SAN ANTONIO – Commuters who drive down Potranco Road to get home or go to work have been dealing with a major headache of heavy traffic for several weeks due to major construction in the area.
The heavy traffic is a result of a major switch that occurred on April 5, affecting a 2.4-mile portion of Potranco Road outside Loop 1604.
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Jesse Garcia, Capital Projects Engineer with Bexar County, said the work to Potranco Road is the last construction phase of the 4.8-mile, $46 million project.
“(The project) consists of expanding the roadway to five lanes with curb sidewalk, bridges, retaining walls and more from State Highway 211 to Loop 1604,” Garcia told KSAT.com. “This last phase is approximately 2.4 miles that goes from Talley Road to approximately 1,200 feet west of SH-211.”
Garcia told KSAT.com that the recent traffic switch was so that the southern half of the proposed roadway can be constructed, which is expected to take about six months, weather permitting.
“Once the southern half is finished, traffic will be switched back to the newly-built south half so that the northern half can be constructed. The southern half will have enough room to provide turn lanes and etc.,” Garcia told KSAT.com.
Garcia said there have been several concerns since the traffic switch and the removal of two left turn lanes and a shoulder.
“The majority of these issues have a direct relationship with the unanticipated boom (and) growth of development west of Talley Road, causing more traffic which was not present during design and has happened in the past two to three years after construction commenced,” Garcia said.
Garcia said they anticipate the project to be completed by early 2019, weather permitting.
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Garcia told KSAT.com that Bexar County officials are aware of these issues and have coordinated mitigation efforts with a contractor as soon as possible.
SAN ANTONIO STORY IDEAS & TIPS, EMAIL: agarcia@ksat.com
Below is the latest information regarding the mitigation efforts provided to KSAT.com:
FM 1957 Left-Turn Issue onto Arcadia Path/Bella Vista
o The Arcadia Ridge Subdivision did not exist during design (2015) and started construction right when FM 1957 started construction in 2016
o Arcadia Ridge’s full development is 2,350 single family units with a new school and commercial/shopping strip
o TxDOT just recently installed a traffic signal and restriped this intersection to include a left turn lane into Arcadia Path which did not exist approximately 6 months ago
o Recent construction traffic switch to construct southern half of proposed roadway has eliminated westbound left turn lane into Arcadia Path and Bella Vista
o Traffic is now backing up due to eliminated dedicated left turn lane
o Southern half of construction is going to take approximately 6 months (weather permitting) to construct
· Mitigation efforts are now set to add additional temporary pavement on the north side to provide those left turn lanes for Arcadia Path/ Bella Vista within approximately 3-4 weeks or sooner due to unexpected rock excavation (weather
permitting)
o Traffic signal timings will also have to be coordinated with TxDOT
FM 1957 Eastbound Right-Turn Issue onto SH 211
o Red Bird Ranch has doubled in size since final design (2015) and even has a new school which was also not there during design
o Traffic has been riding on the shoulder illegally eastbound to make a right turn onto southbound SH 211 when the eastbound light on FM 1957 is red
o Recent construction traffic switch to construct southern half of proposed roadway has eliminated this shoulder
o No lanes have been eliminated west of SH 211. We are still maintaining one eastbound and westbound lane.
o Traffic is now backing up to and past Red Bird Ranch due to the eliminated shoulder to construct the southern half of FM 1957
o Southern half of construction is going to take approximately 6 months (weather permitting) to construct
o Mitigation efforts are now set to fast track construct the FM 1957/SH 211 intersection to provide an actual dedicated right turn lane in approximately 2 months (weather permitting)
o Traffic signal timings will also have to be coordinated with TxDOT
FM 1957 Westbound Left-Turn Issue onto SH 211
o Recent construction traffic switch to construct southern half of proposed roadway has eliminated westbound left turn lane to southbound SH 211 due to limited ROW and other constraints
o Traffic is now backing up due to eliminated dedicated left turn lane
o Southern half of construction is going to take approximately 6 months (weather permitting) to construct
o Mitigation efforts are now set to fast track construct the FM 1957/SH 211 intersection to provide a dedicated left turn lane in approximately 2 months (weather permitting)
o Traffic signal timings will also have to be coordinated with TxDOT