SAN ANTONIO – The multimillion-dollar expansion of U.S. 281 is inching closer to approval Bexar County officials said Monday.
"We expect to submit the environmental impact statement to the Federal Highway Administration at the end of this month, beginning of September, with the idea that we would get a Record of Decision on the project in December of 2014," said Bexar County Public Works Director Renee Green. "If that occurs, then we will move forward with what's called the 'design, build, procurement' part, which will take six to nine months. If all of that goes according to schedule, then we can look at actually starting construction in late 2015 or early 2016."
The $458 million project is aimed at reducing congestion from the 281/Loop 1604 interchange to the Comal County line.
"We will add two non-tolled expressway lanes in each direction from 1604 to Stone Oak, one managed lane in each direction from 1604 to Stone Oak, and then north of Stone Oak to the county line there will be two managed lanes in each direction," Green said.
Toll prices will be based on congestion, but under current toll policies, drivers can expect to pay a minimum of 17 cents per mile to a maximum of 50 cents per mile. At its highest, it would cost a driver $8 to make a round trip from the 281/1604 interchange to the Comal County line.
"Why would anyone volunteer to pay 8 bucks a day to get to work?" asked anti-toll activist Terri Hall. "Our taxpayer money is going to be used to build this thing and they're going to make us pay back our own money with interest through tolls."
Hall said the project unfairly targets drivers on U.S. 281, and believes the current plan will create a bottleneck from Stone Oak Parkway to the Comal County line when the managed toll lanes double.
"All those people that can't or won't pay the toll are going to do a mass exodus from the highway onto the frontage roads where they're actually creating congestion and a bottleneck," she said.
Green disagreed. "The traffic patterns were modeled based on the traffic counts and the expected behavior and the operation capacity of the proposed roadway," she said. "We do not anticipate any sort of bottleneck. One of the things the traffic counts tell you is that you have a significant drop-off in traffic as you go north past Stone Oak to the (Comal) county line."
Hall is also concerned that the tolls will be kept in place even after the project is paid for. Green would not say whether they would remain, but said the system must be maintained. "It would be disingenuous for me to tell you, ‘Oh yeah, we'll take the tolls off in 30 years' because I can't tell you what that roadway traffic demand is going to be in 30 years," Green said.
With 281 expected to reach its 90,000-vehicle-per-day capacity in the coming years, Green said the project is a high priority and paying for it must include managed toll lanes.
"The days of single-source funding are over," Green said. "You will not get $458 million from the state government or the federal government. We've been able to put together $228 million to build the majority of the non-tolled portions of this roadway. The other $230 million it takes to complete it to meet the demand in 2030 is going to have to be financed through toll revenue. There is no other option available."
Project supporters understand that not everyone will want to take the managed lanes, but Green said that's what the project is about – creating a choice for drivers.
"If they have a day where they have to get somewhere a little quicker, they could choose to pay the toll. If they want to go somewhere and the time is not a big issue, they can choose to stay on the non-tolled expressway lanes," Green said. "We have to provide drivers more choices on 281 as we reach that (90,000 vehicles per day) maximum saturation."