SAN ANTONIO — A dump truck ran into a pedestrian bridge, causing it to collapse on the west side of San Antonio Tuesday.
The accident happened along the 1800 block of Castroville Road, near the intersection with Dahlgreen, around 8:30 a.m..
Police say city contractors were working on the roadway and a dump truck started to leave but failed to lower its open-box bed. The raised bed apparently struck and knocked down the bridge.
No one was on Pedro Romero Pedestrian Bridge at the time and the driver of the truck was not hurt. No other vehicles were involved.
District 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo posted a photo of the bridge collapse along with some information about bus routes and area locations. Officials say the area will be blocked off during cleanup efforts, causing VIA to reroute some buses. Crews' efforts to clean up debris might last until Wednesday, the city cautioned.
Castillo says her team has notified Madonna Center, Gardendale Elementary and other organizations in the area of the bridge.
Roger Caballero, executive director of the Madonna Neighborhood Center, says the center sustained damage to a fence that bordered a children's playground. The Madonna Center provides recreational activities and social services to families and seniors in the area.
The center already had plans to relocate the playground, fearing that a car could run into that same fence. Caballero says this crash proves the urgency of that plan.
"Now that we have seen this accident, it becomes real for us," he said. "We are going to speed up the process of relocating the playground."
Caballero says a lot of people in this area are on foot, adding the bridge was used by seniors and children to access the center and a nearby school.
"We have to brave the elements. The cars zoom by here, the traffic does not slow down or anything. In this particular corner, there has been three or four accidents because of the way it is angled."
Google street view images from before the accident show the playground near the fence line that Caballero referenced.
Authorities reopened the road for traffic around 5 p.m. after almost nine hours of cleanup.
This is a developing story and further details will be added as they are received. Check back to this article for updates.