 |
San
Antonio Area Freeway System
Wurzbach
Parkway |
|
|
| This
page
last updated January 2, 2014 |
 |
This
page
covers the Wurzbach Parkway in North San Antonio.
Length:
8 miles completed of 12 miles planned
|
On this page
Overview
There
are no
long-distance east-west arterials between Loop 410 and Loop 1604 in
North San Antonio. As a result, Loop 410 and Loop 1604 are
overburdened carrying the vast majority of that east-west
traffic. The Wurzbach Parkway is a new east-west
"super-arterial"
being built across northern San Antonio connecting I-10 to
I-35.
It is intended to reduce the load on both loops as well as several
arterials in the vicinity. Currently, the eastern third the
parkway, from Wetmore to I-35 is complete as is the far western section
from Lockhill-Selma to Blanco Rd. The parkway is being
developed
under the Principal Arterial Street System (PASS) program and carries a
internal TxDOT route number of PA-1502.
The
route passes
through a variety of urban land uses. The eastern end of the
route passes through a light commercial and industrial area before
entering the former Longhorn Quarry, which was
redeveloped as an entertainment area with an amusement park, high
school football stadium, and soccer complex including the home stadium
for San Antonio's NASL team. The parkway then passes
through
the commercial, residential, and light industrial areas around
Perrin-Beitel and Nacogdoches before passing over an active quarry near
Wetmore Rd. The western section runs mostly through the
future
Hardberger Park (formerly Voelker Park), with commercial and
residential development lining the route at the far western end.
On
November 19,
2009, the Texas Transportation Commission approved spending $130
million in Proposition 12 bond funds to complete the parkway.
Work on the three segments began in late 2010 and early 2011 with
completion in
2014 and 2015.
Roadway
details
 The map to the right
shows the completed
segments in green.
The parkway
features four and six lanes divided by a raised island
median.
There are no access roads and connections to local streets and
driveways is limited with overpasses at most major intersections along
the eastern segment. The route is classified as a
"super-arterial" rather than a freeway which means that it is basically
a hybrid between a major street and a minor expressway. The
right-of-way is 120 feet wide along the route and 220 feet wide at
interchanges. The route includes bike lanes,
aesthetically-pleasing structures, and noise abatement walls.
The
eastern
section has overpasses and interchanges at Wetmore, Nacogdoches,
Perrin-Beitel, and Thousand Oaks. The interchange at Wetmore
is a
partial cloverleaf; the others are diamonds. At the far
eastern
end, the parkway crosses Weidner at a signalized, at-grade intersection
and terminates at an intersection where it merges with the pre-existing
but reconfigured O'Connor Road. Through traffic can then
continue
east to I-35 on O'Connor. On the western end of this section,
the
parkway merges into Starcrest just west of Wetmore, providing the
through route to US 281.
The
western
section meets Lockhill-Selma, NW Military, and Blanco Rd. at
signalized, at-grade intersections. The section between
Lockhill-Selma and NW Military has a landscaped and lighted pedestrian
trail in the median. The western end of the parkway is at
Lockhill-Selma, but through traffic can continue west to I-10 and
beyond on the pre-existing Wurzbach Road. Improvements were
made
to that section of Wurzbach to support the anticipated increases in
traffic from the completed parkway.
|
EXITS |
Eastern
segment
EASTBOUND
(from Starcrest):
- Wetmore
Rd
- Nacogdoches
Rd
- FM
2252/Perrin-Beitel Rd
- Thousand
Oaks Dr
- Turnaround
- Weidner
Rd (At-grade signalized
intersection)
-
Parkway
ends at O'Connor Rd/Crosswinds Way at-grade signalized intersection
WESTBOUND
(from O'Connor/Crosswinds):
- Weidner
Rd (At-grade signalized
intersection)
- Thousand
Oaks Dr
- FM
2252/Perrin-Beitel Rd
- Nacogdoches
Rd
- Wetmore
Rd
-
Parkway
merges into Starcrest Dr
|
Western
segment
EASTBOUND
(from Lockhill-Selma):
- FM
1535/NW Military Hwy
- FM
2696/Blanco Rd
- Vista
Del Norte (at-grade turn-off)
- West
Ave
-
Parkway
ends at West Ave at-grade signalized intersection
WESTBOUND
(from West Ave.):
- Vista
Del Norte (at-grade turn-off)
- FM
2696/Blanco Rd
- FM
1535/NW Military Hwy
-
Parkway
ends at Lockhill-Selma at-grade signalized intersection and joins
Wurzbach Rd.
