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topical analysis

prison was NOT mentioned

propaganda analysis

Tallest flyover ramp in San Antonio is on I-10, is open to drivers Tallest flyover ramp in San Antonio is on I-10, is open to drivers

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29m ago

TxDOT opens San Antonio's tallest flyover ramp at 1604 and I-10

29m ago

TxDOT opens San Antonio's tallest flyover ramp at 1604 and I-10

The 123-foot-tall ramp is the first is the first of eight planned as part of a $463 million new interchange between I-10 and Loop 1604.

By Richard Webner, ReporterDec 3, 2024

The Texas Department of Transportation on Tuesday opened the first of eight flyover ramps for a new interchange linking Loop 1604 and Interstate 10.Richard Webner

The Texas Department of Transportation on Tuesday opened the first of eight flyover ramps for a new interchange linking Loop 1604 and Interstate 10.Richard Webner

The flyover ramp Texas officials opened to traffic on Tuesday, linking eastbound Loop 1604 and westbound Interstate 10, can properly be called gargantuan.

Rising 123 feet off the ground, it is now the tallest highway structure in San Antonio and among the tallest in the nation.

ALSO READ: Is rail dream real? Local leaders revive talk of S.A.-to-Austin train service.

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Its scale is appropriate, because it was built to help address a gargantuan problem: The explosive population growth in San Antonio, especially on the far North Side, and the surge of traffic that comes with it.

The ramp, stretching for 2.1 miles, or nearly twice the width of San Antonio's downtown, is the first of eight planned as part of a $463 million new interchange between I-10 and Loop 1604. Set to be finished in 2027, the interchange is the second of six segments in the Texas Department of Transportation's $1.2 billion project. The project will expand a 23-mile stretch of Loop 1604, between Bandera Road and Interstate 35, from four to 10 lanes, with one high-occupancy vehicle lane -- i.e., carpool lane -- in each direction.

Known by TxDOT as the Loop 1604 North Expansion, the project -- which had been mired in funding and environmental problems for years before breaking ground in 2021 -- is expected to wrap up in 2028.

On Tuesday morning, J. Bruce Bugg, chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission, which oversees TxDOT, led a ribbon-cutting ceremony along with Charles Benavidez, the agency's lead engineer for its San Antonio district. They say they expect the expansion to relieve the traffic snarls that have bedeviled travelers on Loop 1604 for years, if not decades. In its entirety, the project is estimated to decrease commute times by 76%, according to the agency.

The expansion is designed to handle traffic as far ahead as 20 years, Benavidez said.

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"As Texas continues to grow -- and it shows every indication that it will continue to grow -- we are building the infrastructure that is going to be needed to be able to support that economic miracle," Bugg said. "My only ask of our senior staff is to execute, execute, execute."

He pointed out that as San Antonio has boomed, its center of population has migrated north, from around downtown to the far North Side.

"Now this is where all the growth is," he said. "What we're doing is committing dollars to fixing the problem. This is a big problem, and we're throwing some big dollars at it, because that's what the people demand."

If people keep moving to Bexar County at the rate they did between 2010 and 2020, the county's population could surge to nearly 2.9 million in 2050, according to the Texas Demographic Center, which estimated the county's population as 2.1 million at the start of this year. In 1990, the population was slightly less than 1.2 million.

When asked what was the plan for Loop 1604 after 20 years passes, Benavidez laughed.

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"Twenty years is a long time," he said. "We'll assess, we'll look at heat maps, we'll look at what the population does. Things can change in a heartbeat; we want to make sure we're addressing our projects for the needs of the traveling public."

The newly opened flyover ramp is the tallest in San Antonio by a large margin, beating out one of the ramps at the crossing between U.S. 281 and Loop 1604 that reaches as high as 109 feet, according to Texas Highway Man, a website that tracks highway projects in San Antonio.

At least two more flyovers at the new interchange will open next year, according to TxDOT.

The Loop 1604 expansion is part of Texas Clear Lanes, a program that Gov. Greg Abbott started not long after taking office in 2015 to increase highway capacity in busy areas across the state. Abbott also appointed Bugg as chairman of Texas Transportation Commission that year. On Tuesday, Benavidez said that the Loop 1604 and I-10 interchange was one of the most congested in Texas.

