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System > Loop 1604
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This page covers the
freeway segment of Loop 1604 across North San Antonio from FM 78
in Converse to Bandera Rd. The remainder of the 95 mile
loop is non-freeway, most of which is two-lane road.
Length:
26 miles |
On this page:
Description
When it was built in the 1960s,
nobody ever thought that Loop 1604 North would be the busy beltline that
it is today. While the southern half remains in its original
configuration as a two lane rural state highway, most of the northern
arc has been expanded to a four lane freeway. Loop 1604 forms the
outer of San Antonio's two beltways and the freeway segment serves
Randolph AFB, Rolling Oaks Mall, the Stone Oak development, Camp Bullis,
the University of Texas at San Antonio's (UTSA) main campus, Six Flags Fiesta Texas,
the Shops at La Cantera and the La Cantera development, Valero Energy's headquarters
campus, and the suburbs of Converse, Universal City, Live Oak, Hollywood
Park, Shavano Park, and Helotes. The northern and western legs run
through increasingly dense suburban residential areas with some moderate
to heavy commercial development, especially near the major interchanges.
There is no fully directional
interchange at US 281. Motorists must use access roads and a
signalized 3-level interchange to access US 281. Modified
cloverleaf interchanges exist at I-10 and I-35.
Loop 1604 is sometimes mistakenly
referred to as FM 1604. However, it is indeed Loop 1604; FM
1604 is in North Texas. (See the History section below for more
info.)
Roadway details
|
LANES |
- 4 lanes
along entire route
|
|
ACCESS ROADS |
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- No continuous access
roads east of Pat Booker except for a short section of
access road southbound from Pat Booker to Kitty Hawk.
- Continuous access
roads remainder of route except at I-35 and at UPRR tracks
between Nacogdoches and Green Mountain.
|
|
EXITS |
Click
here for a list of
Loop 1604 exits
|
|
SPEED LIMITS |
 |
- 70 mph from
Nacogdoches to Bandera Rd.
- 65 mph from
Pat Booker to Nacogdoches
- 55 mph from FM
78 to Pat Booker
|
|
SPECIAL FEATURES &
NOTES |
 |
- TransGuide coverage
from Lockhill-Selma to Bandera Rd.
- Five at-grade
turnoffs with no median crossover in Universal City
- No directional
interchange at US 281
- VIA Metropolitan
Transit University Park & Ride located under I-10
interchange
- Carpool parking area
on northbound ramp to/from FM 78.
|
|
TRAFFIC |
|
Loop 1604 has experienced
ridiculously blistering traffic growth since 1990 with average AADT counts up
well over 250% along nearly the entire route, and up over 700%
near Bandera Rd. Overall, volume is moderate to heavy
along entire route. The section between I-10 and US 281 now exceeds
100,000 vehicles per day, up from a paltry 25,000 in 1990. Recurring congestion
occurs during morning and evening peak periods between Bandera
Rd. and US 281. |
|
AVERAGE ANNUAL DAILY TRAFFIC |
|
Location |
1990 |
1996 |
2000 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
'96-'06
CHG |
| E of FM 78 |
9,400 |
15,800 |
21,000 |
26,000 |
26,520 |
27,000 |
+71% |
| W of FM 78 |
18,300 |
22,000 |
38,000 |
48,000 |
48,960 |
49,000 |
+123% |
| Pat Booker Rd. |
19,800 |
39,000 |
53,000 |
74,000 |
77,580 |
73,000 |
+87% |
| Lookout Rd. |
21,000 |
49,000 |
61,000 |
80,000 |
81,700 |
82,000 |
+67% |
| Green Mountain Rd. |
15,800 |
41,000 |
53,000 |
68,000 |
69,170 |
89,000 |
+117% |
| O'Connor Rd. |
16,800 |
47,000 |
63,000 |
79,000 |
84,330 |
87,000 |
+85% |
| Gold Canyon Dr. |
19,800 |
54,000 |
78,000 |
99,000 |
101,950 |
114,000 |
+111% |
| W of US 281N |
24,000 |
71,000 |
104,000 |
120,000 |
123,680 |
127,000 |
+79% |
| Bitters Rd. |
25,000 |
55,000 |
83,000 |
105,000 |
104,980 |
108,000 |
+96% |
| Tradesman Dr. |
26,000 |
59,000 |
83,000 |
102,000 |
106,180 |
113,000 |
+92% |
| La Cantera Pkwy. |
21,000 |
35,000 |
64,000 |
88,000 |
90,820 |
94,000 |
+169% |
| Hausmann Rd. |
13,300 |
30,000 |
50,000 |
83,000 |
80,450 |
77,000 |
+157% |
| N of Bandera Rd. |
10,200 |
23,000 |
49,000 |
78,000 |
81,220 |
76,000 |
+230% |
| S of Bandera Rd. |
8,700 |
19,800 |
32,000 |
59,000 |
60,830 |
80,000 |
+304% |
Construction
projects
There are currently no major construction
projects underway.
