Saturday Traffic Roundup: U.S. 281 at Loop 1604 Stays Shut All Weekend, and the I-35 Switch Runs to Monday

The North Side's big closure is still on, all weekend. Northbound and southbound U.S. 281 main lanes at Loop 1604 — between Donella Drive and Sonterra Boulevard in TxDOT's Loop 1604 expansion notice, roughly three-quarters of a mile on either side of the interchange — closed at 9 p.m. Friday for bridge work and stay closed until about 5 a.m. Monday, October 26. The direct connector exits remain open, but main-lane drivers are diverted to marked detours and significant congestion is expected; northbound drivers continuing through Loop 1604 use the Henderson Pass exit to the frontage road, and southbound drivers use Redland Road.

On the Northwest Side, the Loop 1604 and Interstate 10 interchange keeps its nightly pattern through the weekend: eastbound and westbound Loop 1604 frontage roads close nightly at the interchange, along with the eastbound I-10 mainlanes at Loop 1604, from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., according to TxDOT closure reporting. Weekday nights and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daytime work on the I-10 frontage roads and mainlanes between Camp Bullis Road and De Zavala Road follow next week, and the eastbound Loop 1604 entrance ramp after the I-10 interchange remains permanently closed.

On the Northeast Side, southbound I-35's traffic switch continues through the weekend from Petroleum Drive to Frost Bank Center Drive: alternating main-lane closures, intermittent entrance and exit ramp closures, and signed detours — W.W. White Road traffic routed to the I-410 main lanes via the Rittiman Road turnaround, and drivers seeking Exit 160 directed to Exit 162 or Exit 159B for Walters Street — with all lanes and ramps scheduled to reopen by 5 a.m. Monday. The Traffic Desk's advice for Saturday: cross-town North Side trips belong on the frontage roads with extra minutes budgeted, and late-night drivers should expect the 1604/I-10 interchange to narrow again at 9 p.m.