Two new lanes on U.S. 281 to open to traffic this weekend
Bexar County's first high-occupancy vehicle lanes are set to open on Interstate 10 just outside Loop 1604 next week, the Texas Department of Transportation said.
Two newly-constructed lanes on U.S. 281, meanwhile, are scheduled to open this weekend, most likely this evening, TxDOT said.
The HOV lanes will allow multipassenger vehicles to bypass heavy traffic heading east from Ralph Fair Road to La Cantera Parkway. The start date won't be known until Monday, the agency said. West bound HOV lanes are set to open later this fall on the same stretch of interstate.
According to a news release, there will be 28 miles of HOV lanes set up in the region over the next several years. They are reserved for vehicles carrying two or more passengers, including buses, carpools, vanpools and emergency vehicles.
VIA Metropolitan Transit said the I-10 section is the first of three VIA-managed HOV lanes that will open by 2023, part of the company's long-range plans to improve transit in the area. The second will be a stretch of U.S. 281 between
Loop 1604 and Stone Oak Parkway, and the third will extend the U.S. 281 HOV lanes from Stone Oak Parkway to Borgfeld Road.
Using the HOV lanes doesn't require special sign-ups or car tags, but passenger minimums will be
enforced by the San Antonio Police Department. Signs will be posted with the “HOV 2+only” signs to help commuters identify the lanes.
The flyover lanes on U.S. 281 set to open this weekend will carry
drivers over Evans Road, with new ramps allowing access on and off U.S. 281 just north of the intersection. Following the new main lanes, TxDOT will open the underpass of the intersection to traffic on Evans Road.
There also will be turnarounds at the intersection for the U.S. 281 frontage roads in both directions.
The latest opening comes three months after two northbound lanes of U.S. 281, fromLoop1604 to south of Evans Road, were completed.