Other San
Antonio Area Roads
Loop
addressing |
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This
page last updated June 20, 2019 |
At times, San Antonio's addressing system
can seem arcane and bewildering, and the system used on its two loops are no exception. To start with, both Loop
410 and Loop 1604 use different naming and numbering systems. Once you've mastered that, you come to find that the
demarcation between the segments is not cleanly delineated. If
that wasn't enough, the numbering pattern is not always consistent even
on the same loop.
So let's take a look at each loop individually below.
Loop 410
Of the two loops, Loop 410 has the easiest basic layout to understand. It's divided into four quadrants: NW, NE, SE, and SW.
So it
can help to visualize it as a diamond:
It's important to understand
that
the dividing lines shown above
for each segment are approximate. For example, there is at
least
one NE Loop 410 address west of McCullough. This is because Main
Ave. is actually the dividing line, but since Main does not extend all
the way to the Loop, the addressing is based as if it did. The house numbers
for NW
and NE segments starts at the north and increases southward. Numbers for the SW and SE
segments, however, also increases
southward. So the numbering for SW Loop 410 resets near SH 151
and
increases from there, and for SE Loop 410, the numbering restarts near I-10
East. On NW and NE Loop 410, the addresses essentially start
at
zero instead of 100 like on most "normal" numbering plans, but the numbers appear
to start with 100 for the SW and SE segments. On the South Side,
part of the Loop 410 access road is actually Chavaneaux Rd., so that
street's numbering is used there. On the northeast side where
Loop 410 and I-35 run concurrent, I-35's addressing is carried through.
For the
directional
indicators on the highway itself (i.e. northbound, southbound, etc.),
the dividing lines are mostly in different places: I-35 on both
the north and south sides of town, I-37 on the southeast side, and
Bandera Rd. on the northwest side. So for example, westbound
Loop
410 becomes southbound Loop 410 at Bandera Rd.
Loop 1604
Loop 1604's
basic layout is
quite a bit more complex, although when you break it down, it's not
quite as intimidating as it might initially seem. First of
all,
the loop is divided into four quadrants: North, East, South, and West.
However, each quadrant is then split into two halves: West
and
East or North and South. So it helps to think of each
quadrant as
its own street with directional divisions. For instance,
just
like Commerce St. is divided into East and West halves, North Loop
1604 and South Loop 1604 are also divided into East and West halves.
Similarly, just as Zarzamora St. is divided into North and
South sections, so are West Loop 1604 and East Loop 1604. So
it might help to visualize Loop 1604 as a square with each side then
divided
into two:

Again, like
with Loop 410,
the dividing lines for each segment are not exact, so some numbering
may "bleed over" the streets shown. Fortunately, unlike Loop
410,
the
numbering plan is much more consistent on Loop 1604. The
numbering starts in the middle of each quadrant and increases outward, just
as it does for Commerce and Zarzamora streets. However, the
naming convention for Loop 1604 can get quite confusing in a hurry. The rule is that the quadrant name comes first and
preceeds "Loop 1604"; the directional half is then tacked onto the
end. This,
of course, is different than regular street names like
Commerce and Zarzamora where the directional half is prefixed, e.g.
East Commerce and South Zarzamora. So 1000 West Loop 1604
North
would be on the west quadrant of Loop 1604 not far north of Potranco,
but 1000 North Loop 1604 West
would be on the north quadrant of Loop
1604 a short distance west of Stone Oak. Those are quite a
ways
apart, so you can see that the order of the directional markers is
quite
important! Complicating
all of this is the fact that most folks with addresses along Loop 1604
don't understand this addressing system and list
their addresses wrong. It's not uncommon see addresses like 1000 Loop 1604 W or 1000 NW Loop 1604.
The post
office
usually is
able to find them because of their ZIP code, so that can be helpful
in narrowing it down if you have that; just include the ZIP code with
the address when searching in your favorite mapping program or on your
GPS.
As for the
directional
indicators on the highway itself (i.e .northbound, southbound, etc.), the dividing lines are mostly the
same as those for the addressing with one exception: Benton City Rd. is
the dividing line on the southwest corner instead of Somerset Rd. For instance, westbound Loop 1604 becomes southbound Loop
1604 at
Bandera Rd. That's also where
North Loop 1604 West becomes West
Loop 1604 North! One footnote for Loop 1604: many people refer to it as FM 1604, although the correct title is indeed Loop 1604.
Conclusion
This is San
Antonio, the
home of loops and wonky addressing. When the two are
combined, it
can make for some real fun! Take this advice: unless you already know
exactly where you're going, double-check the location using your
favorite mapping program before heading out, including the ZIP code if
you have it, or call your destination and get the cross street. It will
likely save you lots of frustration and
gas!
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