ALAMO RANCH – Just weeks after telling KSAT it planned to finalize designs for a Park & Ride in Alamo Ranch next year, VIA said it does not have plans to proceed with any development.
As part of our Know My Neighborhood project focusing on Alamo Ranch, neighbors said the proposed facility was unneeded and unwanted.
VIA purchased a 16-acre lot of land near Alamo Ranch Parkway and Lone Star Parkway in 2022, where the Park & Ride facility was planned to be built.
“VIA’s long-range plan identified the need for a Park & Ride facility in the Alamo Ranch area, one of San Antonio’s fastest-growing sectors,” said a VIA spokesperson in a statement sent to KSAT in late October 2023.
The spokeswoman said the agency’s Government and Community Relations team has met with people in the Alamo Ranch community to give them a chance to provide feedback.
But several neighbors, including Trish Marshall, said they didn’t even learn of the plans until watching KSAT’s Know My Neighborhood project.
“I think there’s better ways to use a dense tree canopy than turning into a parking lot,” she said.
Marshall doesn’t think the facility is needed and started a petition opposing the project.
The petition collected over 1,000 signatures in its first five days.
KSAT reached out to VIA, who said they were aware of the petition.
Below, you will see the full, unedited statement sent by VIA Metropolitan Transit:
“As part of a plan that was developed prior to the COVID pandemic, VIA Metropolitan Transit purchased 16 acres of privately owned property on Alamo Ranch Parkway that could serve as a transit hub. However, because of the negative fiscal impact caused by COVID, VIA had previously placed development plans for a Park and Ride lot on indefinite hold, and will continue to explore providing service in the Alamo Ranch area.
Still, VIA’s securing of the land now is important because of the speed at which property is being developed in the area. Waiting to find land for a capital investment in the area in the future, at a time in which VIA might construct a Park and Ride facility, is not a viable path forward.
The agency currently does not have plans to proceed with any development on the property, and, on Sept. 5, the project was removed from the Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Transportation Improvement Program.
If VIA were to proceed in the future, it’s likely that a portion of the property would first be turned into a Park and Pool, where residents could meet, park and carpool to their destinations. VIA has such facilities throughout the service area, including at La Cantera and along Interstate 10 and Interstate 35, on the northwest and northeast sides, respectively.
Additionally, plans at Alamo Ranch have never called for full use of the 16 acres. A portion of the property would remain in its current state.
VIA could also sell the land in the future.
We are aware that some residents in Alamo Ranch area have circulated a petition asking VIA Metropolitan Transit not to build a Park and Ride facility in the area.
VIA has met with residents near the VIA property and will continue to communicate directly with residents in the area and their elected leaders to ensure they have accurate, timely information about this currently inactive project.”
*Editor’s Note: The headline in a previous version of this story stated the project was “scrapped.” The headline has been modified to clarify that the project is on indefinite hold.