In the mid and late '80s,
Loop 1604 was
upgraded from a two lane farm road to a four lane freeway between I-10
West and I-35 North. Subsequent projects in the early '90s
extended the freeway on each end to Kitty Hawk on the east and Bandera
Rd. on the west. Since that time, tremendous
development has taken place along the 1604 corridor, and traffic counts
all along 1604 have increased dramatically. In fact, the top six
locations for traffic growth since 1990 are along 1604 North, with the
top growth spot showing growth of almost 700%. Meanwhile,
Loop 1604 has struggled to keep up with that demand and funding has not
been available to provide any significant improvements.
With the availability of new funding mechanisms, specifically tolling,
TxDOT announced a plan to upgrade Loop 1604 North with tolled express
lanes. Shortly thereafter, a consortium consisting of local
construction giant Zachary and the Spanish infrastructure company Cintra,
which were working together on a bid to operate the I-35 Trans Texas
Corridor project, submitted an unsolicited bid to TxDOT to build the 281
and 1604 tollway projects in return for a 50-year lease to operate the
tollways. Because the bid had merit, TxDOT was required under
state law to accept other bids and to fully evaluate the Cintra-Zachary
bid. Since their bid not only paid for construction and subsequent
operation of those roadways (which freed funding for other projects),
and also paid a large concession fee to the state (which could also be
used to fund other projects), the bid was accepted.
However, in 2007, the
Legislature passed a moratorium on nearly all new privately built and
operated toll roads and passed legislation requiring that local Regional
Mobility Authorities be given the right of first refusal on toll
projects in their jurisdiction. The Alamo Regional Mobility
Authority (ARMA) subsequently opted to take control of both the 281 and
1604 toll projects and has put forth a $1.8 billion plan to upgrade and expand
the northern arc of Loop 1604 from Military Dr. on the west all the way over to I-10 East.
Proposed design
The current proposal will add
tolled lanes in two forms:
A new four to six lane
expressway where there is currently no
freeway between Military Dr. to just north of Braun Rd. and from Kitty
Hawk Rd. to
I-10 East
Four new barrier-separated express lanes
(known as managed lanes) between the toll-free expressway lanes from Bandera Rd. to Kitty Hawk Rd.
The map below
illustrates which type of tollway is currently being considered for each segment.
In both cases, there will also be continuous toll-free access roads.
In addition, this project will build five new
major "stack" interchanges at SH 151, I-10 West, US 281 North, I-35 North, and
I-10 East. These new interchanges will connect to the managed lanes and
will themselves be tolled, but the existing interchanges will also remain exactly as
they are today and will remain toll-free.
Managed lanes access
As mentioned above, the managed lanes will be separated from the
toll-free expressway lanes by a barrier. Motorists will be able to
enter or exit the managed lanes at either terminus (at Braun Rd. and
at Kitty Hawk), via the tolled interchange connectors to intersecting
freeways, or via one of six inline access points. The inline access points will
consist of a slip ramp in each direction between the managed lanes and the tolled expressway lanes.
Each ramp will either allow traffic to enter the managed lanes from the toll-free
lanes, or to exit the managed lanes to the toll-free lanes.
The map below shows the location of these ramps.
How the toll lanes will be
added
To add the tolled lanes in
either scenario, the existing toll-free lanes would be shifted outward
to make room for the new lanes. In many cases, additional improvements
will be made to the toll-free expressway lanes and access roads, including
additional lanes, turnarounds and turning lanes at intersections, and
improved entrance and exit ramps.
It is important to note that
on the eastern and western segments where the road will be upgraded to
an expressway, the design of this project is virtually identical to what
it would have been had it been developed as a toll-free project.
The only difference now is that drivers who opt to use the main
expressway lanes will pay a toll. For the remainder of the route,
the existing freeway lanes will remain and only the new lanes in the
middle would be tolled. (It seems many people cannot wrap their
minds around these rather simple facts.)
Animation of how tolled
managed lanes
will be added to a typical section of Loop 1604
between Bandera and FM 78.
For a still shot of the final frame, click
here.
Conceptual example of tolled managed
lanes down the center of Loop 1604 (Courtesy: Alamo Regional Mobility Authority
Animation of how the tolled
expressway will be added to the existing Loop 1604
south of Bandera and south of FM 78.
For a still shot of the final frame, click
here.
Simulations and still shots of proposed improvements
Below you will find
computer simulations of the planned improvements to Loop 1604.
Because of the length of the project and file size restrictions, I have
split the simulations into three segments as shown on the map below.
The simulations run in a clockwise direction. The combined length of all three animations is about 20 minutes. All animations are courtesy of TxDOT. (Personally, I think the Babcock to Nacogdoches segment is the coolest of the three.)
Below that you
will find a link to a page with annotated still shots from the
simulation of key intersections showing the location of the tolled and
non-tolled lanes and other important features.
As of December 2007, ARMA is planning to begin construction the
western segment, from Military to I-10 West, in late 2009.
Construction on the segment from I-10 to US 281 is planned for 2011, and
work is projected to begin on the 1604/281 interchange in 2010. TxDOT
and ARMA are awaiting
federal approval of the environmental assessment for the project.
