SAN ANTONIO – Instead of decorating his mother’s Southeast Side home for Christmas, Jose Gomez is cleaning it out.
“I wasn’t ready for this,” Gomez said.
Gomez said his great-grandmother lived to be 101 and hoped his mother, Maggie, would reach the same milestone.
She died one month after turning 76.
“I was not ready to lose my mother, you know, not any time soon,” Gomez said.
Maggie Gomez, who her son described as quiet and independent, used public transportation to get around town.
San Antonio police said a truck hit Maggie Gomez on Nov. 25 as she crossed the street at the intersection of Gevers Street and Rigsby Avenue. She died at the hospital.
Jose Gomez said his mother had just gotten off the bus and started the two-block journey home.
“It just broke my heart because it’s, like, this shouldn’t have happened,” said Beatrice Saucedo, one of Maggie’s longtime neighbors. “Everybody here loved her.”
Saucedo believes there needs to be improvements to infrastructure to keep her and her neighbors safe. In the more than 30 years she’s lived on East Highland Boulevard, Saucedo said she’s spent most of it asking the city and elected leaders for help.
Just steps away from her front door, Saucedo pointed out one of her biggest concerns — a crumbling, uneven sidewalk.
“Nothing’s being done, and we’re being ignored,” said Saucedo. “And we shouldn’t be ignored.”
She avoids walking on that sidewalk.
“[Maggie] wouldn’t walk down this sidewalk. She couldn’t,” said Jose Gomez. “She would have to walk on the street.”
“Who do you think’s responsible for fixing this?” KSAT asked Saucedo.
“The city,” Saucedo said. “We pay our taxes. Maggie paid her taxes. We can’t get anything done.”
On the corner of East Highland Boulevard and Gevers Street is another spot Saucedo believes is a danger zone.
KSAT’s cameras caught three consecutive cars roll through the four-way stop.
“They’re coming off of I-10, and they’re just barreling through,” said Saucedo.
Jose Gomez hopes that intersection, along with the spot his mother was hit two blocks away, see safety improvements.
“Make crosswalks safe,” Jose Gomez said. “Red lights when people are crossing.”
KSAT reached out on Tuesday morning to representatives for the city’s Public Works Department as well as for office for District 3 Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran.
The Public Works Department plans to look into both intersections within the next three months, according to an email from spokesman Nick Olivier. He noted several nearby projects to help improve pedestrian safety and prevent speeding:
- Traffic calming treatments were completed for seven intersections on Rigsby between Olive and Mittman in 2025: Rigsby Ave. Operational Improvements - Public Input
- Flashing beacons were installed to the nearby intersection of Gevers and Drexel
- Sidewalks were repaired on Hammond between Gevers and New Braunfels
- Sidewalk repair projects are scheduled for 2028 on Highland (from Gevers to New Braunfels) and on Kayton (from Gevers to New Braunfels).
“Public safety is my office’s top priority,” Viagran told KSAT in an emailed statement. “We encourage all residents to submit 311 reports so we can better identify and respond to areas in need. The Public Works Department will be reviewing both intersections within the next three months.”
Saucedo pledges to continue to advocate for her neighborhood.
“I’m doing this for her because it really broke my heart,” Saucedo said. “This shouldn’t have happened.”
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