Texas State Highway Loop 1604

State Highway Loop 1604
Anderson Loop
Loop 1604 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by TxDOT
Length	94.387 mi[1] (151.901 km)
Existed	1977–present
Major junctions
Loop around San Antonio
Major intersections	I-10 / US 90 east of San Antonio US 87 near Adkins US 181 US 181 near Elmendorf I-37 near Losoya US 281 US 281 near Losoya I-35 in Von Ormy US 90 west of San Antonio SH 151 in San Antonio I-10 / US 87 in San Antonio US 281 US 281 in San Antonio I-35 in Universal City
Highway system
Highways in Texas Interstate US State Toll Loops Spurs FM/RM Park Rec
← Loop 820 → Loop 1

Loop 1604, also known as the Charles W. Anderson Loop, is an outer highway loop that encircles San Antonio, Texas, spanning approximately 95.6 miles (153.9 km). What began as a two-lane highway has been upgraded to a four-lane freeway along its northern stretches from US Hwy 90 on the West to Kitty Hawk Rd on the East. Loop 1604 is named for former Bexar County Judge Charles W. Anderson, who died from cancer in 1964 after serving for 25 years on the bench.^[2]

History[]

Loop 1604 was designated on June 30, 1977 after FM 1604 was combined with a large portion of FM 1518 to complete a larger loop around San Antonio. Three bypasses were completed in the early 1980s: on December 12, 1979, FM 1937 was extended to replace a bypassed portion near Losoya; on March 3, 1981, FM 327 was designated as the through route when Loop 1604 was rerouted around Elmendorf; and in 1983 Loop 1604 was routed around , creating FM 3465 over the previous routing.^{[1][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]}

Construction recently finished to expand the freeway section of Loop 1604 from SH 16 (Bandera Road) to FM 471 (Culebra Road).^[10] New overpasses were built at Shaenfield Road, New Guilbeau Road and Braun Road. TxDOT has expanded the project further south to SH 151 and US-90, creating a direct flyover overpass from southbound Loop 1604 to eastbound US-90. The expansion has proven to be necessarily due to the soaring growth at the San Antonio’s far west side.^[11]

Route description[]

Loop 1604 forms a complete loop around the city of San Antonio and is the outer of two loops around the city with I-410 being the inner loop. The route has portions that are built to freeway standards, portions built as a divided highway, and portions that are just a two-lane rural road.^[12] As with I-410, the city's inner loop, the northern half is more urbanized and the southern half, for the most part, remains rural.

The loop officially begins and ends at I-10 east of San Antonio.^[1] It heads south from I-10 as a two-lane road and turns towards the southeast and intersects FM 1346, FM 1518, and FM 3465 while turning back towards the south and reaching a junction with US 87 in Lone Oak. Continuing to the south, Loop 1604 has a second intersection with FM 3465, an intersection with FM 3432 as the road turns towards the southwest and a junction with US 181 near Calaveras Lake. Heading southwest from US 181, the highway intersects FM 327 as it enters the city of Elmendorf. It intersects FM 327 once again as it leaves Elmendorf heading towards the southwest. At FM 1303, Loop 1604 turns towards the west before a junction with I-37.^[12]

Continuing west through the southern portions of Bexar County, the loop intersects FM 1937 (South Flores Road) and FM 3499 before an interchange with US 281. The highway continues to the west to an interchange with SH 16, passing to the south of the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas plant. The highway continues to the west and begins to curve towards the north as it enters the city limits of Somerset and an intersection with FM 2790 (Somerset Road). Completing the turn to the north as it leaves Somerset, Loop 1604 heads north to an interchange with I-35. The highway heads north after the I-35 interchange to an intersection with FM 2536 (Old Pearsall Road) before an interchange with US 90.^[12]

North of US 90, Loop 1604 becomes a four-lane divided highway with median crossings only located at traffic lights and turnarounds at those traffic lights to facilitate traffic flow of vehicles turning around to go in the opposite direction. The highway enters the San Antonio city limits near Marbach Road and follows near the city limit. Major intersections along this stretch include Marbach Road, FM 1957 (Potranco Road) and Wiseman Boulevard. The loop continues north near the campus of Northwest Vista College to a junction with the western terminus of SH 151. The intersection is signalized but southbound traffic is not required to stop due to no left hand turns from SH 151 to Loop 1604. Westbound traffic from SH 151 are either routed to the northbound main lanes of Loop 1604 or the northbound frontage road of Loop 1604.^[12] In 2016, TxDOT unveiled plans to upgrade the section from US 90 to SH 151 to a freeway starting in late 2016, ^[13] and Google Earth satellite imagery showed this freeway under construction in 2017-2018.

