Work begins on widening U.S. 281, most congested highway in San Antonio

Texas Department of Transportation spokesman Josh Donat said the construction is not expected to greatly snarl the roughly 99,000 vehicles that pass through the 281 and Loop 1604 interchange each day. Texas Department of Transportation spokesman Josh Donat said the construction is not expected to greatly snarl the roughly 99,000 vehicles that pass through the 281 and Loop 1604 interchange each day. Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT /SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT /SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS Image 1 of / 42 Caption Close Work begins on widening U.S. 281, most congested highway in San Antonio 1 / 42 Back to Gallery

Perennially judged by the Texas Department of Transportation as the most congested highway in Bexar County and one of the 100 worst in the state, U.S. 281 at Loop 1604 and its daily mass of 100,000 vehicles have come to symbolize both San Antonio’s stunning growth and lack of adequate urban infrastructure planning.

But relief is on the horizon.

Sitting on a stage in the parking lot of Mattress Firm, surrounded by Stone Oak suburban sprawl and morning traffic, Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday joined political leaders to celebrate the start of a $500 million, 5-year expansion of U.S. 281 north of Loop 1604.

“The reason these roads behind me are clogged,” said Abbott to a friendly crowd of supporters and neon-green vested TxDOT staff, “is due to San Antonio’s dynamic economy. Let’s give it up for the workers who built these roads.”

Texas Transportation Commissioner Bruce Bugg drew applause when he said: “San Antonio, this is what you’ve been waiting for, and you’ve been waiting for a very long time.”

The expansion of U.S. 281 will come in two phases.

The first, costing $192 million and running from Loop 1604 to Stone Oak Parkway, will start in May and is scheduled to be completed in 2020.

The second, costing about $300 million and stretching from Stone Oak to the Comal County line, will start when the first phase finishes and last until about 2022, according to TxDOT.

The construction will create six primary lanes (three each going north and south) and six frontage road lanes (also three, north and south). Two of those primary lanes will be for High Occupancy Vehicles. TxDOT said the frontage roads will include bicycle and pedestrian facilities and that HOV lanes will connect directly to VIA’s new 281 Park-and-Ride station being built at Stone Oak Parkway.

None of the roads will be tolled.

Bexar County Commissioner Kevin Wolff also attended and supports the U.S. 281 expansion, but he lamented privately that a half-billion dollars would be spent only on more traditional roads.

“As a community we just haven’t matured into asking what other means of transportation there are,” Wolff said. “Not one word” was mentioned about mass transit. “It was a major fight just to get HOV lanes. A lot of people really fought them.”

Christine Drennon, director of the urban studies program at Trinity University, said the massive highway project exemplified a “1950s mentality that is directed for a certain demographic” and that the half-billion dollars could be better spent on “the neglected inner-city neighborhoods of San Antonio.”

“I’m concerned about where we put our resources as a city,” Drennon said. “Other cities like Houston and Dallas are trying transportation alternatives, and we still opt not to.”

Abbott cited the enormous approval of Texas voters in 2015 for Proposition 7, a constitutional amendment that could direct at least $3-4 billion annually to the state highway fund for 10 to 15 years and partially funded the U.S. 281 project. None of the money, however, can go to toll roads, rail or mass transit.

TxDOT spends more than 95 percent of its $12 billion budget on highway planning, construction, maintenance and debt.

Local businesses and commuters are bracing for what they hope will not be five years of detours and angst.

“Wow, wow,” said Morgan Mehta, owner of Thyme for Lunch on Stone Oak Parkway. “I’ve just signed a three-year lease. I can’t get out of it. I hope the construction doesn’t impact us. We’re only open for lunch.”

TxDOT spokesman Josh Donat said: “I’m sure we’ll have some major closures that run overnight or last through a weekend, but nothing lengthy that would bring traffic down to a single lane during construction. We are working hard to maintain the same level of service that exists today.”

U.S. 281 in San Antonio opened for traffic in 1978. The federal highway runs from the Mexican border in the Rio Grande Valley to the Canadian border near Dunseith, North Dakota.

bselcraig@express-news.net