A nearly 5 mile section of 1604 on the Northwest Side will be expanded to four lanes in the next several years through a TxDOT project that could include the 151/1604 interchange project that was stopped indefinitely last year.
4.7 miles of 1604 from Bandera to Culebra will be expanded to four lanes. At the moment, the Texas Department of Transportation is deciding between four different construction companies who will design and build the project.
"It’s a project that has been looked at for a number of years and studied for a number of years and we’re ready to go," said Mark Cross with TxDOT.
Just south of Culebra is the 151/1604 intersection. Last year a TxDOT project was building an interchange, but construction stopped after the discovery of an endangered spider. If environmentally cleared, the 151 project could be included in this 1604 expansion.
"That piece we’ll have to keep working on until we do find that solution," Cross said. "So whether or not that happens before this other 4.7 miles is completed or not we’re not sure."
This area also includes a superstreet near Shanefield road. Laura Lopez at the local TxDOT said the superstreet will likely be removed during the expansion and be replaced with overpasses.
"It’s still early to determine how exactly the superstreet will fall into place, but that was just a temporary solution until the permanent solution came into place," Lopez said.
The project - which could cost between $85 and $115 million depending on if the 151 interchange is added - still needs to go through the design phase.
According to TxDOT, the entire project will be completed in one to five years.
