ALAMO RANCH, Texas – The Alamo Regional Mobility Authority held a meeting on Thursday evening to discuss traffic issues on Alamo Ranch Parkway between 1604 and Calaveras Way.
Around 100 people showed up to the come-and-go meeting in just the first hour. Bexar County had several engineers at the meeting to explain to people who live in the area what the current proposed plan to alleviate traffic looks like.
Bexar County Public Works Interim Director David Wegmann shared information on the project and provided insight on the cost and timeline.
“The existing lanes (on Alamo Ranch Parkway) will continue to exist, but they will act as frontage roads,” Wegmann said. “The main lanes will be six lanes. There will be overpasses over the major intersections.”
The goal is to allow people to use overpasses to avoid lights and pass through the area of Alamo Ranch Parkway much faster than they currently do.
“You’re taking 20, 30 minutes to get a five minute place,” Corrine Malapolsky, a homeowner in the area, said. “Traffic is horrible.”
A man named KJ was walking his dogs with a large bag in his hand when he stopped and spoke with KSAT. He shared that it is faster for him to walk to his errands than it is to drive to them.
“It has gotten progressively worse,” KJ said. “It’s almost disgusting.
Wegmann is also a county engineer and he oversees engineering and roadway operations for the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority.
According to renderings on the Bexar County Alamo RMA page, the project will span 2.5 miles on Alamo Ranch Parkway from 1604 to Calaveras Way.
“We will be going back to the board for construction funding approval in the near future,” Wegmann said. “It’s about $75 to $80 million.”
Wegmann said if the project is approved, the Alamo RMA will fund the project. The Alamo RMA gets funding from the 2014 approval of a $10 new vehicle registration.
Wegmann also addressed concerns about traffic during the construction process. If approved, construction would begin in the winter of 2027 and run through winter 2030.
“Traffic during construction is difficult even on the best project,” Wegmann said. “Fortunately for this one, the existing lanes are going to remain and they’ll act as the future frontage road, so most of the construction is going to be happening where that large median is between those lanes. So hopefully the traffic impact will be minimal.”
Several people mentioned to KSAT they were surprised the county is starting improvements in the area on Alamo Ranch Parkway rather than on Culebra.
“Culebra is a state-owned facility,” Wegmann said. “Alamo Ranch Parkway is a Bexar County maintained facility.”
The Alamo RMA has to approve the funding and noise concerns will also need to be addressed before the project can begin.
“I know there’s going to be some concerns from people that are adjacent to the project as far as the noise is concerned,” Wegmann said. “We are in the middle of our environmental clearance process right now...If we are deemed that noise walls will be required, then we will install those too.”
Homeowner Corrine Malapolsky said she and her husband are looking forward to the improvements and are not worried about the traffic during construction.
Malapolsky did however say that she will miss seeing the greenery of the median once she’s able to use the overpass to avoid traffic.
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