Cool animation of the future tolled 281 north of 1604.

[sirkingwilliam]

The animation shows 281 from 1604 to Borgfeld Dr. which is 7 and a half miles north of 1604. That is where the 281 tolled freeway will end (for now).

The interchange you see will also be tolled.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRF-gqSlFOA

The construction should have began over a year ago and was a day from happening when a sewage link caused by workers setting up resulted in environmental groups seeking a lawsuit to stop construction, TXDOT and the Federal Highway Administration decided a full Environmental Impact Study would be needed before construction could begin. That study was finished a couple of months ago and results showed no harm to the environment. Construction on the 281 toll road should begin next spring.

I'm not for or against toll roads, however, anything that relieves that nightmare-ish traffic on 281 will be a god send. Especially with those mega planned projects at Stone Oak Parkway and 281.

BTW, future plans are to toll 281 all the way to FM 306 which is 23 miles north of 1604 which would be 16 miles added to the 7 plus planned now.

[sirkingwilliam]

Some more information from the TexHwyMan website.

http://home.att.net/~texhwyman/us281exp.htm

He does a great job with information pertaining to SA and its freeway system.

[texastarkus]

How are toll roads seen in SA? I know in Austin, the anti-toll road lobby is very loud and even objects to toll-house cookies! It seems that everything TXDot builds now will have a toll plaza attached. In the recent past, I've seen mention the re-building of I-37 thru downtown. Will the residents agree to pay a toll once the re-build is complete? Will the good people of SAT agree to pay a toll to drive on 281?

Just wondering....

[Double L]

It's very bad. They've shut down the plan for toll roads on 1604. My opinion of toll roads is that they are good as long as you also have an efficient non-toll option heading in the same direction.

[texastarkus]

So have projects been scrapped, delayed or put on hold for lack of funds since toll's are not an option?

[sirkingwilliam]

Originally Posted by Double L

It's very bad. They've shut down the plan for toll roads on 1604.

Actually this is untrue. No toll road plans have been shut down.

281 was always the first segment to be tolled, it was first going to be just 281 to Stone Oak Parkway with future plans tolling 281 to Borgfeld Dr. Once 2005 construction was set to begin and the workers hit the sewage drain and the enviormental groups brought a lawsuit against TXDOT resulting in them having to get a new study down, which showed the tolls would cause no enviormental harm, TXDOT now plans to build the 281 to Borgfeld Dr. segment all at once starting next fall with future plans to toll 281 to FM 306.

Tolling 1604 is still a go and most likely will be privatized with Zachary and Cintra building the tolls and new or updated (tolled) interchanges at 1604/151, 1604/10W, 1604/281 (as part of the intial 281 toll), 1604/35, 1604/10E.

Future plans call for 10 being tolled from 1604 to Boerne and 35 from downtown to 1604 as well as a porposed elevated toll freeway running over Bandera Rd.

[sirkingwilliam]

Originally Posted by texastarkus

So have projects been scrapped, delayed or put on hold for lack of funds since toll's are not an option?

Tolls are the opinion in terms of 281 and 1604.

No toll projects have been scrapped although liked mentioned before, the 281 toll roads were delayed because of a sewage leak that lead to a lawsuit. Plans are now to begin 281 construction sometime next spring or earlier.

[sirkingwilliam]

Here's the map for the inital start system (yellow) and the future proposed (red) toll roads.



The Wurzbach Parkway portion actually has funding and will not need to be tolled. Not shown on there is 10 from 1604 to Boerne.

http://www.alamorma.org

[texboy]

If you think about it....just from taking a look at that map, where the toll roads are being built my actually spur more development in and around the CBD bc people may see that if they move closer to downtown, they won't have to pay to drive to work (besides gas) from the tolled lanes on the outer limits of the city.

[Double L]

San Antonio Toll Road Opposition

[Mopacs]

Question: So 281 is tolled well into Comal County... Frontage roads will be built, and utilized as the 'non-toll' alternative, of course. Now my question is, will this 'free' option be a step down over what is there now? In other words, will there be a continuous 55-65+ speed limit throughout the entire stretch? Anything less would be a major step down in my book.. Just wondering...

[JACKinBeantown]

All that pavement... not one rail track. That's bad planning.

[trafficdogn]

great video.

shows how totally inefficent our access road system is.