Several West Side neighborhood associations are asking local officials to help them engage the Texas Department of Transportation to add street trees to the median as part of the proposed Bandera Road public safety project.
The request comes after TxDOT stated at an open house on July 24 that it would not add trees to the median.
The purpose of the meeting was to allow residents and business owners to review the project, ask questions directly to TxDOT staff, and provide written comments.
At the meeting, TxDOT stated that there are no plans to landscaping the medians because it would impact road structure and irrigation in Central Texas, and the medians would not remove existing green space.
But since that meeting, the West Side neighborhoods have been fighting back.
In a joint letter, the neighborhood associations of Culebra Park, Thunderbird Hills, Ingram Hills, Jefferson, Woodlawn Lake and Inspiration Hills asked State Senator José Menéndez and State Representatives Trey Martinez Fischer and Ray Lopez for assistance in convincing TxDOT to plant street trees on the planned medians.
“We, the undersigned neighborhood leadership along Spur 421 (Bandera Road) between Evers Road and Cincinnati Avenue, request your support in amending the currently proposed TxDOT plan for 13-foot wide paved medians,” the letter states.
District 7 Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito and District 1 Councilwoman Sukh Kaur, as well as Bexar County Commissioner Justin Rodriguez (District 2), were CC’d the email containing the letter, which was signed by the leaders of surrounding neighborhood associations.
“We recommend amending the plan to designate all medians along this reconstructed section of Bandera Road for street trees to the extent possible, as determined by a certified arborist, and to provide a budget for a three-year irrigation plan to allow these newly planted street trees to become established.”
The letter lists three positive impacts for neighboring communities, including shade for pedestrians, a reduction in the heat island effect in disadvantaged, heat-affected communities, natural traffic calming for passing motorists, and pleasing aesthetics.
On Thursday, Gavito’s office sent a letter to Martinez Fischer expressing support for planting trees along the proposed median strip.
“These benefits are essential to our community, which has been underinvested in in the past. … I look forward to working with you to make this vision a reality,” the letter said.
This section of Bandera Road is a cul-de-sac, meaning it is under the jurisdiction of the Texas Department of Transportation, so planting trees could require cooperation with the state agency and the city or county, Menéndez said.
If TxDOT indicates there is no budget for landscaping, the city or county could do the landscaping and we could work with TxDOT, he said. Possibly adding drought-resistant trees on site or having a water catchment facility or cisterns.
Menéndez said adding trees makes more sense as TxDOT makes improvements for pedestrian safety.
“It would help people walking, cycling or waiting for a bus to have some shade, especially during the record heatwaves we are experiencing,” he said. “We all know that cities are heat islands and that is largely due to the lack of vegetation.”
He said he expects TxDOT to respond.
“TxDOT recognizes that this is an agency that works for us, the people, and we need to do something to make sure that moves forward.”
Gavito told the San Antonio Report on Thursday that incorporating trees into the project will enhance the appearance of the community, reduce stormwater runoff and provide a natural traffic calming effect.
“We have actively supported these measures and will continue to advocate for them with our state leaders. Investing in and improving our neighborhoods within Loop 410 is essential,” she said.
This stretch of Bandera Road is located in areas with warmth and equity scores between four and 10, according to the city’s heat map. Higher scores indicate higher land surface temperatures and social inequalities represented by communities with more people of color and lower income levels.
Ray Lopez said he also supports the neighborhoods’ approach to beautifying community corridors.
He said TxDOT has a process in place that allows for community participation and considers requests and weighs them against the funds available for the project. If the cost exceeds the budgeted amount, the partner organizations (city, county and state) must provide the additional funds, he added.
He said the city and county would write a prepared letter to TxDOT asking them to comply with the public’s request.
“I hope we can do that on this stretch. It’s not a big stretch, and this stretch of Bandera is a very densely populated part of our community, and it deserves to be beautiful,” Menéndez said.
TxDOT has not yet responded to a request for comment on this matter.
