From Broadway to St. Mary’s to South Alamo streets, delays have plagued City of San Antonio construction projects in recent years, frustrating businesses and residents who have to navigate traffic cones, concrete barriers and dug up sidewalks.
City officials have created a Capital Delivery Department that focuses on finishing construction projects on time.
It’s being spun out of the existing Public Works Department, with 188 of its staffers being transferred to the new city department led by director Mike Shannon, who previously was director of the city’s Development Services Department and was also interim director of Animal Care Services Department.
Much of the focus will be on city bond projects — infrastructure work funded out of major city bonds borrowed every five years. At a Transportation and Infrastructure Committee meeting on Tuesday, Shannon said his goal is to improve communication with businesses and residents and make sure 90% of bond projects are on time.
That leaves the city with some work to do. Of the 2022 bond projects, 153 of 187, or 82% are on schedule. Shannon said on schedule means that the construction timeline has increased by no more than 10%.
Several 2017 bond projects are still incomplete, as well. On Tuesday, Shannon said 93% of those projects, or 169, completed. That’s up from two years ago, when only 132 of 179 projects were finished.
Shannon said legal challenges had slowed down a planned $9.7 million project at Brackenridge Park. The city would reintroduce native grasses and trees to a part of the park and repair retaining walls and a pump house along the San Antonio River. Later phases of work could result in landscaping and trail changes at the park, including a large playscape.
Some residents objected to trees being removed from that part of the park for the project. City officials are moving, though, and now hope to complete work from the 2017 bond by 2028.
Planned improvements on Probandt Street and Roosevelt Avenue have been delayed because Texas Department of Transportation required design changes.
Shannon is planning to offer incentives and penalties to get contractors to stay on timelines going forward. Some of those programs are still being designed.
“If you finish significantly early, you will get more money,” Shannon said. “I talked to several of the contractors and some of the contractor groups that I meet with, they’re excited about this. They also told me to be careful and watch that, because you don’t want these schedules to be artificially get exaggerated.”
The city already charges certain contractors if construction is late and will also disallow companies from bidding on projects if their work doesn’t meet certain standards.
Shannon plans to pair these efforts with new focuses for department staff. He wants Capital Delivery Department staff to work on projects from their inception to their delivery. He also wants to communicate more with business owners and residents.
“We have to over communicate. Over communication is our standard,” he said. “That will help us through these large scale construction projects.”
That can include better signage and direct meetings with residents — two strategies that city council members supported at the Tuesday meeting.
Shannon said implementing these strategies would be key ahead of a proposed 2027 bond for $625 million, which could be voted on in May or November of that year. The process for identifying potential projects and engaging with community members for that bond will begin months before that bond will be put on the ballot.
Delays stretched over a year
Business owners and community members near the Zona Cultural and South Alamo Street projects have raised concerns about delays which have stretched over a year. Long-term construction prevented customers from getting to storefronts and discouraged tourists from exploring the area.
On Tuesday, Councilwoman Sukh Kaur (D1), who represents the area, said Capital Delivery Department had taken important steps to address those concerns by meeting with residents every month and improving signage on sidewalks.
Shannon said the city hopes to finish work on South Alamo Street before Fiesta celebrations kick off this Spring.
The city has also piloted a shuttle program to move convention attendees to business corridors.
“We’ve used both a trolley service, as well as a shuttle service in and around downtown to get convention [attendees] to La Villita, to Southtown, to Market Square, to get in and around during those major events,” Shannon said.
Those shuttles cost around $2,600 per event, according to Nick Olivier, a public relations manager for the city’s public works department. Vehicles are free to use and circle between the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, Market Square, La Villita and Southtown. They were most recently used on Jan. 30, when they carried 50 total passengers.
“When we are responsive to what folks are telling us in the community and deliver results, they appreciate it,” Kaur said.
Melissa Zarb-Cousin, managing director of Magik Theater, which has been hit hard financially during three years of construction on the street, said work and communication has improved.
“I know there have been hiccups,” she said in a text message. “It’s clear that there is more city oversight. The monthly meetings with the capital improvements team and [District 1] have been positive in creating more communication between them and the businesses affected.”
Efren Moreno, who owns Blush Restaurant and Bakery, just south of César Chávez Boulevard, agrees that communication has improved.
Construction has shifted closer to his restaurant, which has slowed business, but he’s noticed more construction work after city officials brought in a second construction company on site.
