By Joni Simon
Contributing Writer

A first-of-its-kind agreement between Bexar County and the Texas Department of Transportation will allow a long-delayed expansion of Blanco Road.

The improvements will be to a stretch of Blanco north of Huebner Road and will begin at least nine years earlier than anticipated.

“What we have out here is a rural road with urban conditions all around it,” Bexar County Commissioner Lyle Larson said.

“We’re going to have to build out the capacity of these roads.”

Larson represents Precinct 3, which covers northern Bexar County.

The 3.8-mile construction project, from south of Huebner, past Wilderness Oak and Panther Springs Park to West Oak Estates, has in the past few years become a major artery for one of the fastest growing areas in Bexar County.

Traffic volumes along Blanco Road, much of which runs along the east boundary of Camp Bullis, are expected to jump from 8,000 vehicles per day to more than 20,000 within two years. “We’ve had over 200 wrecks just in the last few years,” Larson said. “A lot of them (were) very serious accidents. We needed to take action on this project right away.”

Blanco Road, technically State Highway 2696, is a state-maintained road, but TxDOT couldn’t get the expansion project on its drawing board until 2017 at the earliest.

So, Interim District Engineer Julie Brown and Larson worked out an innovative deal called a ‘pass through financing agreement’ to allow the county to get the work completed within 18 months.

“They (Bexar County) will accelerate the project so that we can get it on the ground sooner,” Brown said. “Once the project opens up to traffic, the Department of Transportation will actually pay the county back over several years’ time.” TxDOT will repay Bexar County for 70 percent of the estimated $28.8 million construction costs. The rest of the money will come from the Advanced Transportation District sales tax approved by Bexar County voters.

The completed stretch of highway will be two lanes in both directions, with a continuous center left turn lane and bicycle lanes. Larson promises few construction nightmares for area residents.

“What we have put on the contract is that all of the existing capacity that is on the roadway right now will stay,” he said. “People who are traveling right now have one lane in each direction; that will stay in place.”

Larson said the project has been a priority for his constituents for some time.

“Just have some patience for the next year and a half, and relief is on its way,” he said.