THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY. CHECK BACK FOR UPDATES.
A state commission has blocked the City of San Antonio’s plans to redevelop lower Broadway Avenue over concerns that it would increase congestion.
The members of the Texas Transportation Commission, which oversees TxDOT, voted Thursday to stop a long-planned hand-off of a 2.2-mile section of State Loop 368 between Burr Road and I-35, which overlaps with Broadway Avenue. That section of road is central to the city’s plans for a redesign of the corridor from the city limits of Alamo Heights southward into the heart of downtown San Antonio.
Though the commission took action in December 2014 and February 2015 to hand that stretch of Broadway over to the city, the transfer wasn’t completed, and the commission’s vote on Thursday rescinded those orders.
Although the move likely means the end of the city’s current vision for Broadway as a “complete street” with wide sidewalks and protected bike lanes, the commission’s chairman, San Antonio banker J. Bruce Bugg Jr., said it’s not the end of all work on Broadway.
“So there’s nothing in this proposed action that would prevent us from working with the City of San Antonio,” Bugg said. “To the contrary, that’s what I would envision we do – is again, going forward, we sit down, we listen to each other, but the only stipulation is we cannot reduce capacity on Broadway.”
At the heart of the state’s reversal are the city’s plans to reduce traffic lanes along the state-owned portion from six traffic lanes down to four, which TxDOT officials say would cause congestion issues.
The state’s opinion of the project came as a surprise for city officials. Plans for the corridor have been in the works for years, and TxDOT has been a “partner” as they’ve been developed.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg tweeted after the vote that he was “deeply disappointed in the vote, but we hope the State is serious about ‘working together’ to finish the project.”
Well. @TxDOT just voted to reclaim a stretch of Broadway St. that never exceeds 35mph as part of the TX Highway System.
Deeply disappointed in the vote, but we hope the State is serious about “working together” to finish the project.
San Antonio deserves a complete Broadway St. https://t.co/W0xENtiNjx
— Mayor Ron | Get vax’d! 💪 (@Ron_Nirenberg) January 27, 2022
City Manager Erik Walsh released the following statement after the vote:
We’re disappointed in the complete about-face by TXDOT after working with the City and stakeholders for the last six years. It’s not clear how the State will accomplish what the voters approved without reducing the current seven lanes of traffic, but we will stay focused on developing a path forward to deliver the project the community expects.
Read also:
Business owners weigh in amid battle between SA, state for 2.2-mile stretch of Broadway