The outreach effort is funded by a federal Safe Streets for All (SS4A) grant, which supports the city\u2019s broader Vision Zero<\/a> goal of eliminating traffic deaths.<\/p>\n The campaign will use life-size silhouettes modeled on local residents, placed near busy intersections and crossing points, to remind drivers and pedestrians to be more aware when approaching the roadway. <\/p>\n Kristie Flores, assistant to the director of transportation for the City of San Antonio and facilitator for Vision Zero, said the goal is to reach people in the places where crashes happen most.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea is to put out a message that says, you know, safety is everybody\u2019s responsibility. It\u2019s not just the driver or the pedestrian. We want people to pay attention. We want them to cross at designated areas,\u201d she said. \u201c One of the things that we have seen, that comes up all of the time in news stories, is people crossing the street where they\u2019re not supposed to, and sadly, it winds up being a tragedy, and again, preventable had they used the designated crosswalk.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The Texas Department of Transportation\u2019s Crash Records Information System shows that already this year there have been 729 pedestrian-involved crashes in San Antonio killing 57 people. Nearly 90% of those crashes occurred on roads classified as \u201ccity streets\u201d in TxDOT\u2019s system.<\/p>\n Last year, the data showed 916 pedestrian-involved crashes resulting in 66 deaths, a figure that has remained consistent <\/a>over the past several years even as overall crash totals fluctuate with 71 deaths reported in 2022 and 2023.<\/p>\n Although the frequency varies by corridor, the three streets selected for the campaign \u2014 Zarzamora, Fredericksburg and W.W. White \u2014 have long appeared among the city\u2019s list of high-risk roadways for pedestrians.<\/p>\n Two of the three corridors are currently undergoing improvements: adding safer crossing points and redesigning intersections where pedestrians are frequently struck.<\/p>\n On Zarzamora Street, the city is in the pre-design phase of a project funded through the same Safe Streets for All grant that supports the new outreach campaign. Plans call for multiple mid-block pedestrian crossings along the corridor, which would create marked, highly visible places for people to cross on the heavily traveled 12 mile corridor.<\/a> The mid-block crossings will be the first set of road improvement efforts under the grant.\u00a0<\/p>\n On W.W. White Road, crews are upgrading the traffic signals to metal mast arms, adding crosswalk markings, relocating VIA bus stops closer to marked crossings and building new sidewalk segments with construction estimated to be completed by the end of this month. Additional work that has been completed includes a mid-block crosswalk with warning beacons between Lavender Lane and Lord Road.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/JR0A2855-1.jpg\")
Improvements for Zarzamora Street have entered the predesign phase as part of the Safe Streets and Roads for All grant, including midblock crossings like the one pictured on the UTSA downtown campus. Credit: Brenda Baz\u00e1n \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n