281 North Toll Project, San Antonio, Texas, USA

The 281 North Toll project is an added-capacity toll lane situated in Bexar County, San Antonio, US. The $330m project involves the design and construction of eight miles of road layout for US 281 from Loop 1604 to the FM 306 at the Bexar and Comal County line.

The road layout will expand the right of way from 200ft to more than 400ft in some sections and includes the construction of tolled express lanes and the relocation/rebuilding of non-tolled lanes. The project will relieve congestion and increase traffic capacity. The two-phase project is being run by the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority (ARMA), which has been working with the Texas Dept of Transportation (TxDOT) since 2007.

In May 2008 Cibolo Creek Infrastructure Joint Venture, led by equity partners Fluor Enterprises, Inc and Balfour Beatty, was chosen to design and build the project, along with local firms HDR Engineering Inc, Raba-Kistner Consultants Inc, Guerra DeBerry Coody, Donze Lopez Public Affairs, Vickery & Associates Inc, Bain Medina Bain Inc, AIA Engineers Ltd, and Pinnacle Consulting Management Group Inc. Construction was due to begin in late 2008/early 2009 on a section from Loop 1604 to Marshall Road with completion estimated for late 2010.

PROBLEMS

In February 2008 a lawsuit was filed against the project by environmental groups Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom (TURF) and Aquifer Guardians in Urban Areas (AGUA). TxDOT then uncovered a possible problem with an endangered species study and brought it to light in court. As a result, in October 2008, with the design phase 30% complete, the project was put on hold for a further three to four years until environmental studies can be repeated under the leadership of Alamo RMA.

PROJECT

In the 1980s the 281 was upgraded from a four-lane divided highway to a six-lane freeway in a section north of Loop 1604, although a lot of the road remained with four lanes. TxDOT announced plans in 2000 to upgrade the 281 to six lanes from Loop 1604 to Stone Oak Parkway and to build an overpass at the Borgfeld intersection. The construction was due to begin in 2003 but was halted due to a major cost increase.

Zachary and Cintra of Spain put in a voluntary bid to build the 281 and 1604 tollway projects in return for a 50-year toll concession. The bid was accepted with construction beginning on the Sonterra to Stone Oak section in December 2005. The project was suspended in 2006 after construction work damaged a sewer pipe. As a direct result, TxDOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) made an agreement to perform an additional environmental assessment (after four had already been performed).

In January 2007 an assessment was put forward and the FHWA authorised TxDOT to build the 281 tollway from Loop 1604 to Borgfeld. At this point ARMA took control of the 281 and 1604 toll projects (regional mobility authorities were given the right to decide to carry out toll projects in their region by the state legislature).