Mail Bag: Chrostopher and AJ discover our Mail Bag....

When will you address the absolute nightmare at Fair Oaks Ranch bridge due to the closure of the frontage road? What is the progress of the work being done at Old Fred? You have been radio silent these past two weeks despite numerous calls.
- Michael
Where are the police that have been helping direct traffic on the FOR bridge during rush hour? They have disappeared this week this causing major delays once again. If I can’t get to work, I can’t pay taxes to fund this disaster you call road construction.
- Tina
So ... truth. We have received a number of phone calls and emails about the Fair Oaks Parkway overpass. On our end, we take one or two of those and reach out to project staff to have the issue addressed. We file away those couple of communications - and the dozen or more that follow - and move forward. We work to communicate as much as we are able, but cannot always keep up with the demands of some areas in our 12-county district.
We apologize that means the Fair Oaks community felt we were ignoring them. We assure y'all that was absolutely not the case. Our communications team simply has a larger swath of area to focus on - 12 counties! - with similar communication demands and we work hard to try keeping everyone we can in the loop on their projects.
All that said, a good bit of the issues y'all were seeing should have calmed now that Sundt has finished work on the frontage roads requiring the closure that complicated that area. What's more, you're about a month from being finished totally with work at the FOP intersection itself. We hope to have the frontage roads converted to one-way soon, which will open up the capacity of the frontage roads. It'll also mean the new exit ramps will be open, storing the traffic waiting at the FOP intersection onto the frontage road and getting that traffic off the main lanes.

Not a question today, just a compliment. I travel west on 151 every morning (between 0610 and 0710) and since the new flyover to NB 410 opened, it has been much less congested just as your folks planned. Thank you! It has reduced my commute time as well as any stress. I'm sure it will also improve safety in the area. Thanks again!
- Roy

We're as glad as anyone to see a plan work out! We're hoping to see a similar improvement when the direct connectors at I-410 and US 90 are finished in the next 18 months or so. We're getting so close to all that happening!
Also, Roy, thank you for reaching out. Comments like these really mean a lot to our guys in the field (and yes, they do actually read these posts)!

I have a plethora of questions! Now that I found this page I'll probably be emailing you a lot! (Sorry in advance).
151/ Alamo Ranch: I just read on one of your blogs that ARP is owned by the city and not the state, thus y'all (basically) have nothing to do with it. Yet, I have also know that SH 151 is potentially planned to extend to/ through SH 211 AND that ARP is basically built as future SH 151 access roads. So... I don't get it. Is TXDOT planning to in the near (or distant) future acquire/ incorporate ARP into 151?
SH 211: Are y'all at least considering extending SH 211 north to I-10 and south to 35? I think it's phenomenal that there is this active planning to acquire right of way and build this highway AHEAD of the growth, knowing the highway will be desperately needed in the near future. However, it seems like it could never be realized to its full potential/ usefulness without these connections (especially to I-10). Would an extension to I-10 be incorporated into or connect to the future highway planned as part of the "Kendall Gateway Study"?
- Christopher

We're excited for the plethora - and we hope to answer them all! We make one simple promise, Christopher: we'll be direct and honest. The answers may not be what folks love to hear, but they will be completely and unabashedly truthful.
On to the questions you've got. We'll start with the Hwy 151-Alamo Ranch Parkway question.
It seems very logical to continue Hwy 151 through Hwy 211 following the path of Alamo Ranch Parkway. However, that's not the case today. Frankly we've been working to get lane-miles off our system wherever possibly rather than adding roads to our grid.
That said, if the county (owner of ARP right now) includes the turnover of ARP to TxDOT as part of a larger transportation funding strategy in the future we would be happy to listen. Something like that would require a lot of folks to say "yes", though, including (but not limited to) the Alamo Area MPO, Alamo Regional Mobility Authority and the Texas Transportation Commission.
But as of right now, today, this moment ... us taking on Alamo Ranch Parkway isn't something we have written anywhere in our scheme.
As for Hwy 211 ... right now Bexar County Public Works is working to connect Potranco and Culebra roads. Beyond that ... we haven't had any detailed conversations at this point. Our recommendation if you feel this is a solution we should move aggressively on: get involved with the MPO and make comments at the Kendall Gateway meetings. We'll pass along the idea to our planners to ensure it's on the radar, but it's really going to take some local calls to make something like this viable.

As with all construction projects, I know things change as progress is made. What are the current timelines for the I-10 corridor projects? Namely:

• Ralph Fair to Fair Oaks
• Old Fred intersection
• Fair Oaks intersection
• activation of one-way frontage roads through Fair Oaks
• HOV lanes (I remember reading that this project will be opened in phases with first section to take a year, but progress seems to be moving rather quickly.)

