San Antonio Area Freeway System
Loop 1604 Tollway Project
This page last updated
June 08, 2010
This
project is currently undergoing a new environmental review and study.
The proposed
configuration discussed and shown below was from the previous proposal
and may or may not be recommended at the completion of the current
study. Therefore, the proposal below should only be considered a
possible scenario of how Loop 1604 could be upgraded. This page
will be updated soon to discuss the options currently being studied.
See the "Project status" section at the bottom for additional
information.
Below is complete information about the
previous plans to add toll lanes to Loop 1604, including the history of the
project, proposed design and renderings, and the latest
status.
SUPER-STREET
Just looking for more information on the plans for the Loop 1604
"super-street"?
See the Loop 1604 "super-street"
page.
Project history
In the mid and late '80s,
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 '90s
extended the freeway to Kitty Hawk on the east and nearly 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, the top six
locations for traffic growth since 1990 are along 1604 North, with the
top growth spot showing growth of almost 800%. Meanwhile,
Loop 1604 has struggled to keep up with the explosion of traffic.
The section south of Braun to Culebra was upgraded from a two-lane road
to a four-lane divided highway in 1999, the overpass at Culebra was added in 2004, and the
section from Culebra south to US 90 was upgraded from a two-lane road to
a four-lane divided arterial in 2007. However, due to a dramatic
increase in construction costs and stagnant fuel tax revenues, funding
for several additional planned freeway improvements in the Loop 1604
corridor has not been
available.
As a result of these funding
issues, the Texas Transportation Commission, at the urging of the
governor and using tools previously granted by the Legislature and
voters, ordered in December of 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." TxDOT, therefore, was compelled to evaluate all Loop 1604 freeway
improvements for possible tolling. The evaluation showed that the
anticipated traffic volumes along 1604 made it viable for
tolling, so per the Transportation Commission's order, the projects were
reclassified as toll projects and plans were made to incorporate toll
lanes into the designs.
In 2004, a consortium consisting of local
construction giant Zachary and the Spanish infrastructure company Cintra,
which were working together on a bid to operate one of the Trans Texas
Corridor projects, submitted an unsolicited bid to TxDOT to build the
Loop 1604 tollway projects, as well as the US 281 toll project, in return for a 50-year lease to operate the tollways. Because the bid had merit, TxDOT was required under
state law to fully evaluate the Cintra-Zachary bid and 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 state funding for other projects), it also paid a large
concession fee to the state that could also be used to fund other
projects. Based on those merits, the Cintra-Zachary bid was accepted
in early 2005 and work started on the US 281 project later that year.
A subsequent lawsuit resulted in TxDOT cancelling the Cintra-Zachary
contract.
Then in 2007, the
Legislature passed a moratorium on nearly all new privately built and/or
operated toll roads and passed legislation requiring 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 toll projects and has 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 is
currently underway and is expected to be completed by 2012.
In February 2009, Congress
approved a national economic "stimulus" plan that would pour additional federal
money into road construction projects. The MPO approved allocating
San Antonio's share of transportation stimulus funding to be used as
matching funds to leverage state funding for the half of a 281/1604
interchange. This project would build all four of the ramps connecting
to 281 south of 1604, specifically northbound 281 to both directions of
1604, and both directions of 1604 to southbound 281. The use of
the federal funds will allow the ramps to be toll-free. It was
determined that ramps connecting to 281 north of 1604 could not be built
until lingering issues stemming from the lawsuits and associated
environmental studies for 281 north of 1604 were resolved. The
Texas Transportation Commission (TTC) approved the funding request on
March 5th, 2009. For more information on the 281/1604 interchange,
click here.
On March 13th,2009, it was reported
that opponents to the 281 North toll project were considering a legal challenge to the 281/1604 interchange
on the grounds that it should be subject to a new environmental review
as part of the entire Loop 1604 and US 281 studies. However, as of
the end of 2009, no lawsuits had been filed.
The Transportation
Commission also approved using
stimulus funds to expand Loop 1604 to a four lane divided highway from
FM 78 to Graytown Rd. near Randolph AFB.
In October 2009, ARMA
announced that it was studying a possible "super-street" for Loop 1604
West as an interim solution until work on a permanent solution can
begin.
Proposed design
This
project is currently undergoing a new environmental review and study.
The proposed
configuration discussed and shown below was from the previous proposal
and may or may not be recommended at the completion of the current
study. Therefore, the proposal below should only be considered a
possible scenario of how Loop 1604 could be upgraded. This page
will be updated soon to discuss the options currently being studied.
