If you have a lead foot, then you’ll love this news.

First, if you hadn’t heard already, the Legislature earlier this year approved– and the governor signed– a bill that would raise the statutory maximum speed limit for state highways to 75 mph (excluding, of course, the existing 80 mph speed limit on some sections of I-10 and I-20 out in West Texas.) Texas now joins all but a handful of states west of the Mississippi with a 75 mph top speed.  The limit can only be increased on roads where an engineering study determines that it’s safe to do so, but if past practice holds true, that should be the majority of roads that are currently capped at 70 mph.

Even better, the bill finally eliminates the matrix of speed limits for daytime/nighttime and cars/trucks.  All speed limits will now apply to all vehicles at all times.  Texas was the only state to still have a different nighttime limit and one of the few with a separate limit for trucks.

The new law takes effect September 1st.  A separate effort to increase the maximum speed to 85 mph died.

More recently, the speed limit on the northern arc of Loop 410 has gone up from 60 mph to 65 mph.  With the recent completion of construction to widen the freeway to 10 lanes, TxDOT completed a speed study that showed the 85th percentile speed being 65 mph, so in accordance with agency engineering guidelines, TxDOT asked the City of San Antonio to officially increase the speed limit to 65 mph north of US 90.  Signs went up this past week.

I also recently noticed that the speed limit along Loop 1604 south of Braun Rd. increased from 55 mph to 60 mph.

Ribbon-cutting for Loop 410 expansion

For the past 30 years, San Antonians have complained about construction along Loop 410.  But no more.  As Mayor Julian Castro said during today’s Loop 410 ribbon-cutting ceremony, “the headaches are over!”

The last leg of the nearly $1 billion “410 for SA” project to improve Loop 410 across the northside of San Antonio is just about done with just a few final “punch list” items remaining, so TxDOT and other local officials– including the Mayor, County Judge Nelson Wolff, VIA boss Keith Parker, and city councilman John Clamp– took the opportunity today to celebrate the culmination of 30 years of work that widened Loop 410 from six to 10 lanes from Perrin-Beitel to Culebra and built new interchanges at US 281, San Pedro, I-10, and Bandera Rd.  All of these improvements have helped get Loop 410 “ahead of the curve” with regards to traffic and has significantly cut congestion and delays throughout the corridor.  And the completion comes just in time: 2009 traffic counts show that Loop 410 has regained its position as the busiest highway in San Antonio with an average of 215,000 vehicles per day between I-10 and US 281.

Getting here has been an adventure.  TxDOT began working on plans for Loop 410 back in the early ’80s shortly after work to widen the freeway from four to six lanes was completed.  For those of you who were here in the mid ’80s, you may remember front-page newspaper reports about one of the proposals being looked at: double-decking the freeway.  Those plans were later refined to the 10 lane freeway that is now in place and the first “preparatory” projects for the I-10 interchange began ca. 1988 with the widening of the Cherry Ridge and Fredericksburg overpasses.  A public meeting to discuss the plans for Loop 410 held at Aggie Park in 1995 was the first such meeting I ever attended.  Two years later, the first significant widening project expanded the segment from West Ave. to Cherry Ridge.  The section between McCullough and US 281 was widened and prepared for the planned 218/410 interchange in 2001 (remember the “stumps” that were put in place there that became the foundations for the elevated ramps?)  The section from I-10 west to Callaghan was widened in 2003, followed by the section from West Ave. to Blanco in 2005.  On all of those early sections, only eight of the eventual 10 lanes were initially marked to reduce the bottlenecks that remained on each end.

In 2008, the “keystone” section– that being from from Blanco to McCullough– was completed.  This provided a continuous widened stretch (except for the I-10 interchange) from North Star Mall all the way over to TxDOT’s offices at Callaghan.  Jones-Maltsberger to Broadway and the 410/281 interchange were finished the following year.  Work on the I-10 interchange, including widening Loop 410 to eight lanes, was completed in early 2009.  The elevated Bandera connectors and work to widen the section from Callaghan to Ingram was completed in mid 2009.  Finally, the section from Broadway to Perrin-Beitel is now wrapping-up.

Some folks may wonder why it took so long to complete this project.  The answer is simple: funding.  With a $1 billion pricetag, the project had to be broken-up into many phases to stay within funding constraints.  In fact, the eastern segment– the one being completed now– was not even expected to be funded until later this decade, but local voters approved the Advanced Transportation District (ATD) and its sales tax in 2003, part of which was dedicated to that project and enabled it to receive matching funds from the state far sooner than it otherwise would have. 

Another question is what will happen east of Perrin-Beitel.  That will be looked at as part of a major investment study of what to do along I-35 North.  Major improvements to the Fratt Interchange will be included with that, so nothing will be done east of Perrin-Beitel until those plans are finalized.

