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Other San
Antonio Area Roads
I-10
West Projects (Boerne
- Fair Oaks Ranch) |
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This page
last updated September 21, 2023 |

Since
the late aughts, TxDOT
has been working on a series of
projects on I-10 West
between Loop 1604 and SH 46 to improve intersections, add new
overpasses and widen existing ones, convert the access roads
to one-way operation, and expand the mainlanes. This
page contains information about the projects from Ralph Fair
Rd. to SH 46 in Boerne.
Note
that all this work on I-10 between Loop 1604 and Boerne has been a series of
individual projects, not one continuous project (see
Q&A below for
why.)
The
overarching
goal of several of these projects has been to convert the access roads
to
one-way
operation from Leon Springs to Boerne. As this area continues to become
more developed, one-way access roads will be safer and more
efficient. For optimal operation and convenience, there needs to be
a crossover every mile or so. Otherwise, someone turning onto
a one-way access road just past an intersection and wanting to go the
opposite direction could have to travel several miles out of their way;
having a crossover every mile or so both
minimizes
this inconvenience and provides better access for emergency vehicles.
This is the reason why new overpasses at
Old Fredericksburg Road and Balcones Creek Road were included in the
plans and also was the
primary reason that the overpass at
Dominion Drive was built a decade ago (despite cynical
misinformation alleging otherwise.)
None
of these projects are related to the recent Kendall Gateway (aka
"Boerne Loop")
study.
The schematics
included for each project below are courtesy of TxDOT; the annotations
on them are my
own.
Q: Why is there
constant construction along this section of I-10?
A:
This is due to funding limitations. A few years into this century,
TxDOT
developed a master plan for improvements to I-10 from Loop 1604 to
Boerne. However, because of constrained funding levels at that time,
that plan had
to be broken into multiple smaller projects in order to fit within
the projected funding allotments, with each project being an incremental step
toward the larger vision. Shortly after the first projects
started near Camp Bullis Rd. and Dominion Dr., the legislature
and
voters
approved new funding sources for transportation. This additional
funding allowed the
series of projects originally expected to be built piecemeal over two
decades to be accelerated into the barrage of projects now underway or
recently completed.
Here's
an analogy: Imagine you want to renovate your house, but you don't have
the money to do it all at once. So you make a plan based on your income
and figure you can do one project every two years, which means there
will
be breaks between projects, but it will take eight years or so to get
them all done. You start
work on the kitchen, but while that's underway, you get an
unexpected bonus at work. So you use it to do one of the bathrooms,
which is a couple of years earlier than planned. Then a year later, you
come into some more money and so now you can do another bathroom three
years earlier than you expected, and you can also replace the floors
five years earlier than you planned. So now, you have a house that's
constantly under construction, but it's getting done faster than you
planned. This is essentially what happened on this stretch of I-10.
The
map below shows the timeline of all the projects in this corridor.
I-10 WEST (LOOP 1604 to SH 46)
PROJECT HISTORY

1 |
|
SH
46 to Scenic Loop Road |
This project
is overhauling and redesigning the interchanges at SH 46 (W Bandera
Road)
and at Business
87 (S Main Street), completing the westbound frontage road between
Business 87 and
Christus Parkway, converting all the frontage roads to one-way, and
changing
the locations of the entrance and exit ramps.
At SH
46, the existing overpass is being replaced with a new overpass
consisting of two through lanes and a left turn
lane in each direction. The access roads adjacent to the
overpass are being re-aligned inward
toward the mainlanes and portions of the old access roads at School St.
and Upper Balcones Rd. are being converted to local service streets
to maintain access but configured to
minimize conflicts. A westbound to eastbound turnaround is also being
constructed. Although not shown on the schematic below, the park
& ride lot is being kept in its current location but is being
reconfigured.
The
Business 87
interchange is being rebuilt as a more
conventional intersection. A new, wider overpass will replace
the
existing overpass and will end in a "T" at a realigned eastbound access
road. (The City of Boerne plans to eventually build a new thoroughfare
there.) There
will be
turnarounds for both directions. A
new westbound
access road will
continue beyond the new intersection and join with the new
frontage
road
recently completed near Christus Parkway. The
existing entrance
and exit ramps are being relocated further south from the intersection.
A
portion of the existing westbound access road at the southeast corner
of the interchange is being converted to a service street to maintain
access to local properties after the access road is realigned.
At
Scenic Loop, an eastbound to westbound turnaround is being built and
the
entrance and exit ramps north of Scenic Loop are being relocated
further
north.
 |
There
was an
ongoing
rumor on social media "from a credible source" that the first half of the new SH 46
overpass was defective and would have to be torn-down and rebuilt. This
was obviously not
true as traffic was shifted onto that "defective"
new overpass without it being torn-down and rebuilt, and the
second half of the new overpass has now also been completed.
The moral
of the story: don't
believe the rumors you read on social media-- they're usually wrong. |
Status:
- Work
started in June 2018
- Estimated
completion: Substantially complete!
- Q: Why did this project take so long?
A:
I don't work for TxDOT, and I don't have any inside details on this
one, so this is strictly my own impression based on what I do know
about this project and my experience observing highway projects for
decades: The contractor
working this project is one I had never heard of before, and they might
have bitten off more than they can chew as
they don't seem to be as capable as most
of the regular contractors that I've seen work big TxDOT jobs. There
have certainly been
a few issues outside of their control, but frankly it seems like
they've committed more unforced errors on this job than I've seen in a
long time. They have been paying a daily penalty for missing the
completion deadline for quite a while now, so far to the tune of over
$1.1
million. The good news is that this project is
finally substantially complete with just final "punch list" items
to finish up.

