It may feel like a Texas agency has its hands on just about every highway in and around San Antonio, bringing construction and major changes to a long booming city. But another big project is barreling down the pipeline at TxDOT, and it could cost Alamo Heights shoppers their street parking.
The Texas Department of Transportation has already begun work on a 2-mile stretch of Broadway in San Antonio, from I-35 to Burr Road just short of the Alamo Heights city limits. However, they’ve been developing plans for a second phase which runs the length of the affluent Northside city from Burr Road to Austin Highway – a plan that’s sparked some concern and confusion with local business owners.
“The project would aim to enhance safety, increase mobility and improve drainage along the corridor. Stakeholder engagement has been an important part of this effort, including coordination with property owners and a public open house held in May 2025,” a TxDOT spokesperson told MySA. “All options include roadway resurfacing and restriping, as well as bicycle and pedestrian accommodations, with varying levels of impact to existing parking and trees.”
For more than a year, TxDOT has been developing plans for its second phase. In its early days, and most recent iteration, these plans included the potential to nix nearly all of the street parking currently lining Broadway through Alamo Heights – the only parking available for several local businesses in a cramped and historic commercial stretch of the city.
This potential cut in parking has been met with either strong feelings, both for and against the change, or confusion. When MySA reached out to business owners, many said they had not heard of this plan at all. Others thought the project was essentially dead on the arrival since an open house about cutting street parking was held last year – a belief that doesn’t align the statement sent by TxDOT.
“This is the first we’re hearing of this plan, but we do have a large lot behind the store and actually recommend people park there if they can because these spots out front are so hazardous to back out of,” Nowhere Bookshop responded to a MySA video about the possible change. When called earlier in the week, store employees confirmed they had not been notified or made aware of this potential shakeup.
It’s a similar story for Broadway 5050 owner P.J. Gottsacker. He says he checked in with other local businesses and City of Alamo Heights leadership but was told the project was defunct.
This street parking is critical to his business, as the treasured Broadway eatery doesn’t have any other places for visitors to leave their vehicle.
“Obviously that would be extremely impactful for the 50 since that’s the only parking,” Gottsacker told MySA, saying he was under the full impression the project had died last year. “It’s a huge impact that I need to know fairly certain what’s going on. Because for me, I’ve got during the day seven or eight spots total that I can use… At night, I have more, but it’s a big impact if I go from seven or eight to zero, right?”
Shoppers are torn. Those who frequently use those spaces say they’re necessary to access several of the businesses that make up this iconic stretch of Broadway. Others argue that large trucks often hang into the main lanes of Broadway when parked there or other vehicles aren’t able to safely back out onto the state highway when leaving, both creating dangerous driving conditions.
The final designs have not been completed, but it doesn’t seem this project has been snuffed out to the extent community leaders believe it has. In fact, there’s still a TxDOT timeline to complete a final design by the fall of 2027. And each design currently being considered will have varying levels of impact on existing parking, per the TxDOT spokesperson. The preliminary timeline for this phase of the Broadway revamp is expected to begin contract letting by late 2027.
“TxDOT will continue to collaborate with the City to identify a solution that aligns the needs of the corridor with available funding,” a TxDOT spokesperson said.