SAN ANTONIO – Ask a county resident which road they consider dangerous, and they will probably give you a list.
Bexar County Commissioners have hired WSP USA Inc., an engineering consulting firm, to do a comprehensive study of the hotspots for fatal and serious injury roads across unincorporated Bexar County.
Bexar County Public Works Director Art Reinhart said a comprehensive study like this has never been done across the county.
“One of the things about Bexar County, you know, it’s quickly becoming urbanized. So these rural areas where there hasn’t been a lot of activity as it’s becoming developed, we want to be able to use this data to help us make better informed decisions about our roadways,” he said.
The study will take about 18 months. It will examine crash reports from the Texas Department of Transportation and law enforcement and seek community input. It will also look at an action plan to move forward.
Minor road changes might also be made along the way if they are easy fixes. However, a more costly road reconstruction will likely require federal funding.
The study was paid for by the US DOT Safe Streets for All grant. The first part of the grant is $300,000, and commissioners added an additional $100,000. Once the study is complete, the county would have to apply for the second part of the grant, known as the Implementation Fund Grant, to make any major fixes.
However, many county elected officials already know the roads that need improvements, and some might be considered dangerous. KSAT reached out to all commissioners.
Here’s a list Precinct 3 Commissioner Grant Moody’s office provided, as roads “identified as dangerous by constituents”:
- FM 3351
- Old Fred
- Kyle Seale Pkwy*
- Specht Rd
- Borgfeld
- TPC Pkwy and Bulverde area
- Blanco Rd near the north end of the Pct and near West Ave stretch
- Boerne Stage Rd
- FM 1560 in the Helotes area
- Canyon Golf between Wilderness Oak and Stone Oak Pkwy due to construction
- Precinct 4 Commissioner Tommy Calvert mentioned a few during an interview with him.
- Aztec Lane in Universal City has a low water crossing.
He points to the numerous railroad crossings in the area that impede traffic and emergency vehicles near Congressional Boulevard and Gibbs Sprawl Rd.
He points to construction along I-35 & I-10, which causes drainage issues when there’s significant rain.
Abbott Road has seen tremendous residential growth and needs traffic control improvements.
Precinct 1 and 2 Commissioners Rebeca Clay-Flores and Justin Rodriguez did not reply to our request for a list of roads constituents are concerned about.
Calvert’s district has seen a boom in residential buildings and homes, and he worries the county is already behind in road safety planning.
“All around unincorporated Bexar County, there are no streetlights with a population of 500,000 people living in unincorporated Bexar County,” he said. “The court must move very fast because government is usually about five years behind where the private sector is in terms of ideas.”
KSAT asked viewers on Facebook which Bexar County roads they thought were dangerous, you can see their answers here. <add link to FACEBOOK or share some screen shots?>