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This page last updated December 15, 2024 |
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This project is currently in design The descriptions below are based on preliminary schematics and, as a result, details may change before the project goes to construction. This page will be updated when final schematics for the project are available. |
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Project description
Sometimes, things work out better on paper than in practice. Loop 410 between US 281 and NW Military Hwy. is one of those cases. Designed and built as part of the massive project to widen Loop 410 from six to 10 lanes across the North Side during the first decade of this millennium, some operational issues have become evident over the years mainly due to entrance and exit ramp locations. To be fair, this is a difficult area to work with — in less than 2½ miles, there are six intersecting thoroughfares plus the flyovers to/from US 281 all crammed together in an area where the frontage is heavily developed along the busiest stretch of freeway in Texas outside of Houston. So getting everything to work optimally out of the gate was a heavy lift.
With the traffic patterns and issues in the area now stable and well-understood, engineers have been able to better model several possible tweaks and fixes, and they have settled on a package of improvements that should iron-out most of the pain points in the area as well as accommodate changes that have occurred since the work in this area was completed a dozen or so years ago. Planners also looked a little further afield and will make a few adjustments along US 281 north of Loop 410 to help streamline some kinks there as well.
Below are descriptions of the planned changes broken-out by segments. As you read through, you will see how many of the changes in one segment are related to changes being made in adjacent segments. A snippet of the schematic for each segment is provided; click on the image to show a larger view. The full schematics are available at the bottom of this page.
| LOOP 410 |
Big changes will happen at McCullough. The existing overpass will be reconfigured to allow only for southbound traffic turning left from the westbound access road. Traffic on McCullough coming from north of 410 wanting to go south over the overpass will instead have to turn right onto the westbound access road, then take the turnaround at San Pedro to return to McCullough. There will be no northbound McCullough traffic at all on that overpass, so traffic heading north on McCullough will have to turn right onto the access road and then take the turnaround at Jones-Maltsberger to return to McCullough. To help facilitate this, there will be a double right turn lane on northbound McCullough and the expanded access road between McCullough and Jones-Maltsberger. Traffic on the eastbound access road wanting to turn left onto northbound McCullough will instead have to go down to the Jones-Maltsberger turnaround and come back to McCullough. This configuration is essentially a Restricted Crossing U‑turn (RCUT) intersection minus one of the left turns. The turnarounds in both directions will remain.
The reason for this change at McCullough is to allow westbound traffic on the access road to flow through the McCullough intersection unimpeded as it will now be carrying traffic from Loop 410 headed to San Pedro and Blanco. Blocking the McCullough through traffic from that overpass means that the westbound access road traffic will no longer have to stop for cross traffic; instead, the signal that remains there will only be for the pedestrian crossing. These changes will also significantly shorten the red time for the eastbound access road (more on why this is important in the next section.)
On the westbound access road, an extra lane will be added between McCullough and San Pedro, and a right-turn lane will be added at the entrance to Chick-Fil-A. The westbound entrance ramp just west of McCullough will be removed; this is being done to eliminate the extra inflow of traffic between the incoming US 281 lanes and the entrance from San Pedro.
On the eastbound access road, the entrance to eastbound Loop 410 between San Pedro and McCullough will be removed. This is to eliminate the weaving and conflicts with the exit to US 281. Traffic coming from San Pedro wanting to get onto eastbound Loop 410 will continue on the access road and enter Loop 410 between McCullough and Jones-Maltsberger. The shorter red time at the McCullough intersection as mentioned above will help reduce delays for that traffic.
On the eastbound side, the exit to San Pedro will be removed and moved further back (more on that in the next section.) Traffic coming from that new exit will fly over the access road and then have a fork to either exit to San Pedro or go onto the bypass overpass over San Pedro to McCullough. The driveway from Park North closest to San Pedro will be restricted to only entering the bypass overpass over San Pedro; this is to eliminate traffic shooting across the access road to get to San Pedro.
The eastbound access road coming from Blanco will not be able to get onto the bypass overpass over San Pedro. Any traffic on that access road wanting to continue east to McCullough will have to go through the San Pedro intersection. This is being done to eliminate the dangerous weaving approaching San Pedro. At San Pedro, there will be three left turn lanes.
The eastbound entrance ramp to Loop 410 just east of Blanco will remain but its location will be slightly adjusted.
The southbound ramp from NW Military onto the westbound access road will be pulled in closer to NW Military and become a sharper turn. This is being done to improve sight distance and eliminate a double merge (right and left side) where the exit ramp to Honeysuckle merges with the access road.
On the eastbound side, the existing exit to NW Military and Blanco will become just the exit for Blanco and will fly over the access road ramp to NW Military and then merge onto the access road. (NW Military traffic will exit further west.) The access road will be straightened between Oak Royal and Blanco. The ramp from NW Military to the access road will be eliminated, i.e. traffic coming from NW Military will have to enter eastbound Loop 410. This was necessary to avoid conflicting with the new flyover exit for Blanco. Traffic coming from NW Military wanting to get to Blanco should instead use the westbound access road and then take the turnaround at Honeysuckle.
At the intersection of NW Military and the eastbound Loop 410 access road, through traffic on the access road headed to Loop 410 will have a dedicated bypass lane separated from the rest of the intersection by a concrete island; this will allow them to continue through the intersection without stopping.
On eastbound Loop 410, a new two-lane exit for San Pedro will depart from the mainlanes beneath the NW Military overpass and will ascend onto a flyover that will go over the entrance from NW Military, pass over Blanco, shift to the right over the access road, and descend before reaching San Pedro. From there, traffic can reach San Pedro or the bypass overpass to continue to McCullough as discussed above.
The eastbound entrance from West Ave. and Jackson Keller will be removed and replaced with an exit for Honeysuckle and NW Military. This is being done to eliminate the weaving between that former entrance and the exit to Blanco and to reduce the number of intersections traffic exiting for NW Military would have to traverse. Traffic from West Ave. and Jackson Keller wanting to get on eastbound Loop 410 will proceed through the Honeysuckle and NW Military intersections (the latter of which will have a bypass lane as mentioned above.)
Engineers wanted to close the Honeysuckle underpass to all traffic except emergency vehicles in order to eliminate the signals on the access roads, but the City of Castle Hills nixed that. However, traffic on Honeysuckle is fairly light, so the signals can be timed to reduce delays on the access roads.
| US 281 |
How this project will help
All of these improvements are designed to streamline traffic flow in these areas, mainly by eliminating the weaving near ramps or providing additional space for the weaving that must remain. The rationale for each element of the improvements is discussed in the corresponding section above.
Videos
TxDOT has a couple of virtual flyovers of this project:
LOOP 410
US 281
FAQ
- Why didn't they get this right the first time?
As explained above, that stretch of Loop 410 is a very difficult area to work with — in less than 2½ miles, there are six intersecting thoroughfares plus flyovers to/from US 281 all crammed together in an area where the frontage is heavily developed along the busiest stretch of freeway in Texas outside of Houston. Trying to get all those moving parts to fit together perfectly is an extraordinarily difficult task. Nearly all complex projects (construction or otherwise) require some tweaking and adjustments after initial completion, and this is no different.
Schematics
Below are the detailed preliminary schematics from TxDOT with my own annotations added to help clarify and explain the various elements. Click on an image below to open the schematic in a new window that you can scroll and zoom.
Other sites of interest
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TxDOT - I‑410 at US 281/San Pedro Avenue Operational Improvements https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/ |