On the Move

Ballenger projects starting back up

After the bankruptcy of Ballenger Construction late last year, several TxDOT and COSA projects were lain dormant.  The good news is that their bonding company is nearing the end of the process to hire new contractors to get those projects finished.  Work should be starting next month again on the I-10 project (Ramsgate to Loop 1604) and the “bookends” of the Wurzbach Parkway project.  I’m not as familiar with the COSA projects, but I hear the Hunt Lane project should also have a new contractor by this time next month.

TexasHighwayMan.com turns 15!

Fifteen years ago today, I put my esoteric interest out for the world to see.  On March 1, 1998, the “Texas HighwayMan Pages” were born.  Just like today, I covered everything I knew about Texas roads and the San Antonio freeway system.  I still have that original site archived and wow, how things have changed, both in terms of the subject matter as well as in the quality of web publishing (and my skills in doing so.)  That first site looks so amateurish today: cheesy, grainy, and oftentimes animated (for no good reason other than I could) graphics, brightly colored and/or busy backgrounds, low-res photos, and a generally clunky layout.  But back then, that was cutting edge stuff.  That first site was hosted on express-news.net, back when the Express-News actually provided consumer Internet access.  About a month later, I added the Getting Around Germany section of my site, so I’ll be celebrating that anniversary im nächsten Monat.

Folks ask me why I put the site together and keep it up.  Well, the answer is that it’s the classic labor of love.  Although it seems like an esoteric topic, just about anyone who drives is interested in knowing what’s going on with the roads.  Being interested in transportation all my life, I had a lot of the answers to folks’ questions in my head or at least in a pile of old newspapers and other assorted planning documents in my closet, so I thought why not share it with the world?  And that’s what I’ve been doing for 15 years and plan to do for at least the next 15.

Still here

So it’s been over a year now since my last post here.  It’s not for a lack of things to write about.  Unfortunately, I just don’t have the time I once had to devote to keeping this blog up.  But I’m not giving up completely.  I hope to be able to make some time here-and-there to start posting again.  So stay tuned (if you’re still out there.)

75 mph coming to SA area Interstates!

The Texas Transportation Commission approved increasing the speed limit to 75 mph on about 1,500 miles of mostly-rural Interstate highways in the state.  Around the San Antonio area, the following stretches will see 75 mph signs soon:

• I-10 West from Loop 1604 to past Kerrville (where it’s already 80 mph)
• I-10 East from just outside Loop 410 to Waller County west of Houston
• I-35 South from Palo Alto Rd. to the existing 75 mph section south of Devine
• I-37 from just inside Loop 410 to Corpus Christi

I-35 between San Antonio and Austin was not approved for the higher speed limit.

The Legislature approved the higher speed limits last year.

More information

• TxDOT’s 75 mph page – http://www.txdot.gov/safety/speed_limit/75mph.htm

Stopping wrong-way drivers

In San Antonio and across Texas, there has been a rash of wrong-way drivers (WWD) over the past few years.  In San Antonio last year, there was a WWD about every other day.  Fortunately, 80% of those drivers caused no accidents.  But sadly, seven people were killed by WWDs last year.  Of no surprise was that the majority of WWDs were intoxicated.

To combat the problem, several agencies formed the San Antonio Wrong Way Driver Task Force in March 2011.  Those agencies include TxDOT, SAPD, City of San Antonio Public Works Department, Bexar County Sherrif’s Office, and Texas Transportation Institute, and the Federal Highway Administration.  The task force worked to determine the extent and characteristics of the local problem, evaluate previous research and countermeasures, and formulate a plan to test and implement countermeasures locally.

more »

Loop 1604/SH 151 changes tomorrow

UPDATE (11/1/11) - The changeover has been postponed until Wednesday.

Just back from vacay and have some local news to report.  The final element of the package of improvements along Loop 1604 West that included two superstreet intersections will come online tomorrow.  Namely, the left turn from southbound 1604 to SH 151 will be eliminated.  Motorists wanting to go to SH 151 will now exit at a new exit ramp just south of Culebra, follow the access road, then cross 1604 at a perpendicular signalized intersection.  The existing entrance ramp from Culebra will be closed and replaced by an improved entrance ramp at the SH 151 intersection.  (For a schematic of these changes, see the link under “Additional information” below.)

Like the superstreet intersections, this change will most likely seem completely unintuitive for many folks.  After all, southbound Loop 1604 traffic will now have to stop to allow traffic to enter SH 151 whereas before they didn’t ever have to stop.  But this new arrangement will actually be safer overall and will help reduce congestion in the area.  more »

No road damage after South Texas earthquake

There was a whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on in the San Antonio area this morning as a 4.8 temblor struck about 50 miles southeast of the city, the largest on record for this part of the state.

