SAN ANTONIO — Over 150,000 drivers travel on Loop 1604 everyday. Phase four of the Loop 1604 north expansion will include four miles of the corridor from U.S. 281 to Redland Road which will include expansion of the main lanes from four lanes to 10 across.
J. Bruce Bugg Jr. is the Texas Transportation Commission Chairman who feels transportation concerns are finally being addressed statewide.
“A lot of years we just weren’t doing anything to keep up with population growth,” Bugg said.
Addressing congestion and more mobility for San Antonio drivers who frequent Loop 1604 is the state’s $1.4 billion investment.
“We have what we call orange cones going all throughout the city of San Antonio," Bugg said. "But we have over $40 billion of projects going under construction today in real time throughout the state of Texas.”
Specifically with phase four of the Loop 1604 north expansion includes $218 million dollars of transportation investments. Charles Benavidez is the TXDOT San Antonio District Engineer.
“We’ve been working our way from State Highway 16 all the way towards I-35," Benavidez said. "So as this project begins you’ll start to see as we complete other projects to our west, we’ll work our way back to I-35. So give us a few more years as we build out the corridor and tie back into I-35.”
Leaders are hopeful phase four will help address congestion amongst 150,000 drivers that travel along the loop every day.
“We work closely with adjacent businesses," Benavidez said. "We want to make sure that we try to minimize any impacts of construction. We do a lot of outreach of businesses just to make sure that they’re aware of upcoming closures.”
Benavidez anticipates in 2025, segment three of the six phase project from I-10 to US 281 will be complete.
So in the next year and a half, drivers will be able to enjoy over 12 miles of transportation improvements that will reduce congestion amongst tens of thousands of drivers.