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San
Antonio Area Freeway System
Interstate
35 South (South
PanAm Freeway) |
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| This
page
last updated November 27, 2012 |
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This
page
covers Interstate 35 west and south of downtown San Antonio from the
I-10 West interchange to Loop 1604. For information on I-35
north
of downtown, see the I-35 North
page.
Length:
16 miles
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On this page
Overview
With
the passage
of NAFTA, I-35 South has become an increasingly important spoke in San
Antonio's freeway system. This segment serves the city's
southwest side and continues on to Laredo, the busiest US-Mexico border
crossing. This corridor is also an important component in the
continuing development of Port San Antonio.
This
segment
serves downtown San Antonio, Market Square, the University of Texas at
San Antonio downtown campus, the San Antonio Produce Market, South Park
Mall, Palo Alto College, and the Toyota assembly plant as well as the
cities of Von Ormy and Somerset. Commercial and industrial
development fronts the freeway near downtown. Residential and
some commercial development lines the corridor south of US 90 to
Somerset Rd. Mostly undeveloped land takes over south of Somerset Rd.
to Von Ormy, which lines both sides of I-35 just north of Loop 1604 and
the new Union Pacific intermodal terminal, which sits on the west side
of the freeway just north of Von Ormy.
Roadway
details
| SCHEMATIC |
Click here
for a
schematic of I-35 South. |
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| LANES |
- 8
lanes from I-10 West to Laredo
St. with a short double-decked
stretch (4 lanes on the upper levels; 4 lanes on the lower level) from
Guadalupe St. to S. Alamo St.
- 9
lanes (4 southbound, 5
northbound) from Laredo St. to US 90
- 6
lanes from US 90 to Spur
422/Poteet-Jourdanton Hwy.
- 4
lanes from Spur
422/Poteet-Jourdanton Hwy. to Loop 1604
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| ACCESS
ROADS |
- No
traditional access roads along most of the route from I-10 West to US
90, although S. Pecos-La Trinidad and S. Laredo function as access
roads along parts of the route and a short access road exists
southbound from San Marcos St. to Nogalitos.
- Continuous
access roads along most of remainder of route
- Access
roads do not continue through Loop 410 interchange or over the Medina
River
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| EXITS |
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Click here
for a list
of I-35 South exits.
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| SPEED
LIMITS |
- 60
mph from I-10
West to Loop 410
- 70
mph
from Loop 410 to Loop 1604
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| SPECIAL
FEATURES & NOTES |
- Double-decked
freeway from just north of S. Alamo to just south of S. Laredo
- TransGuide
coverage from I-10 West to Southcross
- VIA
Metropolitan Transit Madla Transit Center/Park
& Ride just
north of Zarzamora
- Northbound
left exit
to Loop 353
- Two
miles of I-10/US 87 concurrent
(multiplexed) from I-10 West to
US 90
- US
81 was concurrent (multiplexed) over I-35 in Bexar County before it was
decommissioned south of Ft. Worth in 1991
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| TRAFFIC |
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Generally
heavy from I-10 West to SW Military. Moderate to light
volumes
south from there. Regular peak-period congestion can be found
northbound in the morning between Division and Cesar Chavez and in the
evening southbound between I-10 West and US 90.
Overall,
the corridor has seen mixed traffic growth over the past
decade.
The biggest increase has been south of Loop 410 while the core segment
north of Military has seen traffic decline markedly.
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| AVERAGE
ANNUAL DAILY
TRAFFIC |
| LOCATION |
1990 |
2000 |
2006 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
'01-'11
% CHG |
| S. Laredo St. |
79,000 |
179,000 |
176,000 |
168,000 |
159,000 |
177,000 |
+9.26% |
| Theo Ave. |
92,000 |
159,000 |
157,000 |
141,000 |
135,000 |
147,000 |
-3.29% |
| N of SW Military
Dr. |
59,000 |
102,000 |
106,000 |
104,000 |
77,000 |
106,000 |
+7.07% |
| S of SW Military
Dr. |
34,000 |
63,000 |
73,000 |
74,000 |
68,000 |
76,000 |
+10.14% |
| S of Palo Alto Rd. |
18,800 |
34,000 |
41,000 |
40,000 |
38,000 |
39,000 |
+8.33% |
| N of New Laredo
Hwy. |
17,000 |
33,000 |
37,000 |
34,000 |
35,000 |
37,000 |
+8.82% |
| Fischer Rd. |
21,000 |
35,000 |
42,000 |
41,000 |
42,000 |
40,000 |
+14.29% |
Media
gallery
Click here
for photos and video of this
freeway.
Construction
projects
No
current
projects in this corridor.
Future
plans
The
MPO's 25-year
plan has proposals for the expansion of I-35 to eight lanes from US 90
to the Atascosa County line.
A new expressway
(Kelly Parkway)
roughly paralleling this section of I-35 is proposed as
part of the Port San Antonio long-range road improvements
package. It would run north from SH 16 near the Toyota plant
to
US 90 via General Hudnell, crossing I-35 between Spur 422 and Loop 410.
History
I-35
designation authorized on October 1, 1959. Named PanAm
Freeway
because it is supposedly a segment of the Pan American
Highway.
Was originally called the "Southwest Expressway." This
freeway is
also part of the so-called NAFTA Superhighway.
The
section from
S. Alamo to Nogalitos was completed by 1951. The segment
north of
that to present-day I-10 West was completed by 1957. There
were
two proposals for the section from Nogalitos to Loop 410, including one
that would have usurped Nogalitos and New Laredo Hwy. The
final
routing was approved by 1957 and open to traffic by 1964. The
section from I-10 West to US 90 was expanded in the late
'80s.
The section from SW Military to Spur 422 was expanded from four to six
lanes around 1989. TransGuide coverage was added to the
section
from I-10W to Southcross in 1995. The section from US 90 to
SW
Military was reconstructed ca. 2009. The reconstruction
removed
several pedestrian overpasses, expanded the overpasses and frontages
roads, and relocated several entrance and exit ramps. The
section
from Zarzamora to Somerset was reconstructed during the same time
frame. That project removed the previous southbound left-hand
exit to SP 422 and the northbound left-hand exit to Palo Alto Rd.,
extended the northbound frontage road through the Spur 422 interchange,
and adjusted several roadways and ramps in the vicinity.
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