Neighborhood members from two Westside faculties just lately pressured the Metropolis of San Antonio for brand new visitors security measures.
The consequence: “No Parking” indicators at one elementary college and a crosswalk with flashing lights at a highschool.
In Cleto L. Rodriguez Elementary College’s case, the modifications got here months after parent-led efforts, a petition and visitors research helped the group get round municipal crimson tape.
In John Jay Excessive College’s case, visitors enchancment got here after a tragic accident and a pupil’s dying.
Advocates from each campuses say extra modifications are wanted nonetheless.
“They did assist push some issues by means of and acquired some signage redone, however I don’t really feel prefer it’s adequate,” stated Vanessa Reveles, a member of the parent-teacher affiliation at Cleto L. Rodriguez Elementary. “Nobody did something till I used to be a thorn in any individual’s facet.”
The college sits within the coronary heart of an outdated West Aspect neighborhood, proper subsequent to Our Woman of the Lake College between W César E Chávez Blvd. and SW twenty fourth St.
Initially inbuilt 1932, the streets across the campus are slender.
It additionally gives one among two public Montessori applications in San Antonio, serving grades pre-Ok by means of fifth and drawing in college students from everywhere in the metropolis. Often supplied at non-public faculties, Montessori applications promote student-led and project-based studying and youngster independence.
Whereas the college has a foremost entrance and huge parking zone, mother and father of preschoolers and kindergarteners need to signal out their children at a distinct door, per SAISD coverage.
Throughout pick-up and dismissal, the slender two-way road at W César E Chávez Blvd. rapidly will get congested with preschool and kindergarten mother and father parking in order that they will choose up their children, whereas different vehicles minimize by means of the neighborhood to skip visitors off SW twenty fourth st.
To alleviate the overflow, OLLU officers permit Rodriguez households to park within the college’s athletic parking zone throughout the road.
After one guardian reported their automobile door was clipped by a passing automobile and households aired different issues about security, Rodriguez Elementary’s parent-teacher affiliation determined it was time to get the town concerned.
Reveles, whose personal preschooler is enrolled at Rodriguez, launched a web based petition for “traffic-calming measures,” together with pace bumps, pedestrian islands and enlarged crosswalks. She acquired 362 signatures, a inexperienced gentle from the college principal and a letter of assist from OLLU.
The PTA met with councilwoman Teri Castillo, after which college board trustee Stephanie Torres and Reveles usually emailed the town engineer who acquired assigned to the case.
San Antonio’s Public Works division carried out a visitors calming examine and changed outdated, hard-to-read “No Parking” indicators on a bit of W César E Chávez Blvd with the brand new signage.
This course of began on the finish of 2025, and the brand new visitors indicators have been put in in April. Native mother and father don’t assume it’s sufficient, and nonetheless need extra visitors calming measures like pace bumps and crosswalks.
Reveles plans to request one other visitors examine quickly. “We are able to submit yearly till we get approval, which I intend to do,” she stated.
SAISD is at the moment within the strategy of modernizing the college district’s services to handle falling enrollment and ageing buildings, pointing to potential closures and consolidations.
Rodriguez closed as soon as in 2019 earlier than later reopening as a Montessori program.
Metropolis prioritizes pedestrians
A number of visitors signal requests are available in at first of college years, when congestion is the worst, stated Marc Jacobson, assistant director of public works for the visitors division on the Metropolis of San Antonio.
These kinds of requests are initiated by means of the town’s 311 Buyer Service division and adopted up on by the Public Works Division.
The town seems to be at a college’s “secure route,” the neighborhood across the college, plus streets and sidewalks to find out the most secure means for college kids who stroll to campus.
The pickup and drop-off location off W César E Chávez Blvd at Rodriguez Elementary isn’t a part of the college’s foremost “secure route.”
However as college enrollment developments change, fewer neighborhood children are strolling to class or taking the bus inside a chosen college zone — and faculties are more and more attracting college students from many components of city with specialised applications.