Is there a webpage where I can read about the planned stages?
Thanks!
- AJ
Hey, AJ! You've reached out via email, but we're going to answer all these questions on the blog so all can benefit. You can look at the details of what we're doing on each project online here.
As for updated timelines, this blog is the go-to source. With that in mind, here's the latest schedule:

• Ralph Fair to Fair Oaks will wrap up this fall
• Old Fred intersection is open for business, though we still have that signal to install and have our traffic division turn on
• The intersection of Fair Oaks itself is set to be finished by Independence Day, but we have to wait for the frontage road conversion to open the intersection to full capacity
• We're still nailing down a firm timeframe for the frontage road conversion and hope to have something firm to discuss next month; right now we're leaning toward opening things in four stages with the Old Fred intersection being the divider ... the determining factor will really be the new exit and entrance ramps
• The expansion of I-10 to include HOV lanes between Ralph Fair and La Cantera is still on its initial pace; they expect to open up one lane each way as soon as 2019, with final completion and that fourth lane opened early 2021

I noticed the 2015 animated video showed two "managed lanes" on each side and the 2017 video shows one HOV. Any background on the change?
- AJ
We're guessing you're talking about the I-10 project on this. Honestly, we don't build where we're not wanted and, in this case, the local input was such that we change the plan from two managed lanes each direction to a single HOV lane and a traditional non-tolled express lane.

Why is the bridge over the Guadalupe River on 281 Spring Branch closed and when will it open again? Are repairs going to be made? Nothing has been done in weeks except traffic is now down to one lane over the River. You need to notify folks if roads are going to close.
- Trudy
We're totally reconstructing the southbound bridge, Trudy. It'll take us a while to get it all done out there - we've been trying to keep in touch with local media to keep folks up-to-date. When we shut down the bridge we found some pavement failures we didn't expect. Those are now fixed so we've moved our contractor on to the actual bridge.
As for the work ... we're tearing the bridge down to its skeleton, basically, and reconstructing everything around the frame. It won't be expanded with this one, but will be upgraded significantly.
The bridge will remain closed for the duration of work, which will be over a year.

What are the planned closures for I-10 west out of San Antonio [both NB and SB] the weekend of Memorial Day, specifically Saturday May 26, 2018 after 5:00 pm - need to get into and out of Boerne and Cordillera Ranch.
- Linda
We didn't have any closures! We actually avoid any major closures on major holiday weekends, period.
We're sorry we didn't reply sooner, Linda. Mail bag questions are collected and answered on this forum and not a place we offer immediate answers with direct emails. In the future you can check our weekly closures post online, or follow us on Twitter for real-time issues or answers.

Thank you for finally making a promise date, and opening up the WB access road at Old Fred on the 25th.
- Dave
We're as thrilled as anyone to see that kind of progress. We're hoping to keep the momentum! Right now Sundt is focusing on the new exit and entrance ramps so they can begin a successive chain of frontage road conversions. We're hoping to have all the major work done out there by the end of summer, though it's likely you'll still see equipment moving around into the fall just a little bit.
Bottom line: we're with y'all on this one. Fast is good when it comes to project delivery, and we're pulling all the levers we can to make it happen!

Is I-10 East still scheduled to be closed starting June 1? I saw something about it on your blog post from earlier in May. Just wondering if that is still the plan.
- Brad
It is - check out our latest closures list for updated plans.

The next stage of work on I-10 at Old Fred and Buckskin

This morning crews with Sundt moved into its final stage of the reconstruction of the intersection of I-10 and Old Fredericksburg Road and Buckskin Drive out in the Fair Oaks Ranch area. This stage should last through the end of the month - which means by Memorial Day weekend all the closed areas should reopen.

To date crews have rebuild two of the four quadrants, each in its own stage. Sundt has combined the third and fourth quadrants into a single final stage. When complete they'll be ready to install the traffic signal poles at the new intersection, which won't be turned on until after the frontage roads are converted to one-way.
With the temporary ramps now out of the way near Fair Oaks Parkway Sundt can move toward building the new exit and entrance ramps across the project. A total of eight exit and entrance ramps are to be constructed on this project and will need to be done before we can convert the frontage road to one-way.
We are hoping to have those ramps finished and the frontage roads converted by the end of this summer.

