• Status: Construction underway (61% complete)
• Timeline: Construction started in May 2021 and is expected to be completed in late 2024
• Construction cost: About $150 million

This phase will include the following major components:

Phase 2: I‑10 to US 281

• Status: Construction underway (38% complete)
• Timeline: Construction stared in November 2021 and is expected be completed in mid 2025
• Construction cost: About $234 million
• Note: TxDOT refers to this as "Segment 3" because it's physically the third project from west to east, but I'm calling it "Phase 2" since it was the second to start construction.

This phase will include the following major components:

• All eight new flyover direct-connectors between I‑10 and Loop 1604. The existing cloverleaf interchange will be demolished. (The top two flyovers will be about 130' above the ground!)
• Flyover access road bypasses on both I‑10 and Loop 1604. These will allow through traffic on the access roads to bypass the lower level intersections.
• Replacement of the lower level signalized access road intersections with a continuous flow intersection consisting of four partial roundabouts ("fidget spinner".)
• New access road turnarounds for both directions of I‑10.
• Relocation of the westbound exit to La Cantera Blvd. including an intersection flyover bypass at La Cantera Blvd.
  
• Reconstruction of the VIA Park & Ride. 
• The eastbound exit to UTSA Blvd. will be removed due to its proximity to the new entrance from Loop 1604. Traffic on I‑10 wanting to reach UTSA Blvd. will exit at a new exit in the Loop 1604 interchange and continue on the access road. Traffic on Loop 1604 wanting to reach UTSA Blvd. will have to exit onto the access road on Loop 1604, then continue on the I‑10 access road.
• The westbound entrance ramp from UTSA Blvd. will be removed. Traffic wanting to enter I‑10 or Loop 1604 will continue on the access roads to the next available entrance ramp. This is necessary to smooth traffic flow on the approach to the new Loop 1604 exit, which will be located closer to UTSA Blvd. than the current one.
• The westbound entrance ramp from De Zavala Rd. will be slightly relocated and lengthened.
• Six general-purpose freeway mainlanes (i.e. three in each direction) will be carried through the interchange on both I-10 and Loop 1604 and I-10 will have extra pavement in its median for a future extension of the HOV lane south from its current terminus near La Cantera Blvd.
  

Future phases

The remainder of the expansion from US 281 to I‑35 is currently broken into three segments with the following tentative start dates:

Click on one of the letters on the image above to open the detailed schematic for that section

Videos

I put together some videos that discuss Phases 1 and 2 in-depth including a virtual flyover where I explain the new lane and ramp configurations:

Phase 1 - Bandera Rd. to I-10

Phase 2 - I-10 to US 281

Phase 3 - Loop 1604/I-10 interchange

FAQ
Also see the HOV FAQ on the HOV lanes page.

• Will this project be tolled?
  No. Although earlier versions of this project proposed adding two managed toll lanes in each direction, funding was secured to remove the toll component. Instead, two non-tolled mainlanes in each direction plus an HOV lane will be added.
  
  
• Why didn't they originally build Loop 1604 between Bandera and I‑35 with more than four lanes?
  The current Loop 1604 between I‑10 and I‑35 was planned 35 years ago to upgrade the two-lane farm road there at that time to the four-lane freeway that's there today-- a dramatic increase in capacity. Loop 1604 between Bandera and I‑10 was planned around 1990 and also was an upgrade from a two-lane farm road. When planning a road, engineers look at the projected traffic volumes about 20 years out, and in both cases, those projections showed that four lanes would be sufficient. Indeed, significant recurring traffic congestion didn't develop until the 15 to 20 year mark, which shows the validity of the planning done. An expansion has been in the works for about two decades now but has been delayed (see next point.) Twenty years is the accepted planning horizon because that's the length of time before a road will need major repairs and upgrades simply due to age (i.e. the road's expected lifespan), and because that's the length of time that any traffic projections can be considered even remotely reasonable. Nobody has a crystal ball, so traffic projections are "educated guesses" based on past growth and the best data available for future development in an area, and road capacity is always theoretical-- many other factors other than just the number of lanes affect congestion levels. But as a steward of taxpayer dollars, TxDOT cannot spend more than they can empirically justify, a policy I'm sure most taxpayers support to prevent "pork" projects. And spending on extra lanes that may or may not be needed in the future takes away funding for other needed projects.
  
