Flooding and driving: some straight talk

This year has been one of the wettest on record for the great state of Texas, and we have more rain coming. Among the benefits locally to these rains is the news Medina Lake has finally reached full capacity, with water flowing over the spillway earlier today.

Overall and in the short-run, though, the damage has been pretty rough. Last year the wet weather boosted bug populations  and facilitated a reptile migration - which could certainly be repeated. But even the uptick in alligators and water moccasins isn't the worst threat these rains bring.

That dubious position goes to flash-flood drowning. Sadly, many of these deaths are individuals who either decided to ignore constant warnings from state and local officials by driving through water over the roadway or are individuals attempting to rescue those trapped in a car caught in water. Just over this passed weekend the death toll reached 7 statewide.

We had a number of "funny" memes made up to try and take a light-hearted approach to this issue, but it simply doesn't seem to fit at this point. This isn't a funny issue. Lives are being put at risk while working to rescue those caught in the floods. These are emergency responders, good Samaritans and even TV reporters. While we love to read and hear about these heroic stories, the reality is these stories should never even have happened.

Over the last month the regional Twitterverse has seen more than 300 tweets with the hashtag #TurnAroundDontDrown. It's a phrase used in literally every media interview conducted by state and local authorities, including our folks. It's a phrase promoted by journalists and pundits and social media experts.

And, yet, the message just isn't sinking in. We're doing all we can here, folks. Heck, just this morning we posted on Facebook a reminder of why we keep saying this. By the way, that post had nearly 1,200 shares by 2:30 this afternoon.

Most people caught in the waters end up looking silly and get themselves on social media. They end up becoming the butt of a snarky meme. That, or they're rescued by folks willing to risk themselves to un-do the consequences of incredibly poor judgment.

We get it. You just want to go home (the final epitaph of one man caught in rising waters last week). However, if you try to cross a low-water crossing you just might not ever get there. At the very least, your car will be pretty well junked. If you've crossed a barricade to get through the water you'll be hit with some major fines.

Worst of all, someone - perhaps a loved one or a good Samaritan trying to help - could lose their life.

So, in the name of all those who've fallen victim before, we'll continue our constant reminders. We'll keep talking and emailing and blogging and Facebooking and tweeting about it until finally we'll have a flood event completely devoid of cars caught in creeks. We may say it with an eye-roll and a bit of frustrated snark from time to time - particularly when we say something like "Don't become the subject of a meme".

Please know, in those moments, those words aren't necessarily the words of a large nebulous government agency. Those are the words of your fellow Texans; they're the words of individuals who care and are frustrated by the news stories telling of folks who "think they can make it" and ignore the literally hundreds of warnings to the contrary.

Those are the words of individuals - at TxDOT in San Antonio, from Josh or from Laura - who hope you do get to see your family at the end of the day and want you to be safe.

And we'll keep saying it until the message finally gets through to every single person.

Turn around, don't drown. Don't drive through water over the road. It only takes six inches of water to carry a full-sized pickup truck. You don't really know what's under that water. Find an alternate route. In the midst of a major storm, if you don't have to travel ... don't. Go to work late, or stay at work late. Wait out the storm and the flood waters where possible. Evacuate if flood waters are approaching you. Get uphill.

Spread the word.

From the folks in Austin: tips on planning your summer trips

If you’re planning a road trip this summer, the Texas Department of Transportation offers the Texas State Travel Guide, Texas Highways Events Calendar and Texas Official Travel Map to help you get where you’re going and have fun along the way.

“Whether you have a particular destination in mind or are just planning to explore Texas, these publications will help you every mile of your trip,” said Joan Henderson, TxDOT’s Travel Information Division director. “Texas is big, and so is the list of things to do and places to see offered in these publications. Plus, the travel information is free.”

The 264-page Travel Guide offers features on history, arts and culture, music, food, shopping, sports, family activities and the outdoors. In addition, you’ll find information on more than 450 cities and 3,000 attractions. The city and attraction listings are separated into regions and each has a section highlighting some of the must-see places.

The Events Calendar is published quarterly by season. The summer edition, available now, includes events ranging from festivals and fairs to rodeos, food events, music, art and museum exhibits, theatrical performances and market days.