Mail Bag: 410 at 151 stuff, Westwood Loop questions again, Old Fred Road and more

When will the Culebra Road on ramp to southbound I-410 open up? So surprised to find it closed and nowhere to get onto 410 until I was almost to Marbach.
- Rena
We're still working on getting that timeline - it's our next priority on this project now we've got things on the northbound side moved around and the southbound exit ramp to Military Drive opened up.


Why is the under construction flyover from SH 151 to I-410 built with steel supports, while the flyover from I-410 to SH 151 in the opposite direction is built with pre-stressed concrete beams? There is obviously a reason, but it sure isn't obvious. I would really like to understand the rationale behind the different construction methods.
- Glenn
It's a pretty simple answer, really. We use steel beams on bridge spans over about 110 feet - particularly with a curved alignment such as on a direct connector. That's why the steel supports are deeper (taller) than the pre-stressed concrete beams, to handle the additional weight stresses with the longer spans.


After waiting almost a year for UTSA Blvd to open, we now have another disruption of traffic in UTSA/UTEX area. Why are the right 2 lanes of traffic in this area closed for a new construction project? This greatly causes a traffic problem in this area.
- Rhea

The work you're seeing there isn't ours. That all belongs to Security Services FCU and, the last time we got an update from the city (January), is going to continue a while. Yantis is the general contractor here and is managing the actual project - we'd encourage folks with questions about this work to go to Yantis for answers.


We were discussing our favorite intersection the other day Alamo Ranch parkway and Westwood Loop. Going east from Alamo Ranch onto 151, what would it take to make the middle lane in addition to going straight also a left turn lane? In other words 2 lanes turning left on Westwood? Traffic really backs up there, which then backs up the traffic going into 151, this would really ease the traffic even on weekends.
- Ursula
Please provide a detailed status update on Alamo Ranch Parkway and Westwood Loop.
- Benjamin
TxDOT is done with this intersection, and has been for quite some time. This is all in the court of Bexar County Public Works, who recently installed raised curb to mount those delineator paddles. That should help considerably.
We are now working on installing guardrail along the southbound frontage road of Lp 1604 to prevent the poor behavior of drivers cutting across the grass median to reach the direct connector to Hwy 151.


Can you please tell me why their is no slow down lane to come in to the Hillcrest Housing area . I noticed that red musket has one which is not the main road into this housing area.
- Larry
So, Larry, the frontage road right there has three lanes. The far-right lane actually ends at Red Musket - that's why it looks and feels like a right-turn lane. We're working to stripe and sign that lane ahead of Spurs Ranch as a turn lane.
This will be what the frontage road looks like in its final configuration.
If we were to include a right-turn lane at Spurs Ranch we'd need to add a fourth lane to the frontage road, which we don't have the right-of-way space (or the money) to do on this job.


The much projected opening date of the I-10 access road from Ralph Fair to Old Fred. will not occur. Why? When? The delay is now over 90 days. Perhaps if TxDOT tripled the fines it might make a difference.
- Vicky
Well... today is March 22nd, and on my way home, I expected to see all sorts of activity wrapping up the repaving of the westbound frontage road at Old Fredericksburg Road, which according to your last blog post, is scheduled to be open tomorrow. However, at 5:45 PM this evening, all I saw was a bunch of parked construction equipment, no construction workers and dirt. Is this EVER going to wrap up? The inconvenience, dust, mud and delays are absolutely terrible. For more than a year, your repeated delays along IH-10 from the Dominion, have added more than 30 minutes/day to my (and I am sure many others) daily commute. Time which would be much better spent with my wife and family. You are now going on a 4 month delay on this portion of the project, alone - this is getting beyond frustrating.
- Dave
Can you please provide an update of the continued closure of the I-10 frontage road at Old Fred? Looks like it’s been pushed to April 27th. That is now 7 months of closure when it was supposed to be 3. Please set realistic goals and expectations.
- Christina
Let's start by saying we share your frustration here. When we first started this (in October) we expected a two-month work duration. We've addressed the question before. The target keeps moving, and at this point we just don't know what to say.

Vicky and Dave have already reached out to us privately and we've provided contact information for the individual at Sundt Construction to push questions to in the future. We're going to stop short of publishing that information here, but if you can find it through the NextDoor feeds in that neighborhood you're welcome to use the contact info as you see fit.
All that said, we do share some of the blame at TxDOT. We failed to include a milestone with accompanying liquidated damages on this part of the project. We are learning from the error and our director of construction has asked future projects include financial disincentives (we can't call them penalties) when we have stuff like this in our plans.

