The signals are part of a broader 3.4-mile improvement project to remedy traffic issues on Pleasanton Road.
SAN ANTONIO — Three new pedestrian traffic signals have been installed on a south San Antonio road. The lights are part of a broader street safety improvements project.
On Friday morning, San Antonio’s Transportation Department unveiled the Pedestrian Hybrid Beacons (PHBs) along a portion of Pleasanton Road.
The signals — which will stop traffic with lighted, flashing signs — now offer safer street crossings for nearby residents walking to businesses on the corridor.
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Juan Vigil, a resident of the nearby Lila Cockrell apartments, said he and other residents were excited to learn how the signals will function.
“So many of us are elderly and use walkers and wheelchairs. We need time to get across Pleasanton Road, and the beacons give us additional protection,” he said in a department news release.
The city utilized $3 million in grant funding from the Texas Department of Transportation’s Highway Safety Improvement Program (HISP).
More improvements planned for crash-prone corridor
The broader Pleasanton Road Safety Improvements Project — a 3.4-mile project from Fitch Street to Loop 410 — will also include a raised concrete center median and a new traffic signal, though the department’s release did not specify where on the roadway.
According to the city, the Pleasanton Road corridor has experienced nearly 200 crashes annually, some of which were fatal; two-year crash data for the corridor “was enough to warrant TxDOT’s HISP grant award.”
“We have lost far too many members of our community to traffic-related crashes along Pleasanton Road,” said District 3 Councilmember Phyllis Viagran, whose district includes the corridor. “These improvements will provide safer, more accessible ways for pedestrians to cross the street while strengthening our commitment to Vision Zero
The Transportation Department, citing research by the Federal Highway Administration, said the PHBs could reduce pedestrian crashes by about 55%.
Utilizing TxDOT traffic crash data from 2018 to 2023, in its entirety, Pleasanton Road is considered among the top 30 most high-injury corridors in San Antonio, according to a dashboard released by the Transportation Department last December. During that period, there were 12 serious or fatal crashes on the roadway.
Last month, the Transportation Department installed a new traffic signal at a northeast-side intersection, also part of the High-Injury Network dashboard.