SAN ANTONIO — The Hays Street Bridge is one of the city's most iconic spots, but some of the people who live in its shadow say it's under siege.
It is a photogenic spot where grads and brides flock to preserve precious memories, but some neighbors said they are tired of the threats posed by numerous camps in the area of people who are homeless. Some said they are afraid and they are tired of fighting to find solutions.
“Everybody loves this bridge," neighbor Juan Fernandez said. "They come for graduations, for yoga, for everything.”
“It's a beautiful bridge," Marc Wylie agrees. "It's an iconic bridge. It's the best view of downtown.”
But Wylie said he has experienced several frightening incidents of late.
“I can't walk my dogs any more over the bridge without being heckled, chased, yelled at. They have weapons,” Wylie said.
84-year-old Nettie Hinton is one of the neighbors who waged a long, hard fought campaign to stop the city from dismantling the historic relic years ago.
“They are letting things decay and I don't want that to happen!” Hinton said.
Hinton said the bridge is treasured by generations.
“I started my mission to make sure that the bridge was saved because it is an iconic part of my east-side neighborhood that I grew up with 84 years ago. I sat with the Dawson family, convinced them to donate the land to the city so that we could have a park once the bridge was restored,” Hinton said.
In April San Antonio City Council voted to approve a contract for $2,534,387 to begin the construction of the Berkley V. & Vincent M. Dawson Park. The park will feature two skate parks, a park pavilion, and wide open spaces so families can enjoy the view of the Hays Street Bridge.
In addition to the new amenities, an older resource nearby is also getting a facelift. $6 million in bond money is being invested in Lockwood and Dignowity Parks just east of the bridge.
Hinton said while she is glad to see construction underway on the park now, she believes there are problems in paradise.
“I am happy that we're going to have a park. I am happy that we got the money to get the bridge restored so what we need to do is make sure that the bridge is maintained,” Hinton said.
Neighbor Michael White said if he had to pick one word to describe his thoughts about bridge issues he would use frustrated. White said he believes he and his neighbors have tried every avenue to see positive change.
“A couple of weeks ago I was walking across the bridge and there were some kids that live on Cherry Street right down the road on their bicycles, and they were on the phone with the police calling about a fire down at the homeless encampment at the base of the bridge,” White said. “I feel like the bridge should be a place where residents feel safe and kids can ride their bikes to the park that we're building across the street. If we're building these resources and putting community funds into the resources, let's make sure we're also keeping them a safe place for the community.”
White said he has made many requests for service through the city’s 311 program, and used emergency and non-emergency phone numbers.
“We've reached out to city council, other offices within city government but it doesn't seem like anyone is taking ownership of the bridge,” White said.
While White acknowledges the good work done by various non-profit organizations trying to help the homeless, he wonders if anyone is taking the best approach.
“There are organizations that are providing services to the transient community, however they're not full services. They're like what I would like to call a Band-aid for the problem,” White said, adding “What we need is housing, and that's where the city government can help out but right now what we're seeing is a Band-aid of services provided, which leaves our community to deal with the housing problem, which creates a safety issue.”
“They say call Public Works. You call Public Works, they say call Development Services," Wylie said. "You call Development Services, they say ‘Oh lights are out? Call CPS.’ You call CPS….it's just everybody kicks it down the road and no one is responsible for it.”
“I think it's an opportunity to organize and get that taken care of,” said neighbor Juan Fernandez, but he said they need more action now.
Wylie said at five years into the battle for improvements, he too is tired of waiting.
“When we first moved in here it was really nice. All of the lights worked. But slowly over time zero of the lights work. The trash is never emptied and it has built up and boiled over to what we have at the end of the bridge,” Wylie said.
Wylie said what should be an asset is very often an eyesore.
“There's no one that comes around," he said. "There's no security There's no police. This is just like a hollow pit and there's no way to get anyone to come and get some help!”
“They'll do a sweep and by the end of the day? Within two hours - they are right back there so that is not the solution. There has to be," Wylie said. This is not working and it just grows and grows and grows and it is so out of control.”
District 2 representative Jalen McKee Rodriguez said the city is working to make things better. The District 2 council office provided the following response to the concerns expressed by neighbors:
• The folks at the encampment at the Hays Street bridge are regularly engaged with street outreach workers from the City and our nonprofit partners. Street outreach builds relationships and works to connect people to services and work toward shelter and housing.
• This encampment location is regularly abated, after a coordinated process involving outreach, assessment of health and safety threats, and notification of abatement. In addition, regular trash collection by Solid Waste Department reduces litter and trash accumulation in the area.
• City departments including SAPD are in coordination to address safety and criminal activity, including ensuring adequate lighting.
• DHS provides updates to the Dignowity Hill Neighborhood Association leadership about abatement activity and other work ongoing to ensure safety for all residents.
Hinton said moving forward, we honor our history by seeing the future.
"I am 84 years old and my father used to put my brothers and I in a car and drive us over the old bridge so that we would have the experience of being above the everyday life, realizing that you can be above what you have to live with every day down there on the ground. That you can do it," Hinton said.