Colleen Waguespack, president of Northside Neighborhoods for Organized Development, is among thousands of Northsiders familiar with the challenges that come with driving Loop 1604.
Waguespack and more than 100 others gathered at Resurrection Baptist Church on Redland Road on Tuesday to review schematics and drawings that outline a State plan to widen 23 miles of the freeway.
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) proposed to expand Loop 1604 to a 10-lane roadway between Bandera Road (Texas Highway 16) and Interstate 35. TxDOT officials said the project aims to improve mobility and decrease traffic congestion across the area. The earliest construction could begin is early 2021.
Waguespack said she looks forward the final outcome of the multi-phase project.
“It’s very much needed. I’ll dread the construction, but it’s very much needed,” Waguespack added. “They should’ve started it five years ago.”
Frontage lanes and entrance and exit ramps would be reconfigured all along the length of Loop 1604 between Bandera Road and I-35. The expansion includes removal of the cloverleaf connectors from the Loop 1604 interchange at Interstate 10, and replacement of the signalized frontage road intersections with continuous traffic flow.
Read more from Edmond Ortiz with the Rivard Report here.
This is a continuing news story - and we want to make sure that trails are provided for in the course of construction on 1604, especially ones that would be needed to cross from one side of 1604 to the other. In the future, this space could be used to connect the San Antonio greenway trails network with existing or planned trails in New Braunfels and Comal County. Do you have a desire for hike and bike trails to be incorporated in the new 1604 plans? TxDOT is accepting public comments on this project until October 10. If you want to see that hike and bike trail accommodations are provided for, tell TXDOT! Brief comments requesting that accommodation be made for hike and bike trails both along 1604 and crossing 1604 can help to prevent any impediments to regional trail connectivity. Click here to download and fill out an official comment card and email it to 1604N-Improvements@aecom.com