San
Antonio Area Freeway System
PROJECT INFO:
I-35 from Loop 410 NE to Loop
410 S |
|
| This
page last updated March 12, 2019 |
 Location
I-35 from Thousand
Oaks to Binz-Engleman
Status
Complete
Description
This $52 million project added an
additional main lane in each direction between Loop 410 NE and Loop 410
South, revised several
ramps, and added auxiliary lanes. The previous lefthand exit
from I-35 southbound to Loop 410 South was converted to a righthand
exit. The I-35 northbound frontage road now continues
through both the Loop 410 South interchange and the Loop 410
NE/Randolph Blvd. interchange. A new exit for Walzem Rd. has added to the ramp from Loop 410 NE to southbound I-35.
How
this
project will help
This area experiences recurring congestion due to insufficient
capacity and obsolete ramp configurations. The lefthand exit
for Loop 410 South was particularly problematic as many trucks enter
southbound I-35 from Rittiman and immediately crossed all lanes of I-35
to reach Loop 410 South. By converting that exit to a
righthand exit and providing a direct slip ramp from Rittiman, that
weaving has been eliminated, thereby dramatically smoothing traffic
flow and improving safety. On
the opposite side of the same
interchange, the
additional lane from northbound Loop 410 onto I-35 increases
capacity. Removing the former Rittiman exit at that
location eliminated the weaving there that also caused
significant congestion and hazards. Northbound I-35 traffic
destined for
Rittiman now exits at a new exit just north of George Beach
and the frontage road has been extended through the interchange to
connect with the existing frontage road near Space
Center Dr. An additional through lane added to each
direction of I-35 between
the Loop 410 interchanges has increased raw capacity, the entrance and
exit ramps between Rittiman and Walzem have been reversed, and
auxiliary lanes added between them improve traffic flow and provide
better access to adjacent properties. The northbound exit to
Thousand Oaks has been closed; traffic destined for Thousand Oaks
from Loop 410 or from northbound I-35 now exits at the Randolph
Blvd. exits and continues through the Loop 410 interchange on a new
frontage road that connects to the existing frontage road just
north of the park and ride. Like the removal of the Rittiman
exit,
this eliminated the weaving problem there. Finally,
a new
exit ramp for Walzem Rd. from the Loop 410 eastbound ramp to I-35
southbound is expected to move an appreciable amount of Walzem-bound
traffic onto
the
frontage road earlier in order to reduce the frequent backup from the exit further south.
Timeline
Construction commenced in November 2013 and is now expected to be complete
in mid 2018. Click
here
for the latest status report on this project. Due
to numerous unforseen issues, this project ran much longer than
initially planned. TxDOT and the contractor plan to conduct a review of
the project for lessons-learned.
Schematic
Click on the image below to see an annotated overview schematic of this
project. The base
schematic is courtesy of TxDOT; the
annotations are my own. Keep in mind that this is a
simplified schematic and is not to scale. More detailed
schematics are available on TxDOT's site (link below.)
Other sites
of interest
| 
Freeway system
I-10 East