See the "Project status" section at the bottom for additional
information.
The current proposal will add
new tolled lanes in two forms:
A new four to six lane
tolled expressway where there is currently no
expressway between Military Dr. to just north of Braun Rd. and from Kitty
Hawk Rd. to
I-10 East
Four new barrier-separated express
toll lanes
(known as managed lanes) between the existing toll-free expressway lanes from Bandera Rd. to Kitty Hawk Rd.
The map below
illustrates which type of tollway is currently being considered for each segment.
In both cases, there will also be continuous toll-free access roads.
In addition, this project will build five new
major "stack" interchanges at SH 151, I-10 West, US 281 North, I-35 North, and
I-10 East. These new interchanges will connect to the tolled lanes and
will themselves be tolled (with the exception of the US 281 interchange
as previously mentioned), but the existing interchanges will also remain exactly as
they are today and will remain toll-free.
Managed lanes access
As mentioned above, the managed lanes will be located in the median and
separated from the toll-free expressway lanes by a barrier.
Motorists will be able to enter or exit the managed lanes at either
terminus (at Braun Rd. and at Kitty Hawk), via the tolled interchange
connectors at I-10, US 281, and I-35, or via one of six inline access
points. The inline access points will consist of a slip ramp from the
left lane of the toll-free expressway lanes into the managed lanes, or
from the right lane of the managed lanes out to the toll-free lanes,
thus allowing traffic to move between the two roadways.
The map below shows the planned locations of these ramps.
How the toll lanes will be
added
To add the tolled lanes in
either scenario, the existing toll-free lanes would be shifted outward
to make room for the new lanes. In many cases, additional improvements
will be made to the toll-free expressway lanes and access roads, including
additional lanes, turnarounds and turning lanes at intersections, and
improved entrance and exit ramps.
It is important to note that
on the eastern and western segments where the road will be upgraded to
an expressway, the design of this project is virtually identical to what
it would have been had it been developed as a toll-free project.
The only difference now is that drivers who opt to use the new expressway lanes will pay a toll. For the remainder of the route,
the existing expressway lanes will remain and only the new lanes in the
middle would be tolled.
Animation of how tolled
managed lanes
could be added to a typical section of Loop 1604
between Bandera and FM 78.
Conceptual rendering of tolled managed
lanes down the center of Loop 1604 (Courtesy: Alamo Regional Mobility Authority
Animation of how the tolled
expressway could be added to the existing Loop 1604
south of Bandera.
Simulations and still shots of proposed improvements
This
project is currently undergoing a new environmental review and study.
The proposed
configuration shown below was from the previous proposal and may or may
not be recommended at the completion of the current study.
Therefore, the proposal below should only be considered a possible
scenario of how Loop 1604 could be upgraded. This page will be
updated soon to discuss the options currently being studied. See
the "Project status" section at the bottom for additional information.
Below you will find
computer simulations of the planned improvements to Loop 1604.
Because of the length of the project and file size restrictions, I have
split the simulations into three segments as shown on the map below.
The simulations run in a clockwise direction. The combined length of all three animations is about 20 minutes. All animations are courtesy of TxDOT.
Obviously, these are proposed designs are almost certainly subject to
change (note especially the note about the US 281 interchange.)
Below the
videos you
will find a link to a page with annotated still shots from the
simulation of key intersections showing the location of the tolled and
non-tolled lanes and other important features.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FASO1o1AoY (Note that because the southern half of the interchange at US 281
will now be built toll-free,
the final design interchange will change from what is shown here.)
As of December 2009, the new environmental study for this project was
still underway and estimated to be completed by 2012. It is an important footnote that
until the EIS is completed and approved, no major improvements,
tolled or not, can be made to the 281 corridor. In the
meantime, ARMA announced in early 2010 that an interim package of
operational improvements for Loop 1604 West from Braun to SH 151--
including elements of a "super-street"-- would be undertaken beginning
in mid-2010. This will likely include an underpass for SH 151 at
Loop 1604 connecting to Alamo Ranch Parkway.
NOTICE
The information provided on this website is provided on an "as-is" basis without
warranties of any kind either express or implied. The author and his agents
make no warranties or representations of any kind concerning any information
contained in this website. This website is provided only as general
information. The author expressly disclaims all liability with respect to
actions taken or not taken based upon the information contained herein or with
respect to any errors or omissions in such information. All opinions expressed
are strictly those of the author. This site is not affiliated in any way with
any official agency.
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