The new interchange is replacing a "cloverleaf" that was built in the 1980s and has come under strain. It will feature a design known as the "Texas stack" in which five levels of roads -- the access roads, the main lanes of both highways, and the ramps for both highways -- are stacked on top of each other.

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Cloverleaf ramps have come to be seen as outdated because their tightly curving ramps slow down traffic and create snags where drivers weave in and out, according to the infrastructure blog Practical Engineering.

As part of the new interchange, the access roads underneath will be redrawn into a "fidget spinner" format with four partial roundabouts at their crossings, rather than traffic lights, according to Texas Highway Man.

Some of the nearby exits will be relocated, including the westbound exits for La Cantera Boulevard and De Zavala Road, while the eastbound and westbound exits to UTSA Boulevard will be removed. VIA's park-and-ride station at the crossing of the two highways, which is now closed during the construction, will be rebuilt.

Over the past year, 140 steel beams have been installed in the interchange, according to TxDOT. The construction has caused great disruption to commuters and nearby businesses, requiring frequent major closures.

State Sen. Jose Menendez said Tuesday that he had received more complaints about the closures than anything else recently and suggested state legislators could explore less disruptive ways of expanding highways in the upcoming legislative session.

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"The good work of Texas should never have a blemish on it," he said. "We're going to do a better job of figuring out how we can plan around these things.

When asked after the event whether TxDOT would consider transit solutions other than roads or highways to accommodate growth, such as new train lines, Bugg said the agency is "open to train solutions" while pointing out that nearly all of its funding is restricted for use on "surface transportation" -- or roads and highways.

In Texas, 93% of residents "use a car or truck as their means of transportation," he said. "That's what we have been asked to serve -- the 93% of Texans who get behind the wheel of their car or truck."

Dec 3, 2024

Richard Webner

Reporter

Richard Webner has returned to the Express-News to cover the San Antonio region's transportation issues. During his first stint, he worked on the business desk, covering the retail and tourism sectors, real estate and downtown development. He earned a graduate degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and an undergraduate degree in history from Northwestern University.

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analysis of article text

prohibitionist	prohibition_agency	drugwar_propaganda	legalization	drug_reformer
reform_referenda	cannabis	stimulant	narcotic	hallucinogen

incarceration/prison mentioned? NO - the issue of prison or incarceration was NOT mentioned in this article .

propaganda analysis

EXP - explicit prohibition propaganda (explicit_propaganda)	GRP - hated group (propaganda_theme1)	MAD - madness, violence, illness (propaganda_theme2)
SOC - survival of society (propaganda_theme3)	USE - gateway, use is abuse (propaganda_theme4)	KID - children (propaganda_theme5)
WAR - demonize, war, epidemic (propaganda_theme6)	TOT - total prohibition (propaganda_theme7)	DIS - dissent opposed (propaganda_theme8)

