Holiday shoppers on the far Northwest Side will have at least one more weekend of travel headaches ahead.
There will be a full closure of Vance Jackson Road at Loop 1604 this weekend as the Texas Department of Transportation continues a $1 billion project to improve traffic flow on Loop 1604.
"You're going to see some closures around Loop 1604 and Vance Jackson Road, near The Rim Shopping Center. So, as you prepare for your holiday shopping this weekend, we just ask that you come with some patience," said TXDOT spokeswoman Jennifer Serold.
TXDOT did have some Christmas cheer for motorists this year: "This will be the last weekend of construction closures around The Rim and La Cantera shopping center as we head into the holiday season," Serold said.
Traffic can be congested around those major retail locations during any holiday, but this year the congestion has been made much worse by the project to widen Loop 1604 over a 23-mile stretch from Bandera Road to I-35 through the Northwest and North Sides of San Antonio.
The first phase of the work between Bandera Road and the I-10/Loop 1604 Interchange is expected to be completed sometime in 2024.
Work at the interchange itself is expected to end in 2027, while the work from I-10 to U.S. 281 should be completed in 2025.
State transportation officials said the Loop 1604 North corridor is one of the most congested in all of Texas according to a study by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute.
More than 150,000 drivers travel through the corridor each day, with travel times between 29 to 37 minutes. By 2045, that number of motorists is expected to double.
Loop 1604 was known for decades as a dangerous two-lane roadway around the city that was nicknamed the "Death Loop" for the many head-on and other fatal crashes that occurred.
The loop has been greatly expanded since the1980s to keep up with San Antonio's ongoing population boom.
West Bexar County and areas north of 1604 are among the fastest growing in the county today.
