SAN ANTONIO — What's considered San Antonio's most dangerous road will soon undergo changes.
Wednesday, the federal government granted the City of San Antonio $8 million for safety improvements along Culebra Road.
The money is part of $1.8 billion in grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation's RAISE Program, which stands for Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity.
Improvements will be focused along a 5-mile stretch of Culebra between 410 and General McMullen.
The funding aims to help make the city's longest corridor not only safer for drivers, but bicyclists, transit riders and pedestrians, too.
Within the last decade, there have been more than 50 deadly crashes on Culebra Road. KENS 5 gathered statistics from the past five years and learned 2022 had the largest number of crashes (690) and deaths (7).
One of those 2022 fatalities was a beloved father and brother, 32-year-old Anthony Galvan.
"He was on his motorcycle and a BMW turned in front of him and he got hit. The way he flew, he broke his neck and that's what killed him," said Galvan's sister, Priscilla Henderson.
May 11, 2022 is a date engraved in Henderson's mind. It was the day she lost her baby brother.
"He was on the way to a friend's house to pick up his truck. He was literally right around the corner from where he was going," Henderson explained.
Galvan was hit off Culebra and Lone Star Parkway, near 1604. It happened during rush hour, between 6:00 and 6:30 p.m. The driver was never charged.
"We call the people in the cars 'cagers'. They're always on their phone, they're not paying attention. They never get blamed, even when they take a life away," said Henderson. "They just said they didn't see him...it's like that was their get out of jail free card."
Here are crash statistics we gathered from the past five years on Culebra Road:
- There were 3,435 crashes on Culebra Road since the start of 2019, involving 7,048 “units”
- 2019: 671 crashes, 6 fatal
- 2020: 600 crashes, 3 fatal
- 2021: 599 crashes, 5 fatal
- 2022: 690 crashes, 7 fatal
- 2023: 607 crashes, 6 fatal
- 2024: 268 crashes and 1 fatality so far
"Culebra starts from 10 and goes to 1604. It's pretty lengthy. We are just doing part of it -- not even all of it," said Razi Hosseini, Director and City Engineer for the City of San Antonio Public Works Department, who will manage the project in coordination with the U.S. Department of Transportation. "It's going to be a major roadway project."
As part of the City of San Antonio's 2022 Bond Program, they set aside $18 million for this Culebra reconstruction project.
"We are starting that from Bandera Road to General McMullen, total reconstruction," said Hosseini, who explained how $15 million is being used for that stretch, with $3 million held back for their matching fund for a federal grant.
The cost for pre-construction work is estimated to be $11 million: $8 million from the RAISE program and $3 million in local matching funds, taken from the 2022 Bond Program.
“Over the last decade, there have been more than 50 fatal crashes along Culebra Road, making it the most dangerous road in San Antonio,” Congressman Joaquin Castro said. “This $8 million investment from the Biden-Harris administration will kickstart a much-needed transformation to make Culebra Road safer for the thousands of people who rely on it every day. My office was honored to work with the City of San Antonio to make the case for our RAISE Grant proposal and I look forward to seeing this project move forward as soon as possible.”
The initial $11 million for pre-construction work helps pay for consulting, environmental clearance, preliminary engineering and design and several public input sessions.
"We're anticipating the project to have a very nice sidewalk, landscaping, bike lanes, streetlighting, improving intersection, improved drainage," said Hosseini.
Other potential amenities include protected sidewalks, dedicated bike facilities, trees, improved transit facilities and crosswalks.
Before any improvements take place, however, members of the public will have an opportunity to make their voices heard in sessions expected to begin late 2024.
From there, Hosseini says the city will apply for a larger federal grant to fund the rest of the project. The total cost is estimated to be between $100-$110 million.
"It's going to put our project at the front of the line for future construction grant from federal government," Hosseini explained. "That means they recognize this is an important project."
City leaders have already taken measures to improve sections of Culebra through the Vision Zero initiative. It's goal is to have zero fatalities on San Antonio roadways.