SAN ANTONIO – A new year often brings new hope for many people, but last year also ended on a high note for some San Antonio drivers.
That’s due to a whole group of extra-tall ramps that opened up along our highways.
Flyover ramps connecting the northwest stretches of Interstate 10 and Loop 1604 now climb skyward and crisscross in an almost dizzying pattern.
Getting them up and open in a year’s time has been a tall order both for construction crews and drivers.
“It’s much improved (from) when I first moved here. So now they’re trying to make things better,” Larue Butchee said.
Butchee, a Chicago transplant, said he is taking the pains of progress in stride.
During this past year of construction, the Texas Department of Transportation frequently shut down one road or another to get the job done.
“Traffic is heavier, so they’re trying to accommodate. So I can’t complain,” Butchee said.
The five-level exchange features one of the tallest flyovers in the state. But this project is only one of several in our area to take shape in 2025.
“It’s something that we’re proud of, obviously, ‘cause that means that there’s progress on our projects and we’re progressing as quickly as we can,” said TxDOT San Antonio District Engineer Charles Benavidez.
Benavidez says in all, TxDOT completed nine giant ramps across the city last year.
That includes one towering over Loop 410 and Interstate 10 on the East Side of town.
While these new flyovers may have drivers here on a new high, this project on Interstate 35 remains a downer for some. They’re wondering when it will be finished.
“Right now, it’s tough in both cities — Austin and San Antonio,” said Clinton Fewell.
Fewell regularly travels along I-35 right through the road work zone known as the Northeast Exchange; sometimes, traffic stalls for upwards of two hours, he said.
When all is said and done, though, there will be new, lofty links from I-35 downtown to Loop 410 and Loop 1604.
TxDOT said it’s building now for the future.
“Right now, on (I-35) alone, we’re seeing about 200,000 vehicles a day. In 20 (to) 25 years, we’re expecting that to double,” Benavidez said.
But it will be at least another year before the rubber meets that road. The first flyovers there aren’t expected to open until early 2027.
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