E-Newsletter - Summer 2011.
WELCOME . . .
to the Loop 1604 Environmental Impact Statement Website!
What is this study about?
The Loop 1604 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be the most comprehensive environmental study ever conducted on potential improvements to Loop 1604. The study began in 2009 for the portion of Loop 1604 from FM 1957 (Potranco Road) to IH 35 North. Inclusion of the portion of Loop 1604 between US 90 West and Potranco Road (FM 1957) has been added since the first public scoping meeting was held on October 21 and 22, 2009.
The Loop 1604 EIS is an Alamo RMA led study in partnership with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) which will examine and recommend strategies for efficiently and effectively addressing mobility and safety issues within the study corridor. The expanded corridor is approximately 35.5 miles in length and provides circumferential mobility in Central/Northwest Bexar County.
The Loop 1604 EIS is estimated to take approximately three years to complete, and will look at and consider a wide array of environmental, socio-economic, and other impacts as alternatives are considered to help address the mobility and safety issues currently and projected to be seen in this corridor.
Proposed Build Alternatives
(click image below to view/download maps)
In addition to the No-Build Alternative, there are three Build Alternatives under further evaluation for the DEIS. These include:
Build Alternative 1 – Expand the existing facility by adding new general purpose lanes to the inside of the existing Loop 1604 main lanes.
Build Alternative 2 – Add new managed lanes to the inside of the existing Loop 1604 main lanes. Under Build Alternative 2, managed lanes would include use restrictions based on tolls, vehicle occupancy, and/or vehicle type.
Build Alternative 3 – Add new managed lanes to the outside of the existing Loop 1604 main lanes. Under Build Alternative 3, managed lanes would include use restrictions based on tolls, vehicle occupancy, and/or vehicle type.
What is the purpose of this website?
More involvement leads to a better understanding. To give you more for Loop 1604, this website and other social media tools have been established to help collaborate, coordinate, and communicate with you throughout the Loop 1604 EIS process. Your participation in this study will help the team identify and evaluate more ways to move people faster.
Why is the Loop 1604 project needed?
Loop 1604 does not currently meet present and future growth and development demands and because traffic demands increasingly create inefficiencies in facility safety, mobility, and operation.
What is the purpose of the project being studied in the Loop 1604 EIS?
The purpose of the project, as currently defined, is to improve safety and to enhance mobility and operational efficiency. Rapid population growth in the project area and in surrounding areas in recent years, which is expected to further increase well into the foreseeable future, drives the need for improvements to Loop 1604. This growth is expected to increase levels of vehicular traffic, increase traffic accidents, decrease the existing roadway’s traffic handling capability, and erode the functionality of the roadway as part of an area-wide transportation system.
Implementation of the project will help alleviate congestion and get people where they want to go faster, safer, and more efficiently. Loop 1604 connects with major roadways such as IH 10, IH 35, IH 37, US 281, US 90, and others. Regionally, Loop 1604 serves as an important route for commuters by connecting radial highways that carry traffic into San Antonio and between the various destination points within the metropolitan area. Loop 1604 is an important part of the local, regional, and state transportation system. Loop 1604 traverses Bexar County through or near the cities of Helotes, Hill Country Village, Live Oak, San Antonio, Selma, and Shavano Park, Universal City, and the town of Hollywood Park. At the local level, Loop 1604 functions as a major arterial that provides access to work, school, parks and other recreational facilities, shopping venues, medical facilities, etc.
What improvements are proposed?
The currently proposed project is described in San Antonio-Bexar County Metropolitan Planning Organization’s current long range Mobility 2035 Plan, adopted December 7, 2009, and the Transportation Improvement Program as an added capacity toll project.
The Loop 1604 EIS will evaluate build and no-build alternatives, including those in the Mobility 2035 Plan. In addition to the build and no-build alternatives, Transportation System Management (TSM), Transportation Demand Management (TDM), transit, and tolled and non-tolled alternatives will also be considered.
Project Location Map (click image for larger view)
How will improvements benefit you?
More choices and more safety for Loop 1604 -- for your quality of life and for your tomorrow.