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This page last updated July 5, 2026 |
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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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Location
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Timeline
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Project description
This approximately $134 million project will build a freeway in the median of the existing Alamo Ranch Parkway (ARP). The freeway will have overpasses over Alamo Parkway, Lone Star Parkway, and Roft Rd./Del Webb Blvd. The existing ARP roadways would be retained and become frontage roads.
The freeway will initially have two through lanes in each direction with an auxiliary lane between entrance and exit ramps. However, there will be a wide paved left shoulder to allow for a third through lane to be striped when the need arises and the overpasses at Westwood Loop and at Loop 1604 are expanded to accept a third lane. (Note that there are no plans to do so at this time.)
This project is being built by the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority (ARMA), which is under the auspices of Bexar County. A separate project by TxDOT will construct an eastbound overpass at Westwood Loop to match the existing westbound overpass. That project is currently anticipated to break ground in late 2026.
How this project will help
As anyone who lives in this area knows, Alamo Ranch Parkway experiences severe recurring congestion, which is expected to continue to increase, especially if and when the gap to the west of Calaveras Way is closed at some point in the future. Traffic counts in the corridor doubled between 2015 and 2020, and more than quadrupled between 2010 and 2020. The new freeway lanes will provide sufficient capacity for current and expected future traffic to significantly reduce delays and travel times, and it is also expected to improve safety in the corridor.
(Between Westwood Loop and Roft Road)
| With no improvements | With planned project | |
| Morning - eastbound | 22 min. | 3 min. |
| Afternoon - westbound | 23 min. | 5 min. |
Additionally, once the gap west of Calaveras Way is closed, this corridor will provide a high-capacity route from Loop 1604 to Talley Rd. (and eventually to SH 211), which should help to reduce the strain on parallel roads including Culebra and Wiseman.
History
This area has been developed from empty land to today's sprawling suburbia in just the past 20 years. As a result, there has been several road projects over the years to address the growing pains. See this page for a full history of this corridor.
FAQ
- Why didn't they expand Alamo Ranch Parkway sooner?
Traffic volumes on ARP more than quadrupled in the 2010s. The county initiated a traffic study of the area in the early 2020s that evaluated several options, and after a couple of refinements, this is the project that was recommended in 2024. Since then, engineering work has been underway. Projects of this size take some time to plan and design.
It's worth noting that it is extraordinarily difficult to plan and design a solution for traffic patterns before they emerge. Building expensive infrastructure for unknown future conditions can result in wasted money and additional construction to fix it if the planners guess wrong and the resulting infrastructure does not properly accommodate or align with the traffic that eventually materializes. Waiting until that traffic starts to emerge usually produces a more suitable project that better accommodates the actual traffic patterns.
Finally, planners knew this area would eventually need a high-capacity corridor, which is why developers were required to build Alamo Ranch Parkway with the extra wide median. - Why did they make a highway end at a traffic signal? No place else has this.
It may seem like the highway ends at a signal since the 151 mainlanes continue straight onto Alamo Ranch Parkway (ARP), but the point of the overpass from 151 was to provide a direct connection from 151 to ARP, and ARP was already a surface street with signalized intersections, so that's just how it worked out.
This situation is not unique and is found in most other large cities.
SH 151 actually ends at Loop 1604. Since ARP lies directly ahead of the end of 151, the route to connect to it must inherently go straight. Therefore, it gives the impression that the highway keeps going over 1604 and Westwood Loop and then encounters a signal, but you'll notice that the speed limit decreases to 45 mph as you approach Loop 1604, and there are large yellow "FREEWAY ENDS/SIGNAL AHEAD" signs that tell you the freeway is ending and that you are transitioning to a surface street. There's even a green "Alamo Ranch Pkwy (straight arrow)" sign. Therefore, the overpasses are really just a long, straight exit from 151 to ARP instead of being a traditional exit to the right or left. Nearly all exits from highways end at a traffic signal or stop sign, so there was no reason for this one not to as well.
Furthermore, with the addition of the overpass at Westwood Loop, traffic from SH 151 now is winnowed down to a single lane and merges onto ARP more like a typical exit ramp, which better indicates to drivers that they're exiting the freeway. - Why didn't they build an eastbound overpass at Westwood Loop when they built the westbound overpass?
The westbound overpass over Westwood Loop was built specifically to solve the issue of westbound drivers making illegal turns onto Westwood Loop and causing crashes, and so it was awarded safety funding on that basis. The process to obtain funding requires demonstrating that the proposed project will solve an identified problem; an eastbound overpass in this case would not have done anything to solve that specific westbound illegal/unsafe turning issue, so that’s why an eastbound overpass wasn’t included.
Since then, TxDOT has obtained funding to construct the eastbound overpass, and is currently anticipating to start work on that in late 2026. - Why don't/didn't they extend SH 151 west from Loop 1604?
A proposal for a regional toll road system in 2009 would have extended SH 151 west to SH 211 as a toll road. However, it was determined not to be feasible and was dropped from the plans. (All toll projects in Bexar County were subsequently abandoned after increases in state highway funding in the mid 2010s.).
Extending the SH 151 designation west of Loop 1604 would require TxDOT to take over the route, something that the state currently has no interest in doing, and is not necessary as the Alamo Area Mobility Authority — which is a local transportation agency created and overseen by Bexar County — has the ability to upgrade ARP to a freeway without the route being designated as SH 151. - The eastbound traffic signal at the Loop 1604 southbound entrance ramp will be out of place and cause congestion and crashes once this project is completed.
TxDOT is aware of this and is planning a new direct connector from westbound 151 to southbound 1604 that will allow for that intersection to be removed. Details of those plans will be released at a future date. - Why don't they connect the west end of Alamo Ranch Parkway at Calaveras Way to the new section recently built just to the west?
The county does not currently own the property between the two sections. Even if they did, they have indicated that they would not complete it through until after this project is completed as doing so would add a significant amount of new traffic to the already overburdened section of ARP east of Calaveras Way. The county does anticipate closing that gap at some point after this project is completed. - Why are they working on this instead of expanding Culebra?
Culebra is under a different jurisdiction (TxDOT) than Alamo Ranch Parkway (Bexar County). Options for expanding Culebra are limited due to the development along that road. Upgrading Alamo Ranch Parkway to a freeway and closing the gap at Calaveras Way in the future will provide a high-capacity corridor from Talley Road to Loop 1604 that will likely take some of the strain off of Culebra (and Wiseman as well). - Are there any plans for an eastbound connector from Alamo Ranch Parkway to northbound Loop 1604?
There are no current plans for one, but TxDOT is currently studying the 1604 corridor in that area and looking into possible options for such a connector.
Schematic
Click on the image below to open the detailed schematic for this project from ARMA with my own annotations added to help clarify and explain the various elements. The schematic will open in a new window that you can scroll and zoom. This is the schematic presented to the public in July 2026.
Video
ARMA has a video animation of the completed project:
Other sites of interest
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ARMA - July 2026 Open House https://www.bexar.org/339/Alamo-Regional-Mobility-Authority |