|
| SPEED
LIMITS |
- 60
mph from
Starcrest to Weidner
- 55 mph
from NW Military to Blanco
- 45
mph
along remainder
|
| |
| SPECIAL
FEATURES & NOTES |
- Bike
lanes from Wetmore to
Perrin-Beitel and from Lockhill-Selma to NW
Military
- Walking
trail in median between
Lockhill-Selma and NW Military
|
| |
| TRAFFIC |
|
Relatively light along the completed segments. With the
exception
of the Wetmore location, traffic counts have grown substantially over
the past decade.
|
| |
|
AVERAGE
ANNUAL DAILY TRAFFIC |
|
LOCATION |
2000 |
2006 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
'01-'11
% CHG |
| Weidner Rd. |
5,700 |
11,000 |
15,600 |
15,800 |
15,400 |
+161.02% |
| Perrin-Beitel Rd. |
17,100 |
18,000 |
29,000 |
29,000 |
23,000 |
+37.72% |
| Nacogdoches Rd. |
22,000 |
32,000 |
31,000 |
31,000 |
25,000 |
+13.64% |
| Wetmore Rd. |
29,000 |
35,000 |
29,000 |
29,000 |
25,000 |
-7.41% |
Construction
projects
- Wetmore
to
West Ave.: Construction of last
parkway segments. Click here
for details on these projects.
Click
here
to view information for all projects
in this corridor.
Future
plans
Completion
of
the parkway from Wetmore to Blanco and an interchange at US 281 were
being considered for a possible
tollway
project;
however it was determined in early 2007 that this was
not feasible. Three possible interchange configurations were
considered at 281:
- Wurzbach
Parkway flyover over US 281 with ramps to 281 access roads
- Elevated
roundabout interchange
- Full
interchange (half-stack, half-cloverleaf)
The
section
between NW Military and Blanco runs through Hardberger (Voelker) Park;
a proposal by the city would construct a landscaped "land bridge" over
the parkway connecting the two halves of the park.
A
request for
funding to construct the Blanco - West Ave. and Wetmore -
Jones-Maltsberger
segments was included in the MPO's economic stimulus funding request in
late February 2009, but it was not selected to receive stimulus
funds. However, on November 19, 2009, the Texas
Transportation
Commission approved spending $130 million in Proposition 12 bond funds
to complete the parkway (by far the most of any project in the state
during that round of funding.) The project was divided into
three
phases: Blanco to West Ave., West Ave. to Jones-Maltsberger, and
Jones-Maltsberger to Wetmore. Work began in late 2010 on the
outer two segments with completion projected for 2014 (Blanco to West
Ave. opened on 1/1/14.) Work on the
center
segment began in 2011 with estimated completion in 2015. At
this
time, because of relatively low traffic volumes and funding
limitations, no directional interchange will be constructed at US
281. Instead, drivers will use the US 281 access roads to
transition between the two roadways.
After
a spate of
head-on collisions caused by drivers jumping the raised median, a
concrete center barrier was installed in early 2010 between Wetmore and
Weidner. Initially, the parkway was designed and built for a
45
mph speed limit, but after public complaints, the city raised the speed
limit ca. 2000 to 60 mph. This was a contributing factor for
the
increase of accidents.
History
The
route was
originally proposed in the late '80s as the aptly-named "East-West
Parkway." Eventually named Wurzbach Parkway because it
connects
to Wurzbach Road in northwestern San Antonio. Wurzbach Road
is
named for William Wurzbach who owned a ranch around what is now I-10
and Wurzbach Road. He built a road through his property and
eventually deeded the road to the county. Wurzbach also
served as
a county judge and county attorney.
The
first
section of the parkway from Wetmore Rd. to Nacogdoches Rd. was
completed in 1996. The section from Nacogdoches to O'Connor
was
completed in September 1999. The section between
Lockhill-Selma
and NW Military was completed in late March 2000. The section
between NW Military and Blanco Rd. was completed in July 2002.
The section from Blanco to West Ave. opened on January 1,
2014.
|
Freeway system
