San Antonio Area Freeway System Wurzbach Parkway

This page last updated April 4, 2014

This page covers the Wurzbach Parkway in North San Antonio. Length: 9 miles completed of 12 miles planned

On this page

Overview	Roadway details	Exits	Speed limits	Special features & notes
Traffic	Media gallery (Not yet available)	Construction projects	Future plans	History

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 West Ave.  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 Hardberger 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 dates 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 or a concrete divider.  There are no continuous access roads, connections to local streets and driveways is limited, and there are overpasses at most major intersections.  The route is classified as a "super-arterial" rather than a freeway and, as such, the road is 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 a signalized intersection where it merges with the pre-existing O'Connor Road.  Through traffic can then continue easton O'Connorto I-35.  On the western end of this section, the parkway currently turns onto Starcrest just west of Wetmore, providing the through route to US 281.

The western section meets Lockhill-Selma, NW Military, Blanco Rd., and West Ave. 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.
 

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 (this is the configuration that was eventually selected)
• Elevated roundabout interchange
• Full interchange (half-stack, half-cloverleaf)

The section between NW Military and Blanco runs through Hardberger Park; a proposal by the city may construct a landscaped "land bridge" over the parkway connecting the two sections of the park.

A request for funding to construct the Blanco - West Ave. and Wetmore - Jones-Maltsberger segments was included in the MPO's federal 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 keystone 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 to 60 mph ca. 2000.  This was likely a contributing factor for the increase of accidents.

History

This route was originally proposed in the late '80s as the aptly-named "East-West Parkway" and was 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 segment from Nacogdoches to O'Connor was completed in September 1999.  The route 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.  After a decade pause, the next section-- from Blanco to West Ave.-- opened on January 1, 2014, although a pavement issue delayed the opening of the overpass at Blanco until April 2.