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San
Antonio Area Freeway System
Interstate 37 (Lucian Adams/Wm. J.
Bordelon Freeway) |
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| This page last updated November 22, 2021 |
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This page covers Interstate 37 east and south of
downtown San Antonio from I-35 to US 181. This freeway
continues north of downtown as US
281 North.
Length: 11 miles
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On
this page
Overview
Interstate
37 serves San
Antonio's southeast side and intersects with US 181, the main link
to exurban Wilson County. The freeway provides access to
downtown San
Antonio, the Alamodome, St. Paul Square, Brooks City-Base, the San
Antonio
Missions Trail National Park, San Antonio State Hospital, and San
Antonio State School. The freeway is also a primary route to
the Eagle Ford
oilfields south and southeast of the
city. Between downtown and SE Military, the freeway is
fronted
mostly by
residential
areas. From SE Military to US 181, most of the immediate frontage is
undeveloped.
Roadway details
| LANES |
- 8 lanes from I-35 to S. New
Braunfels Ave. with a short six lane stretch through the I-10
interchange
- 6 lanes from New Braunfels Ave.
to Military
- 4 lanes from Military to Loop 410
- 5 lanes (3 northbound, 2
southbound) from Loop 410 to US 181
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| ACCESS ROADS |
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There are no continuous access roads along this freeway. Short sections
of access road exist between Florida and Carolina,
between Hackberry and Fair, between
Cesar Chavez and Commerce, and along the west side of the freeway from
Presa to Blue Wing (at US 181.)
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| EXITS |
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Click here
for a list of I-37 exits.
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| SPEED LIMITS |
- 70 mph from US 181 to SE
Military Dr.
- 65 mph from SE Military Dr. to
Brooklyn Ave.
- 60mph
from Brooklyn Ave. to I-35
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| SPECIAL FEATURES &
NOTES |
- TransGuide coverage along entire
route
- Northbound left exit to
southbound I-35
- US 281 concurrent (multiplexed
with I-37) from I-35 to Loop 410
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| TRAFFIC |
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Heavy in the downtown area. Heavy to moderate south
of I-10. Recurring
morning congestion occurs NB in the downtown area.
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| AVERAGE
ANNUAL DAILY TRAFFIC |
| LOCATION |
2000 |
2010 |
2015 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
'10-'20
% CHG |
| S of I-35 | 131,000 | 129,000 | 147,952 | 157,506 | 159,184 | 132,147 | +2.44% |
| N of Cesar Chavez Blvd. | 110,000 | 115,000 | 130,531 | 134,844 | 136,515 | 112,162 | -2.47% |
| N of Fair Ave. | 104,000 | 104,000 | 138,218 | 136,546 | 138,357 | 114,984 | +10.56% |
| N of Hot Wells Blvd. | 69,000 | 71,000 | 100,664 | 101,730 | 103,713 | 86,082 | +21.24% |
| N of SW Military Dr. | 52,000 | 57,000 | 84,639 | 84,152 | 86,136 | 71,493 | +25.43% |
| N of Loop 410 | 42,000 | 46,000 | 72,381 | 79,276 | 74,157 | 61,550 | +33.80% |
| N of US 181 | 51,000 | 50,000 | 83,610 | 82,959 | 84,749 | 70,443 | +40.89% |
Media
gallery
Click
here
for photos and video of this
freeway.
Construction projects
No
current projects in
this corridor.
Future plans
The
MPO has an unfunded
proposal in its 25-year plan to expand I-37 from four to six lanes from
Loop
410 south to the Atascosa County line. TxDOT is planning to convert the
I-37/Military intersection to a diverging diamond interchange and add
an exit to City Base Landing.
History
This
route was originally named the "Southeast
Expressway". The
section south of I-10 is was named in 1994 for Lucian Adams
and
the section
north of I-10 is named for William J. Bordelon, both World War II Medal
of
Honor recipients. Interstate 37 was authorized
by the Texas Transportation Commission on October 1,
1959.
While
all of San Antonio's other freeways have sections that were upgraded
from existing US highways, I-37 was entirely a "new location"
route. US 181 was adjusted to end at I-37 when it opened; it previously
continued into the city along S Presa St.
 1956:
This general route first proposed for US 181.- 1957:
Interstate 37 from San Antonio to Corpus Christi added to national
Interstate system.
- 1959:
Route finalized along with that of I-10 East.
- 1967:
The section from Florida St. to I-10 and the section from SE Military
Dr. to US 181 opened.
- 1968:
The segment from I-10 to SE Military Dr. completed. The
right-of-way between Florida St. and I-35 was paved for use as
parking for HemisFair, and the I-37 mainlanes coming from the south fed
directly into the parking lot.
- 1969:
The interchange at Loop 410 was completed.
- 1972:
The section from Florida St. to I-35 completed.
- 1974:
The section from US 181 to Loop 1604 completed. The overpasses for the
mainlanes and several access roads along this section appear to have
been
completed around 1968, but the mainlanes themselves were not completed
until this time.
- Late
1980s: Access
roads along most
of the route south of I-10 were proposed in the late '80s but were
never
built.
- 1995:
TransGuide
coverage added
from Fair Ave. to I-35 as part
of
the original TransGuide project.
- 2009-2010: Work to
raise the overpasses at
Pecan Valley, S New
Braunfels, and Southcross was completed.
- 2009: The
section between Loop 410 and US 181 was widened and improved to better
facilitate hurricane evacuations from Corpus Christi and South Texas.
- 2010:
The cloverleaf
interchange at SE Military was removed and replaced with a diamond
interchange.
I-37 at
Cesar Chavez looking SE in 1968
Note the parking lots for HemisFair being paved in
the freeway
right-of-way.
(Photo
courtesy of TxDOT)
I-37 north of I-10 looking north
in 1968
Workers installing HemisFair sign. This section of I-37
lead directly into the HemisFair parking lot just past Florida St.
(Photo courtesy of TxDOT)
I-37 at Commerce looking north in
1971
(Photo courtesy of TxDOT)
Snippet of 1950 plan for I-37 at
Loop 410
Note
the planned cloverleaf interchange. This was changed in subsequent
plans to the four-level "stack" interchange that's there today. Also
note the absence of a route for I-37 south of Loop 410; the routing for
that section was still being finalized at this time.
(Document courtesy of TxDOT)
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Freeway system
I-10 East
