Monday Morning Relief: U.S. 281 at Loop 1604 Reopens by 5 A.M. — and Hildebrand Water Work Begins

The weekend's biggest North Side closure is scheduled to end before the Monday commute. TxDOT's Loop 1604 North expansion lane-closure notice lists the northbound and southbound U.S. 281 mainlane closure between Donella Drive and Sonterra Boulevard among its weekend closures for October 23–26, running 9 p.m. Friday through 5 a.m. Monday — the full closure at the Loop 1604 interchange that has pushed mainlane traffic onto frontage-road detours all weekend.

The other big weekend work is scheduled to clear at the same hour. TxDOT reporting on the southbound I-35 traffic switch between Petroleum Drive and Frost Bank Center Drive — alternating mainlane closures with a single southbound lane open during active work, and ramp closures at I-410, Binz-Engleman Road and Exit 160 — puts the work and closures clearing by 5 a.m. Monday, October 26. The nightly Loop 1604 and I-10 frontage-road closures at the Northwest interchange were likewise scheduled across the weekend nights, 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Monday also brings a new long-term city-streets job. The San Antonio Water System starts work at 3 a.m. October 26 replacing water mains along Hildebrand Avenue between McCullough Avenue and U.S. 281, according to SAWS information carried in Focus on San Antonio's Transit Tracker. Crews are installing new high-density polyethylene pipes, designed to perform well in the area's challenging soil conditions and reduce leaks and water loss. When the water-main work is finished next March, the city plans to upgrade the surface of that same stretch of Hildebrand, and residents and motorists are asked to watch SAWS for rolling road closures as the work progresses.

The week ahead on Loop 1604's eastern segments keeps the nightly pattern: TxDOT's notice lists weekday nightly closures, 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., with alternating intersection closures at Bulverde Road and O'Connor Road — only one intersection at a time — alternating mainlane and frontage-road closures between Bulverde Road and Judson Road with one lane open at all times, and daytime frontage-road closures from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. All closures remain subject to change due to weather or other unforeseen circumstances. The Traffic Desk's advice for Monday: the freeway map resets at 5 a.m., but Hildebrand drivers should build the new water-main work into the route from the first morning.