Future plans
TxDOT and the Alamo Regional
Mobility Authority released plans in June 2007 for a $1.8 billion
mega-project to upgrade and expand Loop 1604 across northern San Antonio
from Military Dr. around to I-10 East. This project will add
tolled expressway lanes where there are currently no expressway lanes
and will add new tolled expressway lanes between existing free
expressway lanes, which will remain free. Additionally, it will
build major interchanges at SH 151, I-10W, US 281N, I-35N, and I-10E, as
well as modifications and improvements on those intersecting roads.
For more information, see the Loop 1604 tollway
project page.
History
Authorized by Minute Order 72928
(June 30, 1977). Named for former Bexar County Judge Charles W.
Anderson who died from cancer in 1964 after serving for 25 years on the
bench.
Loop 1604 was assembled from a
number of Farm-to-Market and State Loop roads in the early '60s and holds the distinction
as the only four-digit non-FM road in Texas. One of the FM roads
that was included in the eventual loop was FM 1604, and segments of
other roads added to the loop were renumbered as FM 1604.
However, when the loop was done and state officials were ready to change
the designation to a Loop, they found that the 1604 number had become
familiar to area residents. So in 1977 they simply
changed the route designation to Loop 1604. (FM 1604 has since
been recycled and is in use in Irene, Texas, east of Hillsboro.)
Loop 1604 usurped all or parts of FM
1518, FM 1604, FM 1627, and FM 2173. FM 1518 ran from Somerset
east to Elmendorf, then north to near US 87 and then on to Schertz.
FM 1627 was a short road connecting I-35 to Pat Booker, and FM 2173
connected Somerset to Macdona. There was also a never-built Loop
334, which would've run along today's 1604 from I-10 West to Macdona.
In the mid '50s, work began on the
first segment of FM 1604 from I-10 to US 281 and was completed around
1958. By 1964, it had been extended to Bandera Rd. on the west and
to I-10 East. It reached Macdonna ca. 1974. FM 2173 and 1518
were upgraded and redesignated as FM 1604 in the mid '70s, and the
missing section, between I-10 East and FM 1518 was built in the late
'70s.
The current
interchanges at I-10 and I-35 were completed around 1986. Around
1987, the section between US 281 and I-10 was upgraded to a freeway.
The section between US 281 and I-35 was upgraded to a freeway in two
phases in the late '80s. The segment from I-10 to Babcock was
upgraded in the early '90s as was the section from I-35 to FM 78.
The section from Babcock to Bandera Rd. was completed in 1996. The
section from Bandera Rd. to near Culebra was upgraded to a divided
highway in 1999, and the overpass at Culebra opened in mid 2004.
TransGuide coverage was added to the section between Babcock and
Tradesman in 1999. The previously missing access roads between NW
Military and Bitters were added during the Summer of 2002.
TransGuide coverage was extended to the section from I-10 to Bandera Rd.
in April 2003.
The section from SH 151 south to
US 90 was upgraded to a divided highway in mid 2007.
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