The freeway portion starts as the loop curves towards the northeast at the junction with SH 151. Loop 1604 has diamond interchanges at FM 471 (Culebra Road), Shaenfield Road, New Guilbeau Road, Braun Road, and SH 16 (Bandera Road).^[12]

The freeway continues to the northeast with interchanges at FM 1560 (Hausman Road) and Babcock Road. The freeway begins to head east at the Babcock Road interchange and passes near the UTSA main campus, the Shops at La Cantera and Six Flags Fiesta Texas. The freeway continues to the east to a cloverleaf interchange with I-10. East of I-10, the freeway has interchanges with Lockhill-Selma Road, FM 1535 (Military Highway), Bitters Road and Huebner Road. As it passes through the north side of San Antonio, the freeway has interchanges with FM 2696 (Blanco Road) and Stone Oak Parkway before reaching US 281, which connect by way of an interchange completed in December 2012.^[14]

Continuing east from the US 281 interchange, the freeway has interchanges with several local roads to include Gold Canyon Drive, Redland Road, Bulverde Road, and O'Connor Road. The freeway continues east to interchanges with Judson Road and Green Mountain Road before it curves to head to the southeast. Now heading southeast, the freeway has an interchange at FM 2252 near Rolling Oaks Mall and an interchange at Lookout Road before it leaves the San Antonio city limits. Upon leaving San Antonio, the freeway enters the Live Oak city limits before a cloverleaf interchange at I-35. Southeast of I-35, Loop 1604 enters the Universal City city limits before reaching an interchange with SH 218, which provides access to Randolph Air Force Base. Between the interchange at SH 218 and Kitty Hawk Road, Loop 1604 has a couple at-grade turn-offs at Palisades Drive and Granada Drive. At-grade turn-offs southeast of the Kitty Hawk Road interchange are located at Meadowland Drive and Byrd Boulevard. The last two interchanges of the freeway are located at FM 1976 and FM 78. The highway merges down to a two-lane road as it enters the Converse city limits. The highway passes by the western boundary of Randolph Air Force Base before curving to the south. The highway re-enters San Antonio city limits prior to its interchange at I-10 at its official beginning and end.^[12]

Future[]

TxDOT plans to widen Loop 1604 from four lanes to ten between SH 16 (Bandera Road) near Helotes and I-35 in Universal City. The expansion will add two travel lanes and one HOV lane in each direction. Additionally, the project will replace the cloverleaf interchange at I-10 with a five-level stack interchange, reconfigure the layout of exit and entrance ramps, along with other improvements.^[15] Segment 1 (SH 16 to I-10) officially broke ground on July 26, 2021 and is expected to be completed by 2024; segment 2, the reconstruction of the I-10 interchange, will be completed in 2027.^[16] Construction of segment 3, from I-10 to US 281, is expected to begin in 2021; segments 4 and 5 are currently unfunded.^[15]

Junction list[]

Clockwise reads down and counterclockwise reads up. The entire route is in Bexar County. All exits are unnumbered.

Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
San Antonio	0.0	0.0	I-10 / US 90 – San Antonio, Houston	I-10 exit 587
St. Hedwig	3.6	5.8	FM 1346 (St. Hedwig Road) – St. Hedwig, La Vernia
Adkins	6.2	10.0	FM 1518 north – St. Hedwig
​	7.0	11.3	FM 3465 south – Lone Oak
​	7.7	12.4	US 87 – Stockdale, San Antonio	Interchange
​	8.4	13.5	FM 3465 north – Lone Oak
​	10.7	17.2	FM 3422 (New Sulphur Springs Road) – Calaveras Lake
​	16.0	25.7	US 181 (Corpus Christi Highway) – Floresville, San Antonio	Interchange
​	17.2	27.7	FM 327 west – Elmendorf
​	19.4	31.2	FM 327 east – Elmendorf
​	21.4	34.4	FM 1303 south (South Flores Road) – Floresville
​	24.4	39.3	I-37 – Corpus Christi, San Antonio	I-37 exit 125
​	26.5	42.6	FM 1937 north (South Flores Road)
​	28.1	45.2	US 281 – Pleasanton, San Antonio	Interchange
San Antonio	35.6	57.3	SH 16 (Palo Alto Road) – Poteet, San Antonio, Palo Alto College	Interchange
Somerset	38.8	62.4	FM 2790 west – Somerset, Lytle
	40.4	65.0	FM 2173 south – Somerset
Von Ormy	43.2	69.5	I-35 – Laredo, San Antonio	I-35 exit 140
​	43.5– 43.9	70.0– 70.7	Quintana Road	Interchange
​	45.0	72.4	FM 2536 (Old Pearsall Road) – Atascosa, San Antonio
Macdona	46.7	75.2	Macdona-LaCoste Road, Nelson Road	Interchange
​	49.5	79.7	FM 143 west – Fabian Dale Dominguez State Jail
San Antonio	50.7	81.6	US 90 – Hondo, San Antonio	Interchange; counterclockwise end of freeway
	51.2	82.4	Spurs Ranch	Counterclockwise exit and clockwise entrance
	52.0	83.7	Marbach Road
	53.6	86.3	Falcon Wolf / Dove Canyon
	54.6	87.9	FM 1957 (Potranco Road)
	55.6	89.5	Military Drive
	56.6	91.1	Wiseman Boulevard
	57.6	92.7	SH 151 east (Stotzer Freeway) / Alamo Ranch Parkway – SeaWorld	Access to Christus Santa Rosa Hospital Westover Hills
	58.3	93.8	FM 471 (Culebra Road)
	60.3	97.0	Shaenfield Road
	61.5	99.0	New Guilbeau Road	Counterclockwise exit via the Braun Road exit
	62.0	99.8	Braun Road
	62.8	101.1	SH 16 (Bandera Road) – Bandera, Leon Valley, San Antonio
	64.6	104.0	FM 1560 (Hausman Road) / Kyle Seale Parkway
	66.2	106.5	Babcock Road – UTSA	No clockwise entrance
	66.8	107.5	Chase Hill Boulevard, Brenan Avenue, La Cantera Parkway – UTSA, The Shops at La Cantera, Fiesta Texas	No counterclockwise entrance
	68.0	109.4	Vance Jackson Road, Tradesman Drive
	68.2	109.8	I-10 / US 87 (McDermott Freeway) – El Paso, San Antonio	I-10 exit 556A; cloverleaf interchange; to be replaced with a 5-level stack interchange starting in 2022
	69.6	112.0	Lockhill-Selma Road	Counter clockwise exit also serves Vance Jackson Road
	70.6	113.6	FM 1535 (NW Military Highway) – Shavano Park, Camp Bullis
	71.0	114.3	Bitters Road, Rogers Ranch Road	Clockwise exit also serves Huebner Road
	73.8	118.8	FM 2696 (Blanco Road)
	74.9	120.5	Stone Oak Parkway, Voigt Drive – Hollywood Park	Access to North Central Baptist Hospital and Methodist Stone Oak Hospital
	75.3	121.2	US 281 (San Pedro Avenue) – Johnson City, Int'l Airport, The Alamo, San Antonio	5-level stack interchange
	77.0	123.9	Gold Canyon Drive	Clockwise exit and entrance
	78.0	125.5	Redland Road
	79.5	127.9	Bulverde Road – Bulverde
	80.4	129.4	O'Connor Road
	81.4	131.0	Judson Road
	82.5	132.8	Green Mountain Road
	83.7	134.7	FM 2252 (Nacogdoches Road) – Rolling Oaks Mall
	84.3	135.7	Lookout Road
Live Oak	85.4	137.4	IKEA-RBFCU Parkway	Clockwise exit only
Universal City	85.8	138.1	I-35 (Pan Am Expressway) – Austin, San Antonio	I-35 exit 172
	86.9	139.9	SH 218 (Pat Booker Road) – Live Oak, Universal City, Randolph AFB	Clockwise exit via the I-35 exit
	88.1	141.8	Kitty Hawk Road
	88.9	143.1	FM 1976 (Lindbergh Boulevard)	Clockwise entrance to 1604 and counterclockwise exit from 1604 are done via the Kitty Hawk Road exit and U-Turn
	89.5	144.0	FM 78 (Gordon Blake Highway) – Seguin, Randolph AFB	Interchange; clockwise end of freeway
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Incomplete access

See also[]

•  Texas portal
•  U.S. Roads portal

References[]

Route map: