U.S. 281 near Henderson Pass to close this weekend

Workers repair the Henderson Pass bridge at U.S. 281 after a southbound 18-wheeler slammed into the overpass Wednesday afternoon. The southbound lanes on 281 headed toward downtown are closed at Henderson Pass and the northbound exit ramp onto Loop 1604 from 281 also is shut. less Workers repair the Henderson Pass bridge at U.S. 281 after a southbound 18-wheeler slammed into the overpass Wednesday afternoon. The southbound lanes on 281 headed toward downtown are closed at Henderson Pass ... more Photo: Edward A. Ornelas, San Antonio Express-News Photo: Edward A. Ornelas, San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close U.S. 281 near Henderson Pass to close this weekend 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

Avoiding U.S. 281 completely may be the best advice for anyone planning to drive on the North Side this weekend.

Crews will shut the northbound and southbound lanes between Donella Drive and Loop 1604 to repair the damaged Henderson Pass bridge.

The closure is set to begin at 9 p.m. Friday and end at 5 a.m. Monday while a contractor works around the clock to fix the bridge, which was hit last week by a truck.

Adding to the headache, this weekend's closure also will keep the connectors between Loop 1604 and U.S. 281 out of commission until Monday morning.

“The beam we're replacing is a single-span beam, meaning it spans over north and southbound traffic,” said Josh Donat, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Transportation. “In order to safely remove that, we're going to need to shut down all lanes of traffic in both directions.”

The beam was damaged Aug. 14 when a partly raised dump truck trailer being pulled by a truck hit the bridge, ripping pieces from it.

A complete closure of the major artery, while rare, has happened before, Donat said.

Laura Lopez, a TxDOT spokeswoman, said the cost of this weekend's project is $249,000, according to the contract, which will not be paid from tax dollars. Instead it will be recouped from those responsible for the damage.

Motorists traveling in either direction on U.S. 281 will be directed off the highway and onto the access roads, likely causing major traffic delays.

“The biggest thing is just to find other routes,” Donat said. “I know that last weekend we encouraged people to use Blanco and Bulverde (roads), but I also know those weren't the quickest to go through because a lot of folks were using those roads.”

If avoidance isn't possible, pulling out the map and taking a scenic route probably is the way to go.