San Antonio motorists will notice some projects this year on the highways. Interstate 35 is set to get an expansion this year.
A 15-mile stretch of I-25 between FM 1103 near Schertz over to North Walters Street by Fort Sam Houston will be getting expanded.As part of this large-scale expansion, the highway will soon be a two-tier highway with raised lanes connecting I-35 traffic directly to Loop 1604 and Loop 410 at both intersections.
“So that’s the whole I-35 NEX, or Northeast Expansion Project. We call it NEX,” TxDOT PIO Jennifer Serold said. “Right now, currently under construction on I-35 is the central phase. The central phase is from 410, like the Windcrest area, all the way to Selma.”
According to Serold, the current 9-mile stretch has an estimated price tag of $1.5 billion. The elevated lanes will provide two general purpose lanes and a single high-occupancy lane directly connecting I-35 to Loop 410.
“We’re expanding the corridor to accommodate for the growing congestion,” Serold said. “And then, of course, the future growth on that corridor. Since I-35 is a critical corridor that connects San Antonio to Austin and then when you go further up all the way to Dallas. So, we have a lot of travelers on this road.”
There are several long-term closures in place along I-35. For much of Feb. and March, there's going to be several lane closures along the frontage road of I-35.
Later this year, possibly in the summer months, TxDOT is slated to kick off construction on the section of I-35 between Loop 410 North, by Windcrest, and Loop 410 South, by Kirby. This second phase of the project, which spans 4 miles of the Texas highway, is slated to cost $906 million, bringing the total cost of the I-35 project under construction this year to $2.4 billion with three more projects still on the books.
“The I-35 project involves the construction of two non-toll 15-mile long bridges (elevated lanes) between the I-35 main lanes and frontage roads from I-410 South to FM 3009,” TxDOT’s NEX project website states. “The elevated lanes will provide one high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane and two general purpose lanes in each direction.”
The second phase of the I-35 construction project is set to be completed by 2028, according to Serold.
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Source: MySanAntonio.com