Are there any plans to fix the very wavy road surface both East and West Highway 90 across from Blue Skies at John D Ryan Blvd? This area of Highway 90 is very uneven and makes you feel like you are riding a roller coaster instead of your car. I can remember a section of I-35 across from Fort Sam Hospital that was like this that was fixed. I assume this is a sub-surface problem.
- Bill
It's on the list of projects we'd like to take on and will be addressed as we expand US Hwy 90 between I-410 and Hwy 211. That's currently programmed to happen around 2023.

When is Loop 1604 and I-10W at The Rim/La Cantera going to be upgraded to a proper highway intersection with fly overs with no yields? I've lived in the area since 2004 and the congestion gets worse every year.
- Paul
Paul, it seems thousands of people are discovering what you did back in 2004: That corridor along I-10 between San Antonio and Boerne is a great place to live!

That also means the congestion you're seeing is the byproduct of this corridor's continued development and is something we're working to address. Just like Johnny Cash got his Psycho Billy Cadillac one piece at a time because of his financial constraints, we're doing the same thing with the development of I-10 beyond Loop 1604. That is true also for the intersection. Our planners have easily conceded the cloverleafs have been increasingly outgrown over the course of the last decade.
The problem is money - a full interchange like you're looking for costs about $250 million, which is tough for us to come up with right now at one time (which is why the US 281 expansion is happening in two pieces at $150 million each).
That said ... we have hope. The Alamo Area MPO has included on the Unified Transportation Program this intersection in a plan to expand Loop 1604 between Bandera Road and I-35. The details are still being worked out as to how those will work as we move through the environmental assessment, but we are hoping to have this intersection addressed with that project when it starts right around 2020. A project of that size will take, at a minimum, four years to complete.

Who is responsible for 1604 being only two lanes on each side? It is 2018 and no one has stepped up to the plate and add another lane to each side at least. Here's a bright idea, you don't have to stop flow of traffic if you build it in the median.
- Brendan
Take a look at what we said to Paul, Brendan, and you'll see we're working on it. We wish we could just build a new lane ... unfortunately it's a lot more involved than that. Hopefully we'll be able to begin work to double capacity of Loop 1604 in 2020.

When is 410/151 interchange construction going to be done enough to open the Leon creek greenway trail? Are they doing redo the trail it looks very damaged from the construction?
- Mica
We are actually working with the city's Parks and Recreation department to fix and replace some damaged sections of the trail. We are hoping to have that finished and be able to open the trail back up by the end of May. We might even be able to get that done sooner if we get ideal weather patterns between now and then.

Projects coming up

We have a lot of projects that are nearing completion - I-10 Huebner, both remaining segments of Wurzbach Parkway, Fred-Med and I-10 Ralph Fair Road should all be finished in the next six months or thereabouts - bringing significant relief to drivers along some of our key corridors.

But that doesn't mean we relax any time soon. Over the next year, we will see a string of projects begin that will address congestion and improve safety along corridors of significant growth now and in the future. Some of these projects have been programmed into the regional budget in advance; four projects are moving forward by virtue of voter-approved Prop 1.

Here's a quick run-down of what's coming up:

UTSA Boulevard

This is part of an $800 million proposal announced more than a year ago - once UTSA Boulevard is developed, it will be turned over to the city of San Antonio. For now, however, the segment between I-10 and Edward Ximines Drive - also known as Spur 53 - is a state-maintained road.

The $9 million project will expand the road to five lanes (two lanes each way plus a center left-turn lane), add a multi-use path better connecting the area to the Leon Creek Greenway, and adds shoulder room that will accommodate bikes. Work will begin once utilities have been properly moved; the latest estimates suggest actual work on the project could begin in 6-8 weeks.

Once work begins the project will last about a year and a half - expect a completed project late 2016.

Loop 1604 at Hwy 151

This project is moving forward as an option to the design-build expansion of Loop 1604 between Bandera and Culebra roads. Williams Brothers Construction is the contractor, and they expect to begin turning dirt in March. Overall completion is slated for the end of 2016.

This project has received more than its share of attention over the last few years; the current iteration - a $45 million effort to connect drivers on Loop 1604 directly to Hwy 151 - includes a direct connector ramp from southbound Loop 1604 to eastbound Hwy 151 and a few operational improvements. The main lanes of Hwy 151 will be brought over Loop 1604 to meet with Alamo Ranch Parkway, allowing traffic headed from westbound Hwy 151 to the Alamo Ranch area to do so without going through the Culebra Road intersection. 

Loop 1604, Culebra to Potranco

Part of the same $800 million package involving UTSA Boulevard, this will expand Loop 1604 to a four-lane expressway with continuous frontage roads to Potranco Road on the far west side of San Antonio.

