The Southside Independent School District will be getting sidewalks installed on the north side of its main campus compound on Martinez Losoya Road after sharing safety concerns with Texas and Bexar County officials last June.
The compound at U.S. Highway 281 and Martinez Losoya Road includes Losoya Middle School, Pearce Elementary School and Southside High School.
School officials and state representatives shared concerns about the safety of a growing number of students and parents who live in the vicinity and walk along the roads and across the street to get to classes.
State Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D-San Antonio) and state Rep. John Lujan (R-San Antonio) both released letters last year in support of the sidewalks. Lujan, who lives in the area, said at the time, “we shouldn’t have to wait for there to be an incident, or worse, to do the right thing. The time to act is now to ensure our students can access school buildings in a safe manner.”
Southside Stadium and Southside High School Baseball Field are also located within the complex. More than 2,800 students were enrolled at the three schools as of the 2022-23 school year, according to Texas Education Agency data.
“We’re grateful for all the parties who have been involved here to try to help us keep our kids and community safe,” district spokeswoman Sylvia Rincon told the San Antonio Report this week. Rincon also thanked the lawmakers for their advocacy.
According to Rincon, construction will begin in the summer and should be complete by next school year.
County officials said the final project will cost around $150,000. County officials did not share details Thursday about the timeline. The Southside ISD school board voted to pass a resolution asking for the sidewalks in June.
The day after the board resolution, officials from the district met with representatives from the offices of Bexar County Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores (Pct. 1), Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai and the Texas Department of Transportation to map out the process of determining if adding sidewalks was a viable solution.
A video played in that meeting and reviewed by the San Antonio Report shows students dodging cars as they dart across the road, nearly missing oncoming traffic as others walked along a thin patch of grass near the highway as cars whizzed past.
Despite that video showing safety issues on both Martinez Losoya Road and U.S. Highway 281, TxDOT will not be constructing sidewalks along the highway after completing a feasibility study, according to a spokesperson. The details of that study were not immediately available.
