North San Antonio Edition - June 2022

TRANSPORTATION UPDATES

COMPILED BY JARRETT WHITENER & EDMOND ORTIZ

TxDOT begins $1.5B North I-35 expansion project

ONGOING PROJECTS

B O R GFE L D D R

The Texas Department of Trans- portation on May 11 broke ground on the $1.5 billion I-35 North East expansion, or NEX, Central project aimed at increasing mobility and motorist safety in one of the most heavily traveled corridors in the San Antonio area. According to Gina Gallegos, TxDOT San Antonio District engineer, I-35 has an average of 200,000 drivers daily, and that number is estimated to hit 430,000 daily drivers by 2044. Many of those drivers are north side residents who utilize Loop 1604 to I-35 to commute to jobs in New Braunfels and Austin. To address the traffic problem, the project will include 9.5 miles of elevated lanes with three lanes going each direction—northbound and southbound—between the Loop 410/I-35 interchange near the city of Windcrest and FM 3009 in Schertz. Two of those planned elevated lanes—one in each direction—will be high occupancy vehicle lanes. TxDOT

and its project contractor, Spanish company Ferrovial, will also widen I-35 lanes from FM 3009 in Schertz to FM 1103 in Cibolo. TxDOT estimates construction will end in 2027. TxDOT authorities at the ground- breaking ceremony held at the Santikos Galaxy Theater said the I-35 expansion will benefit residents and businesses in and around San Antonio. Texas Transportation Commission Chair J. Bruce Bugg said Texas’ popu- lation growth will lead to more need for road expansion in the future. According to Bugg, Texas’ current population of 29 million is projected to reach 47 million by 2050. Bugg said the San Antonio-area population is projected to grow by 77% by 2050, and the corridor between San Antonio and Austin is the fastest-growing roadway in the U.S. “We are on the road to gaining more Texans by 2050, and we are going to be right at 47 million Texans by 2050,” Bugg said. “What that means is, at TxDOT, it falls to us to

I-35 EXPANSION PROJECT

35

3009

T

78

1604

N

410

N

Blanco Road expansion Construction work on Blanco Road between Borgfeld Drive and West Oak Estates Drive is more than 90% complete, according to the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority. Con- tractor Harper Brothers Construction is working to expand Blanco from a two-lane rural roadway to a four-lane corridor with 6-foot shoulders in each direction and bicycle lanes. Timeline: June 2020-August 2022 Cost: $17.7 million Funding source: Alamo Area Metro- politan Planning Organization

I-35 DRIVERS Officials said a growing number of daily drivers on I-35 creates the need for more traffic solutions. 200K average number of drivers daily

430K

projected daily drivers

0 100K

200K

300K

400K

500K

SOURCE: TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

think about what are the needs of not only the Texans of today, but also the Texans of tomorrow.” Visit www.i35nex.com for more project details.

ALL INFORMATION ON THIS PAGE WAS UPDATED AS OF MAY 17. NEWS OR QUESTIONS ABOUT THESE OR OTHER LOCAL TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS? EMAIL US AT NSANEWS@COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM.

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COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER • COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM

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