The Texas Official Travel Map shows highways, farm/ranch roads, airports, communities and recreational areas to assist travelers in safely exploring the state.

Pick up these publications at any of the 12 Texas Travel Information Centers across the state. They also may be ordered online or by calling (800) 452­-9292.

Along with the free travel publications, summer vacationers will find a wealth of destination information and colorful feature stories in Texas Highways magazine. Founded as a travel magazine in 1974, the award-winning Texas Highways today has nearly 400,000 monthly readers across the United States and around the world. Look for Texas Highways magazine at hundreds of newsstands statewide, including H-E-B, Target, Walmart, Randall’s and Barnes & Noble, or subscribe online.

Next week's construction-related closures

I-10 – Fair Oaks Ranch

• Tuesday, May 31-Thursday, June 2. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Eastbound main lanes between Fair Oaks Parkway and Ralph Fair Road. The left lane will close while crews shift traffic lanes.
• Wednesday-Friday, June 1-3. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Eastbound main lanes between Fair Oaks Parkway and Ralph Fair Road. The right lane will close while crews set barrier.

I-10 – Downtown San Antonio

• Tuesday, May 31-Thursday, June 2. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Main lanes, both directions, between I-410 and I-35. The right lane will close while crews do guardrail work.
• Tuesday, May 31-Thursday, June 3. 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between I-410 and I-35. The right lane will close while crews lay asphalt.

I-35 – East San Antonio

• Current thru June 2016. Exit ramps, both directions, to Eisenhauer Road. The ramps will close while crews build a new exit ramp. Traffic will use the next available ramp and turn around to reach Eisenhauer Road.
• Current thru June 2016. Northbound entrance ramp from Eisenhauer Road. The ramp will close while crews build a new entrance ramp. Traffic will use the next available ramp.
• Tuesday-Friday, May 31-June 3. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Frontage road, both directions, between Walzem and Rittiman. Alternating lanes will close while crews do road work.
• Tuesday-Friday, May 31-June 3. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between Walzem and Rittiman. Alternating lanes will close while crews move barrier.
• Tuesday-Thursday, May 31-June 2. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between Binz-Engleman and AT&T Center Parkway. Alternating lanes will close while crews do concrete work.
• Tuesday-Friday, May 31-June 3. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Frontage road, both directions, between Binz-Engleman and AT&T Center Parkway. Alternating lanes will close while crews do road work.
• Tuesday-Friday, May 31-June 3. 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Frontage roads, both directions, between Walzem and Rittiman. Alternating lanes will close while crews do road work.
• Tuesday-Friday, May 31-June 3. 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily. Frontage roads, both directions, between Binz-Engleman and AT&T Center Parkway. Alternating lanes will close while crews do road work.
• Friday, June 3 at 10 p.m. until Sunday, June 5 at 5 a.m. Southbound main lanes between Binz-Engleman and AT&T Center Parkway. All lanes will close while crews repave the road. Traffic will exit George Beach and continue along the frontage road to the next available ramp.
• Saturday-Sunday, June 4-5. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Northbound main lanes between AT&T Center Parkway and Binz-Engleman. Alternating lanes will close, two at a time, while crews do concrete work.

I-410 – Southwest San Antonio

• Tuesday, May 31-Thursday, June 2. 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. nightly. Main lanes, both directions, between Medina Base Road and I-35. The right lane will close while crews pave the roadway.