The biggest quake around here before today’s was in 1993.  Long-timers may remember that just a few days before that quake, inspectors had found some cracking in a pylon supporting the then-new upper deck of I-10 near Woodlawn.  There was briefly some concern that the quake may have done additional damage.  Fortunately, that wasn’t the case and the column was subsequently retrofitted with some additional tension rods.

I checked with the folks at TxDOT and they tell me that they sent inspectors out after today’s quake to look at the bridges on state highways in Atascosa County.  Everything checked-out fine.

Ribbon cut on Loop 1604 project in NE San Antonio

Local TxDOT officials joined with several dignitaries yesterday to cut the ribbon on a project that widened Loop 1604 near Randolph AFB.  The 17 month, $6.6 million project upgraded 2.5 miles of Loop 1604 from a two-lane “farm” road to a four-lane divided highway.  The project came in on-time and under budget.

Speakers at the ribbon-cutting included US Representative Henry Cuellar.  Cuellar helped secure the federal economic stimulus funding to get the project off the ground.

This section of the loop has been in the news recently.  A project to continue the expansion from its current terminus at Lower Seguin Road to I-10 is planned to start next year.  However, county officials had briefly considered transferring funding from that project to construct the northern set of ramps at US 281 and Loop 1604.  An alternative source of funding was found, however, thus allowing the widening project to continue as planned.

It’s worth noting that this expansion mirrors a similar expansion done on Loop 1604 West nearly two decades ago.  Road improvements tend to be incremental or evolutionary.  The road system San Antonio has today didn’t just drop out of the sky one day.  The project dedicated yesterday upgraded a congested and dangerous two-lane road to a four-lane divided highway with traffic signals.  This configuration is a substantial improvement over the previous road and is more than adequate for the current needs and for those in the foreseeable future, just as the expansion of Loop 1604 south of Braun Road was back in the ’90s.  Will traffic growth eventually render this roadway obsolete?   Maybe.  But building a full-fledged expressway at this location now is unnecessary and would have been an injudicious use of scarce funding, just like doing so out on Loop 1604 West back in the ’90s would have been.

The curse of Street View

Picture of the Eifel Tower from my latest "trip" to Paris

Lots of people have their Internet compulsions and addictions: Facebook, Farmville, YouTube, eBay, video games, and so on.  My wife is a recovering Pinterest addict.

My web vice is Google Maps Street View.

I’ve always been a spatial kind of guy.  I instinctively know which way is North.  I was telling my mom how to get home from the airport when I was four.  My degree is in Geography.  I have no need for a GPS.

And I love to travel.  Mostly, I’m a it’s-not-the-destination-but-the-journey kind of guy.  I love watching the scenery go by, seeing new places in fast-forward.  Of course, that comes from being a transportation-enthusiast.  Getting from Point A to Point B is often my favorite part of vacations.

So now that I can essentially do that from my desk for a huge chunk of the world using Street View, it can quickly consume a significant quantity of my time.  more »

Second Loop 1604 superstreet intersection opens tomorrow

The second of two superstreet intersections on Loop 1604 in San Antonio is slated to open tomorrow.  The intersection at Shaenfield should be mostly online for motorists for tomorrow morning’s commute.  There will still be some finish-up work continuing during the next few weeks, but the new traffic patterns will be in effect tomorrow morning.  That means motorists coming from Shaenfield will no longer be able to turn left onto Loop 1604 northbound.  Instead, everyone will turn right and those wanting to go north will then use a new turnaround about 1/4th of a mile downstream.  Motorists wanting to turn left from Loop 1604 onto Shaenfield will still be able to do so using new dual left turn lanes.

If you’re observant, you’ll notice that there have also been left turn lanes built from southbound Loop 1604 that seem to go nowhere and a second turnaround north of Shaenfield that seems to serve no purpose.  Those have been built in anticipation of a future extension of Shaenfield to the east.  The City of San Antonio is currently in the planning stages for that.

The superstreet intersection at Loop 1604 and New Gilbeau opened about a month ago and has provided a noticeable reduction in congestion.  The final element of the current package of improvements along that stretch of Loop 1604 will make changes the SH 151 intersection; it’s due to be completed later this year.  An underpass for SH 151 at Loop 1604 is slated to begin construction next Spring.

RELATED SITE:

• TexasHighwayMan.com – Loop 1604 Superstreet Project