SAN ANTONIO — “Do not cross”—three words that Harlan High School leaders are echoing to students.
Students are being discouraged from jaywalking across Culebra Road to get to and from school.
Residents in the Kallison Ranch neighborhood say they often see students walking across the stretch of road in front of their neighborhood, and also say many parents park in the neighborhood waiting for their kids.
The nearest crosswalk is about a mile down the road at Culebra Road and Talley Road, but no sidewalks are on either side of the highway.
It’s a farther walk—but parents and people living here say it’s the safest one, although it may not be as convenient.
Culebra Road is calmer during the day but can get congested at the start and end of the school day at Harlan High School. KENS 5 saw two students cross the road to get back to school during the afternoon, and parents say it happens often.
“That road is dangerous because it has a high rate of speed and there’s no stop signs,” Michael Godin tells KENS 5. Godin’s grandson goes to Harlan High School but takes the bus. He says he’s told his grandson about the dangers of crossing the road.
“If a child was to get hit crossing that road it would be disastrous,” Godin said.
A message on Harlan High School’s electronic bulletin board asks students to not cross Culebra Road on foot. It’s part of the messaging that Northside ISD says it’s been preaching from the beginning of the year.
“The principal has worked really non-stop again since the school opened to make sure he’s communicating with student drivers as well as parent drivers and families in that area to be proactive, to be safe, to be vigilant, on the lookout,” Barry Perez, NISD’s executive director of communications said.
Northside ISD says no incidents of a vehicle hitting a pedestrian have been reported this year.
One student tells KENS 5 they try to be careful and that a five-minute walk across beats a ten minute drive to school.
Area residents like Albert Huizar understand the convenience but wants both kids and drivers to be safe in the area.
“Just be careful. That’s all you can tell the kids because the kid is going to get the quickest way from here to there, and that’s straight across the road,” Huizar said.
According to TxDOT, the expansion of Culebra Road from a two-lane road to a four-lane divided highway will begin in spring of next year.
Sidewalks from Highway 211 to Old FM 471, an additional crosswalk and intersection will be installed at the corner of Culebra Road and Kallison Bend during the construction.
The entire process could take two years. Bexar County officials say they have also changed the cycles of traffic signals in the area to improve flow in the area.