  
• Why haven't they added more lanes to Loop 1604 North before now? Don't they know how bad the traffic is?
  Plans have been in the works to expand Loop 1604 from Bandera to I‑35 for two decades. However, such an expansion is a very expensive project-- approaching $1 billion. Due to substantial funding shortages that began in the early 2000s, TxDOT was required to incorporate tolling to pay for mega projects like this. With local opposition to tolling and the melodrama over a similar plan on US 281 that delayed that project for over a decade, the plan for 1604 has had to be reworked several times. Additionally, because of the project's location over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone, an extensive and lengthy environmental study was undertaken. With new funding mechanisms now in place and tolling deprecated, the toll component was removed from the project, which required the project to be redesigned yet one more time.
  
  
• What are the green slats on top of the center barrier between Babcock and Hausman?
  These are anti-glare screens and are there to block the headlight glare from oncoming vehicles.
  

Project history

In the mid to late '80s and early '90s, Loop 1604 was upgraded from a two-lane farm road to a four-lane freeway between I‑10 West and I‑35 North. Subsequent projects in the early and mid '90s extended the freeway to Kitty Hawk Rd. on the east and to Braun Rd. on the west. Since that time, a tremendous amount development has taken place along the 1604 corridor, and traffic counts all along 1604 have increased dramatically. In fact, 13 of the top 20 locations for traffic growth in Bexar County between 1990 and 2016 were along 1604 North, with the location just north of Bandera Rd. showing growth of almost 1000%. Meanwhile, Loop 1604 has struggled to keep up with the explosion of traffic. Several upgrades to the western section south of Braun Rd. have been completed since 1999. However, plans to expand the northern arc from Bandera Rd. to I‑35 North have been stalled for several reasons including insufficient funding and delays to required environmental studies. Below is a more in-depth history of the various machinations this project has gone through.

Loop 1604 earmarked for managed lanes
The first expansion plans for Loop 1604 North were developed around 2000. However, in the early 2000s, construction costs experienced a sudden, staggering increase. This resulted in severe funding shortages for highways. Officials sought new methods for funding, with tolling becoming the main new tool. To that end, the Texas Transportation Commission (TTC), at the governor's behest, ordered in December 2003 that "controlled-access mobility projects in any phase of development or construction must be evaluated for tolling. This includes new location facilities and increased capacity projects such as adding additional main lanes or constructing new main lanes." This order compelled TxDOT to evaluate all planned Loop 1604 freeway projects for possible tolling. The evaluation showed that the anticipated traffic volumes along 1604 made it viable for tolling, so per the TTC's order, the projects were reclassified as toll projects, and plans were made to incorporate managed lanes into the designs for an expansion from Culebra Rd. to I‑35 North. This, along with a project on US 281 North, would constitute a local toll "starter system."

What is a managed lane? A managed lane is a lane where the operational strategies of the lane are adjusted in real-time to ensure that the lane remains free-flowing, thus providing for a guaranteed travel time for users of the lane. For example, toll rates or vehicle occupancy requirements may fluctuate based on traffic conditions or time of day. Typically, managed lanes allow toll-free access for buses, carpools, and emergency vehicles while single-occupancy vehicles (i.e. solo drivers) can use the lane by paying a variable-rate toll. How is this beneficial? Besides providing a clear way for public transportation and emergency vehicles and encouraging carpooling, it also gives solo commuters who want or need to get where they're going faster an opportunity to bypass congestion by paying a toll to use any excess capacity of the lane. Every motorist who opts to do so removes one more vehicle from the toll-free lanes which can help ease congestion. The resulting toll revenue helps to subsidize for the road, saving scarce tax dollars for other needed projects.

Cintra-Zachary proposal
In 2005, a consortium consisting of local construction giant Zachary and the Spanish infrastructure company Cintra, which were working together on a bid to construct one of the now-defunct Trans Texas Corridor projects, submitted an unsolicited bid to TxDOT to build the Loop 1604 and US 281 toll projects in return for a 50-year lease to operate them. Because the bid had merit, TxDOT was required to fully evaluate it and then to accept any other bids for the projects. The Cintra-Zachary bid not only paid for construction and subsequent maintenance and operation of both roadways (which freed scarce state funding for other needed projects), it also paid a large franchise fee to the state that could also be used to fund other projects. Based on those merits, the Cintra-Zachary bid was accepted, and work started on the US 281 project in late 2005. A subsequent lawsuit over the 281 project resulted in TxDOT canceling the entire Cintra-Zachary contract, including the 1604 project.

