SAN ANTONIO — Correction: A previous version of the story stated the Broadway construction was stalling the development of the Jefferson Bank Headquarters. The company tells KENS 5 the project has not affected development in any way.
A statement from Jefferson Bank reads as follows: "Jefferson Bank's construction is on schedule. The Broadway development plan has had no effect on the scheduled completion of our building. We continue to support the original Broadway development plan and look forward to being collaborative partners on this project.”
San Antonio leaders are still in limbo over a state highway they didn't know was a state highway until just a few months ago.
The Texas Department of Transportation owns a two-mile stretch of Broadway, starting at the University of the Incarnate Word and leading into downtown. City leaders long believed it was under their control until January, when TxDOT officials said the transfer of ownership was never completed.
Now the city is trying to meet with the state to sort out the confusion.
The stretch of road is frequented by residents, motorists and students—one of whom is UIW junior Antonio Moreno.
“I never knew any of these restaurants until I first started going here,” Moreno said. “Monday and Wednesday and Thursday, basically almost every day a week I’ll walk off campus and grab lunch."
The city planned to put Broadway on a road diet since 2014, and got voter approval through the 2017 bond priority for a project to reduce the number of lanes from six to four, while also adding bike lanes and improving sidewalks.
In a meeting with the Texas Transportation Commission, city staff claimed an estimated 500 pedestrian and vehicle accidents have occurred on the road in the past seven years.
Meanwhile, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said little movement has been made since TxDOT's meeting, but he believes the project is still important.
“I know that the city manager has been requesting a meeting for both of us to get an update from TxDOT, and we’ve yet to get a response from that,” Nirenberg said. “It’s part of our Urban Core, it was voter-approved back in 2017. We need to make sure that gets completed."
People like Moreno think improvements for Broadway would benefit many people.
“Fixing the sidewalks, making it nice and clean—I think that would be good enough to help out,” Moreno said.
TxDOT officials told KENS 5 in a statement that, contrary to the mayor's remarks, "conversations are continuing with the cities of Alamo Heights and San Antonio regarding this state-owned roadway.
"We look forward to working together productively to address needs as we have been able to do with Alamo Heights," the statement goes on to read.
