Holiday Trips on Loop 1604 North: The Ramps That Changed Since Summer and the One Due by Year's End

The upper level of the Loop 1604 North expansion is done. The eighth and final flyover at Loop 1604 and I-10 opened in early February, and it carries westbound 1604 traffic onto westbound I-10 toward Boerne. The work this fall has happened below it. Ramps have closed, frontage roads have been rerouted, and main lanes have shut overnight, while the flyovers stayed open through every weekend closure since August.

That split is the best way to think about holiday trips to The Rock at La Cantera, The Shops at La Cantera, The Rim and the Stone Oak errand loop this year. The overhead routes have held steady. The ramps where you get on and off have moved since summer. Two of the replacements are still unfinished, and one of those is scheduled to open around the time the holiday calendar ends.

Three closures since summer, and where each replacement stands

The Loop 1604 North Expansion is a six-segment, 23-mile, $1.4 billion TxDOT project from SH 16/Bandera Road to I-35. It adds two general-purpose lanes in each direction, adds HOV lanes, reconfigures ramps and builds the five-level I-10 interchange. Ramp reconfiguration is the part north-side drivers have felt most since July.

The detours in all three rows run on frontage roads. That is the ground level where this fall's construction has been happening.

Blanco Road is the one interchange that's finished

The Loop 1604 and Blanco Road diverging diamond interchange is the only ground-level change from this fall that is complete. TxDOT finished it on Saturday, Aug. 22. The design briefly moves drivers to the opposite side of the road and then returns them to the correct side. TxDOT calls the intersection one of the most heavily traveled areas in north San Antonio, and the design is intended to cut delays.

The first weeks were an adjustment. One North Side resident told KSAT that the first drive through "was pretty confusing, and it felt a little scary." By late November the crossover pattern will have been open for about three months. Its lane layout is settled, which makes Blanco Road the most predictable piece of the Segment 3 corridor between I-10 and U.S. 281 this season.

The La Cantera side runs on frontage roads through December

The changes near The Rock at La Cantera, The Shops at La Cantera and The Rim are packed into the I-10 interchange. They also overlap the holiday schedule.

MySA reported that the Sept. 14 ramp closure could affect drivers leaving The Shops at La Cantera or heading toward UTSA Boulevard. According to KSAT, the closure makes room for the UTSA Boulevard bypass ramp, which is meant to carry drivers past the traffic at La Cantera Parkway and is "scheduled to open at the end of this year." No specific date has been announced. The bypass could open during the holiday season or just after it.

TxDOT's live traffic-impacts page lists two more items on the La Cantera side:

• Nightly eastbound I-10 main-lane closures at Exit 556/Leon Creek. Traffic is sent to Exit 555 and the eastbound frontage road. The listing runs through 4:59 a.m. on Dec. 2, weather permitting.
• The La Cantera Parkway entrance ramp to eastbound I-10 main lanes. It is marked as a permanent closure in a listing that runs through Dec. 31, with the Camp Bullis turnaround as the detour.

Weekend work at this interchange has followed the same pattern every time. On Aug. 21 to 24, Loop 1604 and I-10 main lanes and the I-10 frontage roads closed overnight, and all flyovers stayed open. On Oct. 16 to 19, both Loop 1604 frontage roads and the eastbound I-10 main lanes closed nightly, and again all flyovers stayed open.

Gold Canyon and Stone Oak: a ramp reversal mid-swap

East of the I-10 interchange, the change near U.S. 281 is a ramp reversal. The old eastbound exit to Gold Canyon Road is closed, and a new entrance ramp will be built where it was. MySA reported that TxDOT expects the new ramp to open in mid-2027. Until it opens, drivers heading to Gold Canyon take the eastbound exit west of U.S. 281 and stay on the frontage road through the U.S. 281 intersection. MySA recommended allowing extra time for that intersection.

The same weekend the Gold Canyon exit closed, crews also shut westbound Loop 1604 main lanes, Stone Oak Parkway at Loop 1604, and the westbound 1604 entrance ramp from northbound and southbound U.S. 281. The U.S. 281 flyovers stayed available. Drivers were sent along the frontage road through Stone Oak Parkway to the first open ramp. At both ends of Segment 3, the closures fell on the ramps and the flyovers stayed open.

The holiday calendar, set against the construction calendar

The holiday schedule at The Rock at La Cantera runs Nov. 21 through Jan. 3. Its last weeks overlap the year-end target for the UTSA bypass, and the whole season falls inside TxDOT's current listing for the La Cantera Parkway ramp closure. Here are both calendars in date order:

1. Friday, Nov. 20, 5:30 p.m. Annual Tree Lighting Illumination at Signia by Hilton La Cantera, listed by Visit San Antonio at $15 for adults and $5 for children.
2. Saturday, Nov. 21, 7 to 10 p.m. The Rock's Opening Night Tree Lighting at Frost Plaza, with dueling pianos. Entry and parking are free. The outdoor skating rink season also starts Nov. 21.
3. Friday, Nov. 27 through Sunday, Nov. 29. Wrap & Rock Holiday Market, with 75-plus local makers. Hours are 6 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.
4. Wednesday, Dec. 2, 4:59 a.m. Listed end of the nightly eastbound I-10 main-lane closures at Leon Creek.
5. Dec. 1 through 18. Rink open 4 to 10 p.m., Thursday through Sunday.
6. Saturday, Dec. 12, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. rockFit: Sleigh & Sweat. Sunday, Dec. 13, 3 to 6 p.m., brings Jingle Bell Bark, where pet-supply donations are encouraged.
7. Dec. 18 through Jan. 2. Free Holiday Flix screenings at Frost Plaza on scheduled evenings. Starting Dec. 19, the rink is open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., with an early close on Christmas Eve and no session on New Year's Eve.
8. Thursday, Dec. 31. The TxDOT listing for the La Cantera Parkway entrance-ramp closure runs to 12:59 a.m. this day. The closure itself is marked permanent, so the date does not mean the ramp reopens. That evening, The Rock hosts Rock the Clock, a family New Year's Eve party from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m.

For shopping trips, The Shops at La Cantera currently lists hours of 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. The Rim lists 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. Neither center has posted extended holiday hours yet.

What the 2026 estimates leave open

TxDOT's segment page lists 2026 as the estimated completion year for Segment 1, Bandera Road to I-10, and Segment 3, I-10 to U.S. 281. It says Segments 1 through 4 are under construction and that the overall project will stay under construction through 2028. The I-10 interchange, Segment 2, is listed for 2028. In February, KSAT reported it was 70% complete, with lower-level and frontage-road work still ahead, and said it was on track for 2027. Either estimate puts the remaining ground-level work at La Cantera past this holiday season.

Further east, TxDOT and the Federal Highway Administration broke ground in late July on Segment 6, a $182 million stretch from Judson Road to I-35 that connects with the I-35 Northeast Expansion. The segment page estimates its completion in 2029. Every date above is a schedule that depends on the weather. TxDOT's traffic-impacts page is the one to check on the day of a trip.

Interchange work also affects how buyers and sellers see a north-side home. A listing near Blanco Road now sits next to a finished interchange, while one near Gold Canyon is waiting on a ramp that isn't expected until mid-2027. If you live along Loop 1604 North and want to know how the corridor's timeline factors into your home's value, Meghan Pelley and our team can walk you through it. Get Your Home Valuation, and we will include what the interchange schedule nearest you means for your timing.