Massive Loop 1604 study goes back to the public
The top ideas on how to add lanes to almost half of Loop 1604 will be laid out in a series of three public meetings this week so officials can get input.
With gas taxes strangled by decades of inflation, diversions and political inaction, toll fees and toll-backed bonds have emerged as a primary path to get some things done on the 37-mile stretch of highway.
A previous study was derailed in 2008 after toll opponents and environmental activists filed a lawsuit in a federal court. The lawsuit in part called for Loop 1604 and U.S. 281 to be studied together, since they would have been part of an interrelated tollway system, and the judge seemed to agree.
For this week’s meetings, study officials will provide several short presentations each night, from 6 to 8:30 p.m.:
- Monday, Valero Headquarters, Building D, One Valero Way.
- Tuesday, Live Oak Civic Center, Main Hall, 8101 Pat Booker Rd.
- Wednesday, Vale Middle School, cafeteria, 2120 N. Ellison Dr.
For more information or help, start out at More for 1604’s event page.
Other links:
Roads: Alamo Regional Mobility Authority Braun Road Loop 1604 superstreet Texas Department of Transportation
by Brian
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Loop 1604 “super-street” approved
Diagram of a typical super street intersection (KY DOT)
Just yesterday, I mentioned that plans for a Loop 1604 super-street would be announced soon, and indeed the project was announced today at a Bexar County Commissioners Court meeting where the court approved kicking-in $900,000 of Advanced Transportation District funds to help pay for the $7.4 million project. The remaining $6.5 million will come from federal stimulus funds.
History Roads Safety: Alamo Regional Mobility Authority Braun Road Loop 1604 superstreet Texas Department of Transportation traffic signals
by Brian
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“Whoever put traffic lights on Loop 1604 needs to be punched”
The oft-maligned 1604/Braun intersection
Well, once again, it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything here. I’ve been working on what I think will be an exciting new addition to my website (stay tuned for more on that soon.) However, as I was watching the Sunday morning political talk shows, my wife mentioned something that motivated me to write this post, which is one that I’ve been meaning to do for a while. While Facebooking (can that really be a verb?), she came across a new Facebook group with the same title as this post. After rolling my eyes (as I often do in these situations), I realized (also as I often do in these situations) that the creator of that group– and those who subscribe to the explicit as well as implicit sentiment of it– probably just doesn’t have the back-story to understand why things are the way they are and that my initial reaction made me just as guilty of jumping to conclusions as that person was. Whoever created the group is obviously frustrated– they even say they’re “pissed off” at the “stupid” traffic lights, and I sympathize with their frustration. But, as is often the case, there’s more to the story than meets the eye, and maybe if folks understood how things got to be as they are, they might be more forgiving. This posting is an attempt at that.
Construction and closures Roads Toll roads: interchange Loop 1604 Terri Hall US 281
by Brian
Comments Off on Terri’s at it again (part 2 of 2)
Terri’s at it again (part 2 of 2)
In yesterday’s post, I took aim at the alleged “egregious fiscal malfeasance” that local toll-opponent Terri Hall accused ARMA of with regards to their plans for a US 281/Loop 1604 interchange. Today, I’ll take her to task on her claims of “unequal application of the law” with regards to the environmental studies required for the interchange versus those for 281 north of 1604.
Construction and closures Roads: I-10 Loop 1604 public meeting US 281
by Brian
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Two big San Antonio transpo meetings next week
Two agencies– TxDOT and ARMA– will be conducting public meetings next week for two separate projects.
First up is ARMA with a public meeting to discuss the US 281/Loop 1604 interchange project, scheduled to break ground later this year. It is being funded primarily by federal stimulus money and will build the first four elevated ramps connecting 281 south of 1604 to both directions on 1604. The meeting is Monday, January 11, at Parkhills Baptist Church, 17747 San Pedro. Doors open at 5:30pm for an open house. The formal presentation begins at 7:00pm with public comments thereafter. I’m going to try and have a web page on the interchange project done this weekend.
Two days later, TxDOT will hold a public hearing on proposed improvements to I-10 West from Ramsgate to Loop 1604. These plans have been on the back burner for serveral years as no funding has been available. The planned improvements include adding an extra mainlane in each direction and major revisions of the ramps in that area. As those of you who pass through there know, the ramp configuration outbound between Huebner and De Zavala is particularly problematic. The last renderings I saw removed the existing ramp for De Zavala and instead re-purposed the Woodstone exit ramp as the De Zavala exit. That one small change alone, assuming it’s still in the works, will be a big improvement. The hearing will take place on January 13th at the Clark High School cafeteria, 5150 De Zavala Rd. The open house begins at 6:30pm with the actual presentation and public hearing starting at 7:00pm.
Where’s the Loop 1604 Christmas tree?
Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Been busy working on my big website update as well as the usual holiday tasks.
Speaking of the holidays, for the past few years, somebody has always decorated one of the trees in the median between the Loop 1604 mainlanes and frontage roads around Christmastime, usually in the vicinity of Blanco, Huebner, or Bitters. This year, I haven’t spotted one. Has anyone seen it? If not, I wonder what happened to the person who used to do it.
Results from the big toll road vote
After hour upon hour of citizens to be heard (well over 100 of them), and then several agonizing minutes of parliamentarian wrangling over whether the proposed changes had to have cost estimates to be legal, the MPO finally voted at around 11:20pm. The first vote, to remove tolls from 281, was 13-5 against with one abstention; the vote among elected officials was 6-5 against. The subsequent vote on removing tolls from 1604 went the same way. However, in the surprise of the night (besides Jack Finger ending his comments with time to spare), the board voted unanimously to remove the CDA (comprehensive development agreement) option for Bandera Rd., essentially killing the prospect of tolls on that roadway. That almost seemed like a consolation offering to Tommy, Terri, and the anti-toll crowd. The final vote of the night– whether to build all eight ramps of the 281/1604 interchange instead of just the four already in the works– ended-up being dropped entirely after a board member pointed-out that the additional four ramps could not be built because they would have to be covered under a separate environmental study. This would cause it to lose its federal stimulus funds because the project would not be shovel-ready by next March’s deadline. In the end, I think everyone was too tired anyway to debate it.
Much more to follow in the coming days.
T4 Plan a “pipe dream”
Today’s the big day for the “T4 Plan” (Tommy and Terri’s Toll Termination Plan). The MPO board will vote tonight on whether to go foward with their proposal that removes the toll option from proposed expressway projects on US 281 and Loop 1604. I was prepared today to summarize why this is a bad idea, but lo and behold, the Express-News Editorial Board did a fantastic job in an editorial in yesterday’s editions.