SAN ANTONIO – Matt King remembers what the area around Highway 281 north of Loop 1604 looked like when he moved in a decade ago.
“Marshall had a stop sign, TPC Parkway didn't even exist,” he said. “There weren't even roads here or anything.”
King was one of dozens of area residents who attended an open house by the Texas Department of Transportation Thursday evening to showcase the changes to the U.S. 281 North project.
The event was held at Summit Christian Center.
“We are moving forward with an HOV component,” said TxDOT spokesperson Laura Lopez. “There's no toll component to this project. That is off the table.”
The HOV lanes would be the first in Bexar County.
“I was undecided about it but they tell me it's for cars also so in that sense I wouldn't mind,” said Joan Coleman, who recently moved to the area after living in other parts of San Antonio for nearly 20 years. “I just want to see when it's going to get done. The sooner the better.”
The $532 million project is broken up into two phases. The first phase, from Loop 1604 to Stone Oak Parkway should begin in 2017. The second phase, from Stone Oak Parkway to Borgfeld will begin in 2019. Each project should take three years to complete. The overall project includes new interchange ramps between 281 and 1604.
“I'm super happy they're finally building this thing,” said King. “I just heard it's not going to start until next year. That's the only disappointing thing, I was hoping that they'd be starting tomorrow to get this thing done.”
VIA will begin construction on a new park and ride facility at Stone Oak this year as well.