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Follow TURFCounty commissioner offers funding match for 1604/281 ramps
Money would come from East Bexar County project.
By Vianna Davila
Updated 01:57 a.m., Friday, September 16, 2011
The new plan to fund ramps on the north side of the U.S. 281/Loop 1604 interchange may be complete.
County Commissioner Kevin Wolff proposed matching the city's $30 million for the ramps with an equal amount from the county by reallocating money set aside to widen Loop 1604 north of Interstate 10 in eastern Bexar.
Mayor Julián Castro on Wednesday proposed placing $30 million for the ramps in next year's $596 million bond election.
The ramps on the north side of the intersection are projected to cost $60 million and would complete the interchange, which now is under construction.
The Alamo Regional Mobility Authority is spending $130 million in federal stimulus money to build ramps and merging lanes on the south side of the intersection. That project should open in 2013.
The funding plans are contingent on county commissioners' approval Sept. 27, and voter approval of the bond package in May.
“Since I've been on council, I've been trying to improve 281, whether that's the interchange itself or the base infrastructure between 1604 and the county line,” said Wolff, who was on the City Council before being elected to Commissioners Court in November 2008. “With the mayor putting this in the bond, while it's only half the project, and while I think it's very smart of him to do that, so it will help him get votes for his bond, I don't want to do half the project. I want to do the whole project.”
Castro said Thursday he still needed to review Wolff's proposal but was glad to learn the commissioner was ready to work with the city on congestion problems.
Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Matching-funds-are-found-2173142.php#ixzz1YeOes6ty