It’s been 30 years in the making.  Today, local officials gathered at Walker Ranch Park to officially break ground on the final section of the Wurzbach Parkway.  The segment, from West Ave. to Jones-Maltsberger, is actually already under construction, along with the two adjacent segments.  When they’re completed in 2014, the long-awaited east-west thoroughfare will finally be complete.

Speaking at today’s groundbreaking were the Wolffs (Nelson and Kevin), Lyle Larson, local TxDOT district engineer Mario Medina, and TxDOT’s new interim executive director John Barton.  Somewhat surprisingly, there was little media coverage of the event; only KABB and KTSA had stories on it.

For more information about the three current projects, see my site here:
Texas Highway Man – Wurzbach Parkway

TxDOT announced today that work will start next week on the first of three phases to finally complete the Wurzbach Parkway.  Crews will begin November 1st on the section from Wetmore to Jones-Maltsberger, with completion expected in early 2014.  A month later, on December 1st, work is scheduled to begin on the segment from Blanco Rd. to West Ave.  That section should be done about a year sooner, in early 2013.

That leaves the final section from West Ave. to Jones-Maltsberger.  That stretch is scheduled to go to bid in May of next year.

All three sections will feature a four-lane divided parkway similar to that already in-place east of Wetmore.  Despite earlier uncertainty over costs, it appears now that the projects will include overpasses at Blanco, West Ave., US 281, Jones-Maltsberger, and Starcrest.  However, there still are no plans at this time for a full interchange at US 281.

The total cost of all three segments is expected to be around $130 million and is being funded with Proposition 12 funds approved by the Texas Transportation Commission (TTC) about a year ago.  Officials had originally hoped to get federal stimulus funds for the project, but when that didn’t materialize, the TTC took advantage of new Prop 12 funds authorized by the Legislature.  The Wurzbach project was the largest single Prop 12 project approved last year.

As you may recall, Adkisson was the official instigator of a vote in October to drop the toll option from the MPO’s plans regarding future US 281 and Loop 1604 projects.  That proposal went down in flames when the MPO board voted 13-5 against it, mainly because it had no objective engineering study to support it, something even an amateur elected official would realize is essential to substantiate your case.  Even the San Antonio Express-News editorial board labeled his actions “erratic and ill-considered”.  I, however, was willing to let Tommy off the hook for this boondoggle since it was obvious that outspoken toll opponent Terri Hall was the real culprit pulling the strings behind the scenes and I believed he just didn’t understand what he was getting himself into.  His declaration after the vote that he was done with toll road issues and wanted to move on to more substantive discussions, such as mass transit, also led me to believe that he was sincerely jaded on the whole 281 debacle.

But obviously not.

According to reports published in the Express-News, Adkisson wrote a letter to the chairman of the Texas House Transportation Committee, state Rep. Joe Pickett, prior to the Texas Transportation Commission’s approval of funding to complete the Wurzbach Parkway expressing a frankly delusional belief that US 281 should have been considered for the funding instead of Wurzbach.  The word he used to describe the Wurzbach funding was “incomprehensible.”

Say what?

Once again, Adkisson demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of the highway planning and funding process, not to mention a myopic focus on 281 that, unfortunately, is shared by a fair number of the citizenry.

Here are the parts of the puzzle that Tommy missed: the batch of projects approved during this round of funding all had to essentially be “shovel-ready” to comply with a legislative directive to have $1 billion of these funds (Prop. 12 bonds specifically) spent by the end of the state’s 2011 fiscal year.  US 281 is nowhere near being shovel-ready because, as a result of the fallout from previous lawsuits files by Terri Hall et al., there is no federal clearance to build any major capacity projects in the US 281 corridor at this time.  In fact, because there is a new environmental study in progress, there isn’t even a “preferred alternative” (technical jargon for a recommended project) yet for 281, meaning that there aren’t even any approved schematics or design plans.   As such, there is no project that could be funded now even if they wanted to.

Adkisson’s letter prompted the Wolffs– Kevin and Nelson– to travel to Austin to show the flag for the Wurzbach funding and fortunately it was subsequently approved.

Afterward, Tommy reluctantly expressed gratitude for the funding: “I still think US 281 North is easily the number one project in Bexar County that should get our focus, but I’m happy to have any money come to Bexar County.”

Then, he articulated a most palpable verity:

“I don’t think TxDOT and I are on the same wavelength, and what I say means little or nothing to them.”

To me, it seems like that’s a two-way street.

UPDATE 12/8/09 – Maybe Tommy is starting to see the light.

The final leg of the parkway will be constructed in three segments: Blanco to West, West to Jones-Maltsberger, and J-M to Wetmore.  Work on the eastern and western segments is projected to start next summer.  The middle segment should get underway a year later.  All three segments should take about two years each to complete.

Wurzbach wasn’t the only project in the San Antonio area to get funded.  Lighting improvements on I-35 south of Rittiman and at US 281, installation of cable barriers in the median of I-10 in far western Guadalupe County, and widening of part of FM 306 in Comal County also got funded.  And, of interest to everyone along the I-35 corridor, funds were approved to essentially complete the widening of I-35 from San Antonio to Hillsboro, namely long segments north of Waco.  You can see the complete list of projects here.  (Link updated 12/01/09)

Officials in the DFW area felt shortchanged in this process, getting only $126 million for minor maintenance projects in their region.  According to news reports, officials there feel penalized because of their robust support for toll-roads.  Bowing to public pressure, the Leg stipulated that Prop 12 funds could not be spent on toll projects.  Most of the big projects getting ready to start in the DFW area have a toll component to them and thus were ineligible for these funds.  And, as some pointed-out, DFW has gotten more than its fair share during some other recent rounds of funding.  Metroplex officials have decided to regroup to see how they can ensure funding for projects in the future.

See also:

• Express-News article
• CorridorNews: Dallas Morning News; Ft. Worth Star-Telegram