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<\/p>\nThe signals are part of a broader 3.4-mile improvement project to remedy traffic issues on Pleasanton Road.<\/p>\n
SAN ANTONIO \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
On Friday morning, San Antonio’s Transportation Department unveiled the Pedestrian Hybrid Beacons (PHBs) along a portion of Pleasanton Road.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The signals \u2014 which will stop traffic with lighted, flashing signs \u2014 now offer safer street crossings for nearby residents walking to businesses on the corridor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo 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.<\/p>\n
The city utilized $3 million in grant funding from the Texas Department of Transportation’s Highway Safety Improvement Program (HISP).<\/p>\n
\nMore improvements planned for crash-prone corridor <\/p>\n
The broader Pleasanton Road Safety Improvements Project \u2014 a 3.4-mile project from Fitch Street to Loop 410 \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s HISP grant award.”<\/p>\n
“We have lost far too many members of our community to traffic-related crashes along Pleasanton Road,\u201d said District 3 Councilmember Phyllis Viagran, whose district includes the corridor. \u201cThese improvements will provide safer, more accessible ways for pedestrians to cross the street while strengthening our commitment to Vision Zero<\/p>\n
The Transportation Department, citing research by the Federal Highway Administration<\/a>, said the PHBs could reduce pedestrian crashes by about 55%.<\/p>\n 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<\/a> released by the Transportation Department last December. During that period, there were 12 serious or fatal crashes on the roadway.<\/p>\n