The Texas Department of Transportation is expected to imminently begin demolishing a sidewalk in front of the Credit Human headquarters on Broadway that it had previously permitted, in order to restore a third lane of traffic to that section of the road.
The agency will spend roughly $120,000 to demolish and rebuild a more narrow sidewalk and restore the traffic lane, a spokeswoman said. The southbound lane nearest the sidewalk is already blocked off. Demolition was to begin this week, but appears not to have begun as of Thursday.
The redo, first reported by the San Antonio Express-News, is a result of the state’s 2022 move to reclaim Broadway after the city spent six years and millions of dollars planning to make it safer for bikes and pedestrians by removing lanes.
Lanes hadn’t yet been removed when the state made its decision, except between Grayson Street and Pearl Parkway, where Pearl developer Silver Ventures spent an estimated $2.7 million on infrastructure improvements around the Credit Human building, adjacent office tower and parking garage, according to a 2020 agreement with the City of San Antonio.
That work necessitated the removal of the southbound traffic lane. Restoring the lane is now part of TxDOT’s larger project to “enhance mobility” along Broadway from Roy Smith to Burr Road. Current roadwork along the west side of Broadway from Mahncke Park to Mulberry, plus the work on both sides of Broadway around Brackenridge Avenue is all part of this larger project.
The restored third lane should be open by the end of this year, said TxDOT spokeswoman Jennifer Serold, while the entire $10. 5 million project is expected to be completed next spring.
The city is not involved in the sidewalk work, said spokesman Nick Olivier, except for kicking in $400,000 for the original infrastructure improvements back in 2020. That work included landscaping, street lights, utility and communication infrastructure relocation, storm sewers and other work.
The city money came from the 2017 bond, which included $42 million — the largest line item in the bond — to create a bike- and pedestrian-friendly corridor along Broadway.
Local voters approved those plans by a whopping 78%, but they were halted with the 2022 decision by the Texas Transportation Commission to reclaim Broadway from Burr Road south to Interstate 35, which it had conveyed to the city in 2014.
The move stunned city leaders at the time, who tried working with the commission on alternatives before ultimately giving up and focusing on similar work on the portion of Broadway it owns.
The commission, led by San Antonio attorney Bruce Bugg Jr., cited TxDOT’s clear lanes initiative, a 2015 plan by Gov. Greg Abbott to reduce traffic congestion throughout the state, as its justification for regaining control of the roadway.
The pedestrian- and bike-friendly work was to have complemented the significant private investment made along Broadway in the past decade, including the Silver Venture/Credit Human properties.
It appears Oxbow Development Group, a subsidiary of Silver Ventures, will now have to spend another $100,000 on the sidewalk after TxDOT has rebuilt it, according to a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, to rebuild an ADA-accessible pedestrian ramp.
Oxbow declined to comment.
A spokesman with Credit Human, which jointly owns the building with Oxbow, said the original infrastructure improvements, including the sidewalk, was permitted by TxDOT in 2019.
“Essentially TxDOT changed its mind and wants to revert to having three southbound lanes on this section of Broadway,” said Chris Armstrong in a statement. He said the credit union “has been working with TxDOT since last year to find the best solution to restore the additional lane.”
City spokesman Nick Olivier said of the $42 million in 2017 bond funding, $7.3 million had been earmarked for Upper Broadway; the city spent about $3 million on planning and design before 2022. The remainder of the bond money has not been reprogrammed, said Olivier.
The remainder, $34.7 million, went toward street enhancements along Lower Broadway, from I-35 to Houston Street. That work is expected to be complete by the end of September, he said.