Click above to see the schematic for
this project
This
project lengthened and increased the height of the I-10 overpass at
Scenic Loop in preparation for future turnarounds and intersection
expansion
(projects 1 and 3 on this page.)
3 |
|
Scenic
Loop Road to Bexar County Line
|
This
project is converting the
access roads between Scenic Loop Road and Balcones
Creek Road to
one-way, building a westbound to eastbound turnaround at Scenic Loop,
relocating the entrance and exit ramps further south,
constructing new entrance and exit ramps for Balcones Creek Road (see
project #4 below), and
constructing new higher access road bridges
over Balcones Creek. The existing "lower" access roads and crossover
under I-10 at Balcones Creek will be kept.
- Work
started in July 2019
- Completed in early 2022

Click above to see the schematic for
this project
4 |
|
Kendall
County Line to Fair Oaks Parkway |
Ths project is constructing a
new overpass for I-10 at Balcones Creek Road and the
access roads are being converted to one-way from Balcones Creek Road to
Fair Oaks Parkway. An
eastbound to westbound turnaround at Fair Oaks Parkway is
also being built as part of this project (not shown in the schematic.) The access roads
between Balcones Creek Road and Scenic Loop Road are being converted to
one-way in a separate project (see #2 above.)

Click above to see the schematic for
this project
5 |
|
At
Fair Oaks Parkway/Tarpon
Drive |
The
overpass has been widened to five lanes and realigned to join Fair
Oaks Parkway to Tarpon Drive. The access roads south of Fair Oaks
Pkwy have been converted to one-way and
the entrance and exit ramps relocated as part of project #6 below. The
current project at Balcones Creek Road
(above) is converting the access roads north of Fair Oaks Pkwy to
one-way
and relocating the entrance and exit ramps north of Fair Oaks Parkway.
- Project
completed in 2018
6 |
|
Fair
Oaks Parkway/Tarpon
Drive to Ralph Fair Road |
A
new overpass for I-10 has been built at Old Fredericksburg Road
connecting it to Buckskin Drive. The access roads have been
converted to one-way, new entrance and exit ramps for this intersection
added, and the exit and entrance ramps for Ralph Fair
Road/Boerne Stage Road relocated.
- Project
completed in 2018
- Q: Why are the
signals at the new Buckskin/Old Fredericksburg intersection flashing
red?
A:
These signals were installed for future use at this intersection, i.e.
planners believe they will be needed in the future as traffic
grows
here, so it was more cost-effective to include them in the overpass
project than to have to come back later and install them. For the
moment, traffic volumes only necessitate a four-way stop, so the
signals are used to supplement that. Engineers are monitoring traffic
at this intersection and will switch to full red-yellow-green signal
operation
when traffic volumes warrant.
7 |
|
SH
46 to Ralph Fair Road |
This
roughly $250 million project will expand the
I-10 mainlanes to add one general-purpose mainlane in each direction
(for a total of three) plus one HOV lane in each direction. All of the
projects above were designed with this project in mind.
- This
project is currently
"penciled-in" to start in 2031, but it is currently unfunded and
therefore that date is simply a placeholder.
- This
project may be divided into smaller projects/phases to take advantage
of available funding.
- Q: Why wasn't
this done in conjunction with all of the other projects in this
corridor?
A:
This is due to funding limitations. Around the turn of the century,
TxDOT
developed a master plan for improvements to I-10 from Loop 1604 to
Boerne. However, because of funding constraints at that time, that plan
had
to be broken into multiple smaller projects in order to fit within
projected funding levels, with each project being an incremental step
toward the larger vision. Although funding levels have improved over
the past decade (thus resulting in the flurry of projects seen to
date), this final project to compete that master plan has a large
enough price tag that it is still in line for funding.
Proposed
I-10 cross-section
Other
sites of interest
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