SAN ANTONIO – The grand opening of a $14.6 million construction project with many unique aspects is expected to help emergency personnel, patients and medical staff travel in and out of the Medical Center more quickly.
The Fredericksburg Road underpass was finished under budget, under time and with some construction techniques that are new to Texas. The unique bridge over an underpass will allow traffic to flow directly into the hospital area, bypassing the traffic light at Fredericksburg Road.
Construction began in 2013 and included an aggressive 14-day work schedule in which Fredericksburg Road would actually be closed to traffic. The job was completed early in eight days.
Jim Reed, president of the San Antonio Medical Foundation, said the planning for this project began 17 years ago.
"There's almost 250,000 vehicles a day that travel to or through the Medical Center. So there's a lot of traffic. This will ease congestion and (is) a great addition," he said at Monday's ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The most important vehicles affected are the San Antonio Fire Department Emergency Medical Units, which often are in a race against time to reach emergency rooms. The Texas Department of Transportation estimates that the new intersection will reduce wait time anywhere between 30 seconds to 60 seconds, or more.
"It's going to save minutes and seconds, which if you've read about strokes, you know that seconds mean something. Minutes mean a lot," Reed said.
TxDOT spokesman Josh Donat pointed out several other unique features, including what is called a lateral-slide bridge placement technique that was used for the first time in Texas on this project. The bridge was actually built elsewhere, then transported to the jobsite and installed.
"We were able to accomplish the sliding part in, like, 29 hours. It was unbelievable to see how fast to have the bridge, itself, actually put in place," he said.
He also said special design attention went toward making sure the lower level roadway would not be subject to the types of flooding caused by heavy rain. Unlike the lower level lanes at Interstate 35 and McCullough Avenue, which must close with regularity during significant rain events, the underpass at Fredericksburg Road will not.
"The water, as it comes through here, continues to flow through. There's not a dip at this underpass, so it doesn't catch water and hold it. The water will continue to flow through to fall into those catch basins that are downstream and downhill," Donat said.
The entire project was funded by gas taxes and a bond election, as well as contributions from the South Texas Medical Alliance.