U.S. Hwy 90 – West San Antonio

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

Loop 1604 – Northwest San Antonio

• Friday-Saturday, May 27-28. 9 p.m. until 5 p.m. Northbound exit ramp to New Guilbeau. The ramp will close while crews pave the roadway. Traffic will exit Shaenfield and follow the frontage road to reach its destination.
• Friday-Saturday, May 27-28. 9 p.m. until 5 p.m. Southbound entrance ramp from New Guilbeau. The ramp will close while crews pave the roadway. Traffic will use the next available ramp.
• Saturday, May 28 at 10 a.m. until Sunday, May 29 at 5 p.m. Southbound exit ramp to Culebra Road. The ramp will close while crews pave the roadway. Traffic will exit Shaenfield and follow the frontage road to reach its destination. This closure will begin after work on the southbound entrance ramp from New Guilbeau finishes.
• Saturday, May 28 at 6 p.m. until Monday, May 30 at 5 a.m. Southbound entrance ramp from Shaenfield Road. The ramp will close while crews pave the roadway. Traffic will use the next available ramp. This closure will begin after work on the southbound exit ramp to Culebra Road finishes.
• Monday, May 30-Sunday, June 12. 7 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. Frontage road, both directions, at Braun Road. The right lane and right turn lane will close while crews do concrete work.
• Monday, May 30-Sunday, June 12. 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily. South-to-north turnaround at New Guilbeau. The turnaround will close while crews do road work.
• Monday, May 30-Sunday, June 12. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. Southbound frontage road between Bandera and Braun roads. The right lane will close while crews do concrete work.
• Monday, May 30-Sunday, June 12. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. Southbound frontage road at Shaenfield Road. The right lane will close while crews do concrete work.
• Monday, May 30-Sunday, June 12. 7 p.m. until 6 a.m. nightly. Frontage road, both directions, between Culebra and Braun roads. Alternating lanes will close while crews pave the roadway.
• Monday, May 30-Thursday, June 16. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. Southbound main lanes between Bandera and Culebra roads. The left lane or shoulder will close, as needed, to do concrete work.
• Tuesday, May 31. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Westbound frontage road connector to the I-10 westbound frontage road. The connector will close while crews repair the concrete barrier. Local business traffic will be permitted.
• Tuesday, May 31-Thursday, June 2. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Northbound entrance ramp from Culebra Road. The ramp will close while painters paint the bridge rail.
• Thursday-Friday, June 2-3. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Northbound main lanes at Shaenfield. The right lane will close while painters paint the bridge rail. This closure includes the exit ramp to New Guilbeau. Traffic will exit Shaenfield and continue along the frontage road to reach its destination.
• Friday-Saturday, June 3-4. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Northbound entrance ramp from Shaenfield. The ramp will close while painters paint the bridge rail.
• Saturday-Sunday, June 4-5. Northbound main lanes at New Guilbeau. The right lane will close while painters paint the bridge rail.

Hwy 151 – West San Antonio

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

Other roads – Kendall County

• Tuesday-Friday, May 31-June 3. 9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. nightly. Hwy 46, both directions, between Thunder Valley Road and I-10. The road will be reduced to one lane, controlled by off-duty police, while crews repair the road.

Other roads – Schertz

• Tuesday, May 31-Wednesday, June 1. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. FM 3009 intersection at Antler Drive. Alternating lanes will close and the signals will be shut off while crews reconnect wiring. Police officers will manage traffic at this intersection.

Other roads – East San Antonio

• Tuesday-Friday, May 31-June 3. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Eisenhauer Road, both directions, at I-35. The left lane will close while crews work on the overpass bridge.
• Tuesday-Friday, May 31-June 3. 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. nightly. Rittiman Road, both directions, at I-35. The left lane will close while crews work on the overpass bridge.

Other roads – Southeast San Antonio

• Tuesday, May 31-Friday, June 3. 7 p.m. until 6 a.m. nightly. W.W. White (Loop 13), both directions, between Fairlawn and I-10. The left lane will close while crews repair the road.

Other roads – West San Antonio

• Thursday, June 2. 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. Potranco road, both directions, between Loop 1604 and Empressario Drive. Crews working for Bexar County Public Works will shift traffic to facilitate a safe work zone for the expansion work on Potranco Road.

Other roads – Northwest San Antonio

• Monday, May 30-Sunday, June 12. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. Braun Road, both directions, at Loop 1604. The left lane will close while crews do concrete work.

All closures are pending weather.

Walnut Avenue to open TODAY (and other New Braunfels updates)

It's been a while since our last update on projects in the New Braunfels area ... and now we've got something kind of major happening today. Here's the scoop:

Walnut Avenue
Lead with the biggest story, right? By the end of business today we'll have Walnut Avenue opened up to traffic. It'll only be one lane in each direction (so, basically, exactly what was out there when we shut things down last year).
Traffic will be using the center lanes to traverse the hill. Crews are still doing concrete work across the project, so we're keeping those outside lanes closed the next several weeks while crews wrap things up.