In different phrases, there are simply extra vehicles now.
Jacobson’s workforce can add extra visitors options geared at drivers, just like the “No Parking” indicators at Rodriguez and pace limits posts, however the metropolis first has to find out {that a} college’s parking state of affairs is a security hazard.
“One of many issues that we take a look at after we go evaluation these is, how lengthy is that this downside?…More often than not, it’s like a 15-minute downside on the finish of the day,” he stated.
Whereas college patrol models typically assist with visitors points, bigger college districts like SAISD are often coping with police shortages, prioritizing congestion hotspots and dealing in “zones” somewhat than on particular person campuses.
Sgt. Joe Garza, patrol supervisor at SAISD, says the perfect factor mother and father can do is be affected person throughout pickup and drop-off.
“Let the programs in place work,” he stated. “Don’t be in a rush.”
Teen’s dying results in crosswalk enchancment
About 10 miles west of Rodriguez Elementary, John Jay Excessive College in Northside ISD is present process its personal visitors pains.
The highschool sits on a busy hall off Marbach Rd between Loop 410 and Navy Drive West.
Final yr, John Jay junior Jose Flores III died after getting hit by a truck whereas crossing the street throughout an off-campus lunch interval.
Since then, his household and West Aspect councilmen Ric Galvan (D6) and Ed Mungia (D4) have pushed for visitors enchancment.
“Our college students and households deserve secure, accessible streets — and that begins with motion, not delay,” Galvan stated in an announcement proper after Flores died.
Earlier than the college yr began in August, the town put in new crosswalk flashing lights on an current crosswalk usually utilized by John Jay college students. The town can be conducting a security examine on that hall so as to add extra visitors enhancements within the space.
“We anticipate that we’ll have some suggestions from that early subsequent yr,” stated Jacobson. “From there, we’ll have to find out what the following steps could be so far as extra tasks and funding.”
New college visitors indicators are often paid for by college districts as they endure renovation and development tasks. The town then maintains these indicators by means of a college pedestrian security fund with a yearly funds of $1 million.
Metropolis council district places of work even have discretionary funds that may go towards college visitors security enhancements.
SAISD and NISD are each placing bond measures on the Nov. 3 poll, in search of voter approval to fund new giant infrastructure tasks. They each even have unspent funds from earlier bond cycles with ongoing development at a number of campuses.
“That type of funding, it might assist with presumably upgrading lighting and signage,” stated Sgt. Mauricio Hernandez with NISD’s police division. “Safer pedestrian crossings and any of the re-striping of the crosswalks, particularly the crosswalks on the market on the roadway and on the campus, would assist.”
Mother and father fill within the gaps
For now, mother and father at Rodriguez Elementary are choosing up crossing guard duties to make sure households with preschool and kindergarten college students can stroll alongside and cross W César E Chávez Blvd. safely.
Donning neon yellow vests, Jennifer Bielke and Cindy Leija wave “Cease” indicators when households cross the road after college lets out. Each have youngsters enrolled at Rodriguez.
They’re each new to the volunteer job, however they stated they signed up as a result of there was a transparent want, Bielke and Leija stated.
The primary few weeks of college are often the worst for visitors, college police officers at SAISD and NISD stated. These weeks additionally function an adjustment interval for drivers who used to park on the “No Parking” facet of the road throughout choose up and drop-off.
PTA members labored with the college to make households conscious of the modifications, and a SAISD patrol stopped by for just a few days to ticket any remaining offenders. Whereas the indicators ease congestion, mother and father are nonetheless involved about particularly the youthful college students crossing the road throughout busy intervals.
“We have to assist with these sorts of issues. It was loopy. It was harmful,” Bielke stated. “There’s plenty of households crossing from this parking zone to this facet as a result of we don’t have sufficient house, proper? So it’s simply to make it simpler for everyone, and it’s quicker when you could have folks serving to.”
