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Other San Antonio Area
Roads
"The Circuit" |
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This page last updated January 28, 2023 |

If
you look at a road map of South-Central Texas for a few minutes, you may
soon notice that, in addition to Loops 410 and 1604, San Antonio has
yet another, albeit unofficial, loop. This outer-outer loop is
formed by parts of State Highways 16, 97, 123, and 173 and all of SH
46. The roughly 222 mile ring, about 30-40 miles from downtown
San Antonio, connects the towns of Boerne, Bulverde, New Braunfels,
Seguin, Stockdale, Floresville, Pleasanton, Jourdanton, Devine, Hondo,
and Bandera. The areas along the northern
arc of this route are rapidly growing as San Antonio's exurbs continue to push northward,
and some local residents have begun to discuss the need
for a possible third loop around San Antonio. While there are no
official plans currently in the works to officially designate a third
loop, "The Circuit" has emerged as a possible moniker for this ad-hoc
beltway.
The majority
of the route consists of two-lane rural roads. In 2006, TxDOT
announced plans to widen SH 46 between Bulverde and New Braunfels, and work was completed in 2011 to widen the road
to seven lanes between Loop 337 and FM 2722 in western New Braunfels,
including an overpass at FM 2722. During the past decade, passing lanes have been added between Boerne and New Braunfels. A
widening
project on SH 46 on the east side of Boerne was completed in 2021. The
SH 46 overpass at I-10 in Boerne was widened in 2023 as part of a
project to improve I-10 in the vicinity. With
San Antonio's northward growth, SH 46 is currently the focus of nearly
all of the recent and planned major expansion projects. The exception
is a long-range plan to expand SH 123 south of Seguin. Bulverde widening The
2006 plan proposed to widen SH 46 to six lanes through Bulverde,
but the Bulverde City Council twice voted not to support the
project, so it was shelved. However, they have since reconsidered and TxDOT began an updated
study of the route in 2015. The current proposal calls for
widening SH 46 from Bulverde Rd. to FM 3159 to six lanes including a
center median, bicycle facilities, and sidewalks. An overpass and
interchange is planned at FM 3159. Construction
of the section from Farhills Dr. to
Bentwood Dr. began in late 2022 and is expected to be complete in late
2025. The section from Bulverde Rd. to Farhills Dr. and from Bentwood
Dr. to FM 3159 are currently unfunded and so no timeline is
available. Kendall Gateway Study ("Boerne Loop") In
2017 and 2018, TxDOT conducted the Kendall Gateway Study for a
possible bypass or other improvements in and around Boerne. The study,
however, has been shelved after the Kendall County
commissioners court voted not to support it. (Editorial:
This was a very shortsighted move and I suspect that, like Bulverde,
they will reconsider their decision at some point in the future when
congestion overwhelms the Boerne area.)
New Braunfels-Seguin corridor Sometime
around the turn of the century, TxDOT widened SH 46 from New Braunfels
to Seguin from two to five
lanes. In 2015, with growth accelerating in the SH 46 corridor, TxDOT,
in conjunction with the cities of New
Braunfels and Seguin and Guadalupe and Comal counties, began a study of
possible future improvements. In January 2023, TxDOT presented their
proposed plan, which would upgrade SH 46 to a freeway from BL 46 in New
Braunfels to FM 78 in Seguin. The freeway would be elevated over the
existing road in Comal County, and would be conventional at-grade
freeway in Guadalupe County. Direct-connector flyovers would be built
from westbound SH 46 to southbound I-35, and from northbound I-35 to
eastbound SH 46. A future project along I-10 in Seguin would build direct
connectors from westbound I-10 to westbound SH 46 and from eastbound SH
46 to eastbound I-10. This
project is still in the preliminary planning phase and is not currently
funded. Environmental approval, funding, detailed design, right-of-way
acquisition, and utility relocation still must occur before
construction can start. The earliest that could happen is 2025.
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