Sadly, given the current transportation funding situation in both Washington and Austin, the completion of this project essentially marks the end of a highway construction boom in San Antonio.  Over the past seven years or so, over $2 billion worth of highway improvement projects have been completed, largely as a result of the ATD tax, borrowing at the state level, and pass-through agreements with local entities.  The only major projects currently in the works are the Wurzbach Parkway and the first phase of the 281/1604 interchange, which unfortunately is facing a possible legal challenge.  Beyond that, unless and until the state Legislature figures-out how to solve the transpo funding issues that Texas faces, there won’t likely be any other major projects coming to fruition unless they’re tolled.  That’s just the reality of today.  And while some people may be relieved that construction zones and their associated headaches may be taking a hiatus, keep in mind that this also means that there is little relief in sight for the remaining congested areas and bottlenecks.

Workers have probably finished closing down westbound Loop 410 at Perrin Beitel by now so they can restripe the highway.

Crews will work through the night and into Saturday morning, likely interrupting the busy flow of weekend shoppers and travelers. Workers should finish by noon.

The $119 million project to widen this part of Loop 410 is the largest construction job in San Antonio, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. Work is slightly ahead of schedule and is expected to wrap up by the end of the year.

“We don’t have far to go,” TxDOT engineer Randy Grones assured. “The completion date is right around the corner.”

To check the latest San Antonio traffic:

• TransGuide

Live traffic cam from TransGuide. Image refreshes every few minutes or so.

Workers closed all main lanes of westbound Loop 410 at Starcrest for the weekend.

Motorists must exit at Harry Wurzbach and re-enter past Broadway. The busy stretch of highway is sure to coagulate into a nightmare shortly after sunrise.

Crews are putting drivers through the hoops so they can place rebar onto a Nacogdoches Road bridge deck. The work is part of a $119 million construction project, the city’s largest, to widen that part of the freeway to 10 lanes.

The job so far is on schedule and should end before the year’s out, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.

“Everyone will reap the benefits,” an official said.

Also bogging down this weekend is eastbound Loop 1604 at U.S. 281. Workers there will close a lane through 1 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday to repair a bridge joint.

Click map for options.

About an hour ago, state officials announced that construction workers will close eastbound Loop 410 on the Northeast Side this Sunday.

Crews will shut down all main lanes between Starcrest and Perrin Beitel from 7 a.m. until sometime Monday morning so they can do bridge work, the Texas Department of Transportation said.

Worthy alternative routes include Austin Highway and Wurzbach Parkway.

Motorists should also watch out for various lane closures through next week on this part of the freeway and its intersecting roads. Check TransGuide before you head out.

Also in late this afternoon from TxDOT:

Have a great weekend everyone. Stay Warm!

Construction workers will shut down eastbound Loop 410 on the Northeast Side this weekend so they can pour a bridge deck, the Texas Department of Transportation announced.

Crews will close the main lanes between Starcrest and Perrin Beitel from 3 p.m. Saturday until sometime Sunday. Traffic will be routed to the frontage road.

A suggestion for motorists: Consider using alternatives such as Austin Highway or Wurzbach Parkway.

Also, making the mess worse, crews will close two eastbound Loop 410 lanes between Broadway and Starcrest from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday and again on Sunday. That’s to do pavement work.

Near Fort Sam Houston, crews demolishing a bridge will close all I-35 main lanes between AT&T Parkway and New Braunfels Avenue from 11 p.m. Friday to as late as 5 a.m. Monday, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.

On the North Side, workers setting beams will close eastbound Loop 410 at Nacogdoches Road from 8 p.m. Friday to as late as 5 p.m. Saturday.

Meanwhile, the National Weather Forecast predicts sunny skies Saturday and Sunday, with temps in the upper 70s.

I predict mighty slow going for motorists who don’t find better alternate routes, with tempers in the upper ranges. 

Useful links:

• Map
• TransGuide
• Weather

Seems this morning’s heavy rain and thundery bluster might say otherwise, but the National Weather Service predicts sunny skies by Saturday, with a high at a mellow 73 degrees.

If the weather backs off as expected, crews will close all main lanes of Loop 410 at Perrin Beitel from 11 p.m. tonight to as late as 3 p.m. tomorrow, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. Motorists should use alternate streets such as Nacogdoches Road and Wurzbach Parkway, and Harry Wurzbach and Austin Highway.

Useful links:

• Map
• TransGuide
• Weather

Workers will close eastbound Loop 410 on the Northeast Side this Saturday so they can set bridge beams.

Crews will divert motorists to a frontage road from 2 a.m. to as late as 6 p.m., according to the Texas Department of Transportation. Traffic will probably start backing up on the freeway’s main lanes shortly after sunrise. 

To skip the mess, drivers can use Wurzbach Parkway or Austin Highway. Or, like I’ll do from the Northwest Side, you can swing wide to Loop 1604.

Click the map to find routes.

Check TransGuide for current highway conditions.