Loop 1604 is a joke (West: home, neighborhoods, contractors) - San Antonio - Texas (TX) - Page 3 - City-Data Forum

Steel Man · 01-29-2007, 12:13 PM

Well, the current Loop 1604 project on the West side (Hwy 151 to Hwy 90) has made Rodney Stinson's column last Sunday. Someone complained about it and he replied. The usual excuses were given and the only new thing is now it will not be finished until May 2007. This project originally began in 2001 and was supposed to be completed by April 2004.

Steel Man · 03-18-2007, 10:25 PM

Well, according to the flashing signs, the Loop 1604 expansion from Culebra to Highway 90 is supposed to open on Tuesday (3/20/07) at 7:30AM. I don't know why they picked that date, other than it being the first day of Spring, but IMO the road is not finished. All the intersections (Wiseman, Military, Potranco, and Marbach) need move pavement to come up to the level of the south-bound lanes, and they only have Monday to do that. Also, let's hope that the new lanes last longer than the the north-bound lanes that already have potholes after two years. Did anyone see the worst "patch job" they did just north of the bridge heading toward Potranco? It looks, and feels, like they just threw some asphalt down and used a shovel to mash it down! As the name of the thread states: this expansion project is a JOKE!

noplacelikeWA · 03-19-2007, 08:51 AM

IMO the whole project is a waste of time, they have gone about it the wrong way. There is no way this highway can meet the demands of the growth in this area. It won't be long before we all will be stuck in massive traffic jams from Marbach to Bandera.

01Snake · 03-19-2007, 09:18 AM

I love how they completely built up the land at 1604/281 so there is no way for any type of exchange to be built.

Jazrag · 03-19-2007, 09:29 AM

Does anyone know why they decided to put in a new turn lane at 1604 & New Guilbeau instead of removing the light and making 1604 into the highway it should be?

Steel Man · 03-20-2007, 08:31 PM

Well, today Loop 1604 West opened up, or should I say tried to open up? I figured something was wrong when I saw those cherry-picker trucks working on the traffic signals at Military Drive West and also Wiseman Blvd at 7:20AM this morning. Sure enough, the signals were not working and traffic cops (two per intersection) were brought in to direct traffic all day. They also restricted traffic to one lane on the far outsides in each direction. To make matters worse, the northbound lanes were not re-striped at all. I remember when Loop 1604 was widened to Bandera and again to just past Culebra and they went off pretty well. Heck, even when they placed both lanes of traffic on the same side, prior to starting on the southbound section, they did a lot better job of re-directing traffic. I didn't know that the Three Stooges were in the road building business!

goodmanm · 03-21-2007, 06:30 AM

The clowns they have doing the roadwork don't have enough lights to work at night. Thankfully I can avoid the stretch of road until the weekend!

Steel Man · 03-21-2007, 10:22 PM

Well, Day 2 of the grand opening of Loop 1604 West. All the signals are working! Both south-bound lanes are open! Only one north-bound lane open. I only saw a couple of workers cleaning around the intersections. When are they going to re-stripe the north-bound lanes??? And, when are they going to open the new Wiseman Blvd extension???

Hoot Owl · 03-22-2007, 11:45 AM

TxDot and the state are way behind the curve. They did not anticipate the growth out there when they approved designs for the current 1604 expansion. There were not enough funds to install overpasses. The state ran out of emergency funds during the school finance debacle. Now, you can bet your bottom dollar that the solution is going to be to install toll lanes right down the middle of what was just expanded.

Now, having said all of that, the reality is that no one saw this kind of explosive growth coming so quickly. I've lived out here for over 10 years. Growth happened at a snails pace since the early '90's. I think we all knew eventually things would come our way. But I don't know anyone who would have predicted the incredible rate of growth over the past two years out here in 78253.

EdgarAllanPogi · 03-22-2007, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hoot Owl

TxDot and the state are way behind the curve. They did not anticipate the growth out there when they approved designs for the current 1604 expansion. There were not enough funds to install overpasses. The state ran out of emergency funds during the school finance debacle. Now, you can bet your bottom dollar that the solution is going to be to install toll lanes right down the middle of what was just expanded.

Now, having said all of that, the reality is that no one saw this kind of explosive growth coming so quickly. I've lived out here for over 10 years. Growth happened at a snails pace since the early '90's. I think we all knew eventually things would come our way. But I don't know anyone who would have predicted the incredible rate of growth over the past two years out here in 78253.

I was reading an article about San Antonio city officials being sent to San Diego in 2003 to find out how the city was able to cope with it's growth. They should have had "Moe, Larry and Curly" (TXDOT) tag along and get an education in infrastructure planning and design!