The center line is striped and traffic cones mark the closed-off outside lanes. Walnut Ave should be ready to open today.

Once concrete work is complete paving crews will lay the final surface of asphalt to give a final product. We hope that final product will be delivered by the end of July.

FM 306
One of the biggest issues along FM 306 near New Braunfels is the traffic load at the intersection of Hoffman Lane - largely due to school in the mornings and in the afternoons.
We currently have a project going between Hoffman and Hunter that's expanding FM 306 to four lanes (plus a center left-turn lane and shoulders large enough for bicycles), and we're right now about one-third the way through this project. By the way, we have another project set to go for bids later this year that will extend this work on out to River Chase.
At any rate, we've been asked about the impact on that approach to Hoffman Elementary School. Here's what we'll have things looking like when we're finished:

Just for comparison, here's what's out there now:

Note only one through lane in each direction and the lack of sidewalks and bike areas ... the finished product will be a huge help to folks driving through the region on the daily.

Hwy 46 at US 281
If you're thinking how embarrassing it must be for us to see so much infrastructure pop up around us faster than it's taken for us to build some simple turnarounds, you're absolutely right. Those turnarounds should have been finished months ago, and we're still docking CRG about $20,000 each month we're not finished. The latest estimates show the project wrapping up before school starts this fall; we plan to do all we can to see this job finished earlier than that, even, if possible.

FM 1101
Most of the utility conflicts that have kept us from doing this work (and, yes, we've been waiting more than a year and a half on this now) are out of the way. At this point the project hinges on some discussions between our higher administrative folks and their counterparts with Hunter Industries. When Hunter bid the project in 2014, they did so under prices valid in 2014. Well, it's been two years and things have changed. Both parties are looking for an equitable middle ground to settle on and allow work to get going.
Once work begins - which we hope will be very soon - we expect about a year and a half of overall construction time.

I-10 Leon Springs: an issue of right turns....

Not long ago we opened up the new westbound I-10 frontage road connector between Dominion Drive and Boerne Stage Road. When we did that we were nearly immediately asked why we aren't allowing right turns off that new frontage road onto Boerne Stage Road.

To be completely honest, most of us here can't think of a good reason anyone would want to do this. We've talked to our designers - including some who have extensive commuter experience with this area - and our construction staff ... we even asked a few pencil-pushers who know the area. Nobody could see why this would be a movement folks would want that badly.
Everyone we talked to say the same thing: "Why not just stay to the right and go through Leon Springs the old-fashioned way?"
Our area engineer overseeing the project even pointed out going the Old-Fashioned Way (our official term for going through Leon Springs now, thus the capitalization...) holds just one traffic signal. Using the new westbound frontage road and turning right means going through two signals. And, if the emails we get from residents in that area are any indication, going through traffic signals in this area is not a very fun experience to have. Adding an extra signal just seems like an odd thing to do.
But those were all opinions, and we're about delivering facts here. So, you want to know why - in engineering terms - we don't have a right-turn lane there? There are two reasons:

1. Traffic engineering. The design intends to push all the traffic headed to Boerne Stage Road west of I-10 onto the new frontage road, where we've got two left-turn lanes to handle the heavy traffic. This was supposed to relieve the pressure on the Leon Springs area so folks headed through the intersection (and on to Aue Road, perhaps) could do so without fighting through the thousands of cars aiming for Boerne Stage Road. With two left turn lanes, by the way, we can push twice as many cars through a signal without having to mess with signal timing - a huge plus.
2. Turn radius. That right-hand turn is pretty sharp, and we didn't have a ton of room to soften it up any. While it's fine for a commuter car - and even a Texas-sized pickup truck - to make that turn, larger vehicles just won't make it. Not without using other lanes to help, at least.

Of the two reasons, the first is obviously theoretical. It's based on where our planners thought drivers were trying to go as they navigated the intersection.

If, after a period of time, we see a clear demand for that right turn we can look into changing the signs - however, the turn radius is going to be the biggest reason that doesn't ever get done. We'll take a hard look at it, but don't expect to see the change any time soon.

Hopefully that clears things up a bit.