Workers on March 6 were putting the finishing touches of the east-bound Interstate 10 overpass. All work should be finished by early 2009. Photo by Linda Byrne

By Jonathan Nolte
Staff Writer

Hill Country commuters may have been surprised on March 11 to find themselves cruising over a bridge near the Dominion instead of slithering through the narrow construction walls on east-bound Interstate 10.

The bridge will traverse an underpass at Dominion Parkway, alleviating traffic congestion at the Camp Bullis Road and Boerne Stage Road. Dominion Parkway is at the midpoint between those two nearest roads.

The bridge will also allow emergency crews from Station 47 on Stonewall Ranch Road easier access to residents on the east side of Interstate 10. San Antonio Fire Department Assistant Chief Carl Wedige says that the current roads force emergency crews to travel three to nine minutes to get to the Dominion where 1,600 residents live in 800 homes. The new underpass will reduce that time to under one minute.

TxDOT Public Information Officer Maggie Rios says that the project is 63 percent complete in half of the projected time.

Next, construction crews will direct west-bound traffic into the former east-bound lanes and start construction of the west-bound bridge. Completion of the bridges and underpass is expected in early 2009.

Eighty percent of the $20.3 million project was provided by federal funding, Rios said.