If North Star Mall is your go-to for weekend plans or a splurge, you know how dicey the intersection at San Pedro Avenue and Loop 410 can get. With sweeping construction woes as San Antonio builds its first rapid transit bus line, this Northside hotspot can feel treacherous at times. But a Texas agency is eyeing major shakeups at this intersection that could completely change the game.
Getting to North Star Mall or the Park North shopping center along San Pedro can become a white-knuckle experience pretty quickly. Flyover ramps on the access road often confuse drivers, last-minute lane merges for folks exiting, and so many turn lanes with unclear lane markings mean shoulders can often touch earlobes as you brace for a possible impact with a lost visitor.
However, the Texas Department of Transportation is developing plans that would significantly change how drivers interact with this hectic area of town. Preliminary renderings call for closing Loop 410 ramps, adding more turn lanes, and reducing the number of drivers crossing several lanes of traffic to reach the highway from San Pedro.
“If you’ve driven along Loop 410 near North Star Mall, you’ve almost certainly noticed a challenging layout where the ramp from US 281 enters westbound Loop 410 just before the San Pedro/Blanco exit,” The Texas Highway Man, a website dedicated to tracking Texas highways’ histories and futures, reports. “This arrangement results in significant weaving from westbound traffic on 410 crossing the inflow of traffic from 281 to reach the San Pedro exit. This weaving can be hazardous in addition to causing frequent congestion on the ramp from 281.”…