BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – The Texas Department of Transportation unveiled plans at Southwest High School Thursday night for the next expansion of Loop 1604 from Highway 90 to Interstate 35.
Joni Booker said she remembers a much quieter time in the area near Loop 1604 and Highway 90.
“The traffic when I first came out here, you'd be lucky if you saw two or three cars in 30 minutes and now traffic is everywhere,” said Booker, who moved to the area 21 years ago.
Her sleepy side of Bexar County may still have a rural feel, but traffic continues to grow. TxDOT officials predict a 40 percent increase in traffic in the area over the next 10 years.
“Property values historically either go way down when something like this happens or go way up,” said Deborah Arndt, who moved to the area from Dallas three years ago. “It doesn't usually stay the same. It's one or the other. We just have to wait and see.”
“I think it's going to be a big shot in the arm for economic development here in the southwest part of the county, which is probably the most underdeveloped part of Bexar County,” said former Von Ormy Mayor Art Martinez de Vara. “Driving from Alamo Ranch to Von Ormy is a bit tedious with all the stops and stoplights and stop signs, but having a continuous flow of traffic, I think, is going to be a real shot in the arm to communities like Von Ormy, Macdona and those areas.”
Official plans will not be presented for construction bids until late 2021, with construction on the $40 million project expected to start in early 2022 and take five years to complete.