concept		evidence	hits	links
	drug of abuse implied / mentioned drug related [news] [concept]	drug ngo illegal drugs
	propaganda drugwar propaganda 75% [news] [concept]	propaganda theme2 propaganda theme3 propaganda theme5 propaganda theme4 propaganda theme8		•Why Are Americans So Easy to Manipulate? (Bruce E Levine, 2012) •Classic Modern Drug Propaganda •Themes in Chemical Prohibition •Drug War Propaganda (kindle edition)
	madness, violence, illness propaganda theme2 70% [news] [concept]	"injuries" "threat" "problem" "problems" "disturbance"	10	•Madness Crime Violence Illness (propaganda theme 2) •drugwarfacts.org/crime.htm •drugwarfacts.org/causes.htm •Distortion 18: Cannabis and Mental Illness •No, marijuana use doesn't lower your IQ (10/2014)
	survival of society propaganda theme3 75% [news] [concept]	"the nation"	1	•Survival of Society (propaganda theme 3) •The "Nation" as a Device To Create a Psychological Crowd
	gateway gateway 55% [news] [concept]	"leads to" "pathway"	4	•Use is Abuse, Gateway (propaganda theme 4) •drugwarfacts.org/gatewayt.htm •Distortion 7: Gateway
	gateway, use is abuse propaganda theme4 55% [news] [concept]	gateway		•Use is Abuse, Gateway (propaganda theme 4)
	children propaganda theme5 70% [news] [concept]	"kids" "teenage"	2	•Children Corrupted (propaganda theme 5) •drugwarfacts.org/adolesce.htm •Think of the children
	dissent opposed propaganda theme8 50% [news] [concept]	secret evidence		•Dissent Attacked (propaganda theme 8) •From Martin Luther King to Anonymous, governments target dissenters not just "bad guys" (2014)
	drug of abuse illegal drugs [news] [concept]	stimulant narcotic
	drugs 90% [news] [concept]	various drugs
	drug ngo 50% [news] [concept]	drug reform ngo
	drug reform ngo 50% [news] [concept]	ramp		•Mapinc.org Drug Reform Organization link database
	ramp 50% [news] [concept]	"ramp"	10	•rampgop.org/
	NSA/DEA/local PD - Spying and Lying Scandal secret evidence 50% [news] [concept]	"Traffic stop leads to drug" "Traffic stop"	6	•biblehub.com/luke/12-3.htm •Routine Traffic Stop? Anonymous Tip? - DEA Manual Coaches Government Prosecutors to Lie in Court to Evade Truth about NSA Tapping Domestic Phone Content, to Bust People for Pot (2014) •Justice Dept to Notify Defendants on Surveillance (2013) •reuters.com/article/2013/08/05/u... •DEA SOD (Special Operations Division) •privacysos.org/node/1291 •Brady disclosure •Fruit of the poisonous tree •takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/201... •sjlendman.blogspot.ca/2013/09/ns... •NSA Listening to Rumrunners During Prohibition I (2014) •All Your Communications in Eternal Dragnet, Searched for Keywords (2014) •How NSA, DEA and Your Local Police Illegally Collude to use Wiretap Content, to Bust You for Pot (2014) •https://pressfreedomfoundation.org •Secret Police Search Engine for DEA/NSA/Local PD - Target: Your Real-Time Wiretap Transcripts (2014) •Secret Law (2016) •https://www.eff.org/action
	psychoactive chemical chemicals [news] [concept]	heroin methamphetamine amphetamines opiate		•erowid.org/chemicals/chemicals.s...
	euphoric depressant [news] [concept]	heroin opiate
	euphoric stimulant [news] [concept]	methamphetamine
	analgesic [news] [concept]	heroin opiate
	stimulant [news] [concept]	amphetamines
	methamphetamine [news] [concept]	"meth"	1	•erowid.org/chemicals/meth/meth.s... •rxlist.com/desoxyn-drug.htm •mapinc.org/meth.htm •drugwarfacts.org/methamph.htm •Amphetamines: The Swedish experience
	narcotic [news] [concept]	opiate		•Managing Pain
	opiate [news] [concept]	heroin		•Managing Pain
	amphetamines [news] [concept]	methamphetamine		•The amphetamines - Consumers Union Report •Officially Approved US Military Speed/Amphetamine Use
	heroin [news] [concept]	"heroin"	1	•google.com/search?q=Alfred+McCoy... •mapinc.org/heroin.htm •drugwarfacts.org/heroin.htm •Managing Pain
	various drugs 90% [news] [concept]	"drug"	3
	youth 70% [news] [concept]	propaganda theme5		•ssdp.org/ •mapinc.org/youth.htm
	school [news] [concept]	"schools" "school" "University"	6	•ssdp.org/
	aggrandizing government aggrandizement [news] [concept]	"officials" "Authorities"	2	•Statism: the Most Dangerous Religion (2014 video) •What is Statism? •Conservapedia: Statism •Wikipedia: Statolatry •lewrockwell.com/2014/07/thomas-d... •Bought Priesthood •Worship of the U. S. Government (2011) •Bureaucratic Thrust •Tyranny of Experts •The Threat of Authority (2012) •The Media As Enablers of Government Lies •The Statist Mindset (Jacob Hornberger, 2011) •Thinking Critically about Experts and Authority •'Scientific' evidence for FDA-approved drugs isn't so scientific, it turns out (2014) •The Intellectual Gravy Train (2015)

st:0.01 fo:0 s:0.01 d:0 c:0.03 db:0.158 a:0.78 m:0.29 t:1.53 (f)

text of article used for CRITICAL ANALYSIS, under FAIR USE provisions of the Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. § 107, et al.