ARMA takes over
In 2007, in light of mounting pressure from activists against toll roads being built and operated by private and mostly foreign corporations, the Legislature passed a moratorium on nearly all new privately-built and/or operated toll roads. The legislation required that local Regional Mobility Authorities be given the right of first refusal on toll projects in their jurisdiction. The Alamo Regional Mobility Authority (ARMA), which was established by Bexar County in 2003, subsequently opted to take control of both the 281 and 1604 projects and put forth a $1.8 billion plan to upgrade and expand the entire northern arc of Loop 1604 from Military Dr. on the west all the way over to I‑10 on the east. The required environmental study for that project was started and, during the scoping process for that study, the eastern boundary for the project was set at I‑35 North while the western boundary was extended south to US 90. 

Southern US 281/Loop 1604 interchange connectors built
During the Great Recession, Congress approved a national economic "stimulus" plan in February 2009 that poured additional federal money into road construction projects. The Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) approved allocating most of San Antonio's share of the largesse for the first half of a 281/1604 interchange. That project built all four of the ramps connecting to 281 south of 1604, i.e. northbound 281 to both directions of 1604, and both directions of 1604 to southbound 281. The use of the federal funds allowed the ramps to be toll-free. The Texas Transportation Commission (TTC) approved the state's share of the costs on March 5th, 2009. Construction began in early 2011 and was completed in early 2013. It was determined that ramps connecting to 281 north of 1604 should not be built until lingering issues stemming from the lawsuits and associated environmental studies for 281 north of 1604 were resolved. Those ramps were recently completed as part of the first phase of the US 281 expansion project.

Eastern and western upgrades built
The TTC also approved using stimulus funds to expand Loop 1604 to a four lane divided highway from FM 78 to Graytown Rd. near Randolph AFB. That work was completed in September 2011. That same month, ARMA and TxDOT completed a package of short-term improvements -- including two "superstreet" intersections -- on Loop 1604 West between Braun and Culebra.

New funding for toll-free expansions
In January 2014, TxDOT and ARMA announced funding had been secured to expand Loop 1604's western arc from Braun Rd. south to US 90 using a mix of various local funding sources from the Advanced Transportation District and ARMA. However, this corridor was already included in the ongoing federal environmental study for ARMA's larger project from US 90 to I‑35. Since the funding for the western expansion was coming solely from state and local sources, it no longer was required to comply with federal environmental rules. Therefore, to avoid delaying those projects unnecessarily while the federal environmental study dragged on, the western segments were removed from that ongoing study and instead approved under a separate state environmental review. This had the adverse side effect of requiring the ongoing federal study to be re-scoped and re-started using the adjusted project limits, thus resulting in a substantial delay to that study and project.

Tolls still needed
During its session in early 2015, the Texas Legislature approved new funding sources for highways that reallocated approximately $2.5 billion from sales taxes and motor vehicle sales taxes annually to highways. At that time, it was projected that even the additional funding available to San Antonio from that new source would not be sufficient to fund this project, so the tolled managed lane component was kept in the plans.

Tolling depreciated
In late 2017, the governor and lieutenant governor directed the TTC to remove tolling from future projects. However, because Loop 1604 was already in local plans with tolling underpinning its funding, and because the projected funding for the area was still projected to be insufficient to cover its then $800 million estimated cost, it retained its designation in local plans as a toll project. This was done because a viable funding source is required under federal rules in order for planning on a project to continue. 

Toll component removed; TxDOT takes project back
In mid 2018, revised funding forecasts became substantially more favorable. In light of that, and with tolling deprecated statewide and all the other planned local toll projects already converted back to traditional funding, the MPO board voted to remove the toll component from this project and ARMA relinquished the project back to TxDOT.

New non-toll plans released
In September 2020, TxDOT released the updated plans that removed the tolled managed lanes and replaced them with two additional non-toll general-purpose lanes and one HOV lane in each direction along with a redesigned interchange at I‑10.

Construction begins
In May 2021, construction on the first phase of expansion, from Bandera Rd. to I-10, began.

Other sites of interest

TxDOT- Loop 1604 from SH 16 to I‑35 Open House https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/get-involved/about/hearings-meetings/san-antonio/090419.html