The project will essentially continue what's already being done between Bandera and Culebra roads, adding non-tolled lanes with overpasses at a few locations. This project is still in the design phases, though it is slated to be finished and ready for bidders early summer. We could have contractors on board as early as July, which means construction will begin in the fall.

This project will take more than two years to complete and has a similar timeline to the expansion of Loop 1604 between Bandera and Culebra roads. That project started early 2014 and is set to wrap up late 2016.


FM 1101

This is a little north of most San Antonians' wheelhouse ... but it's a road that goes through three separate school zones in New Braunfels. This project focuses on the stretch between Hwy 46 and FM 306 on the northeast side of town.

The $7.6 million project is also waiting on utilities to be moved so it can begin, which will also happen this spring. Work will take somewhere around a year and a half once it starts. The finished product will hold the same single lane in each direction as currently exists, but it will add a center left-turn lane. Also included in the project are sidewalks and bike lanes - critical features to help school-goers travel safely along the growing corridor.

I-10 at Old Fred Road

Moving forward, this project will be dubbed (on this blog, at least) the "Old Fred Road" project. The $29.4 million project comes from the recent Proposition 1 vote and will construct a new overpass at Old Fredericksburg Road northwest of San Antonio. The finished project will see the main lanes of I-10 over a new crossover that connects Old Fredericksburg Road with the westbound side of the highway.

Additionally, the frontage roads between Ralph Fair Road and Fair Oaks Parkway will be converted to one-way. A public meeting is scheduled to allow folks in the area a face-to-face opportunity with engineers designing the project. That meeting will be Thursday, February 19 from 5 until 7 p.m. at the Spring Creek United Methodist Church.

We are scheduled to seek a contractor this summer; actual construction is likely to begin toward the end of the year.

Highway 151 at I-410

Of the four Prop 1 projects announced for our area this year, this project seems to be the least understood. The official description called for expanding I-410 by a lane in each direction, and this project will do that - at least between Hwy 151 and West Military Drive.

The project, which carries a price tag of about $75 million, will also add direct connector ramps from eastbound Hwy 151 to northbound I-410 and from southbound I-410 to westbound Hwy 151. These are strategically selected ramps, focusing on the heaviest traffic flows at this intersection.

Why just two ramps, though? Why not all eight? Highway interchanges are expensive, often reaching north of $250 million. That's right ... a quarter of a billion dollars. Folks at home may recall Prop 1 gave the entire state an added $1.7 billion ... and $250 million would be nearly double the San Antonio District's share of that money.

The quick way to explain what's happening is that we're building what we can afford. Folks at home can commiserate a bit - how often do we buy the slightly used Honda rather than splurge on the BMW off the lot? How often do we settle for that 32-inch TV when we really want the 78-incher curved-screen, ultra high-definition TV?

The two ramps we're building aren't anything to scoff at, to be sure - these will get that northwest corridor moving in ways it only dreams of today. But we are, ultimately, building what we can afford right now. It's road building on a budget.

The project will be let for bidding later this year; we expect actual work to begin, at the earliest, the end of 2015.


U.S. Highway 90

The stretch of U.S. Highway 90 between I-410 and Loop 1604 on the far west side of San Antonio just might be the last remaining stretch of expressway in San Antonio proper featuring a two-way frontage road, and we want to change that.


Thanks to Prop 1, we are moving forward with a plan that will convert the frontage roads to one-way - a safety measure that's been shown to reduce the fatal and injury crashes by as much as 57 percent on the frontage roads themselves and an astounding 85 percent at intersections - along the entire stretch. This two-for-one project (we're combining two projects into one, essentially) will also develop some improvements to the intersection at U.S. 90 and Loop 1604. Both projects round out the four listed as proposed for Prop. 1 funding.

The $26 million project is set to let for bidding in May, which means we should be underway late this fall. Overall project duration will be a year and a half.

U.S. 281 North Improvements

The expansion of U.S. 281 to an expressway north of Loop 1604 (and on to the Comal County line) has been in the works for about 20 years at this point, and has hit its fair share of rocks on the road to development.

Last year (that is, January 2014) TxDOT joined with Bexar County, the city of San Antonio and the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority to announce a package of $800 million in projects over the next several years. Those projects include the UTSA expansion mentioned above, and it includes managed-lanes projects on I-10, U.S. 281 and a non-tolled expansion of Loop 1604.

The ARMA is taking the lead on this project and is managing communication for its development. The environmental impact study has recently wrapped up, and the ARMA is nearing readiness to move this project to construction phases. More information, including a project schematic, may be found on the ARMA Web page.