blog: http://txdotsanantonio.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @TxDOTSanAntonio
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