SAN ANTONIO – Neighbors have called KSAT three times this year about crashes on Heather Meadow, the main road that runs through the Blue Ridge Ranch neighborhood.
In February, a speeding car coming around a curve smashed into a fence and took out a massive metal light pole.
In May, KSAT reported on a crash two blocks down Heather Meadow, where a car barreled into a ditch near a home.
Sunday’s crash also happened on Heather Meadow, in an area between the previous two crashes.
A car took out an even bigger stretch of fence and pummeled through a backyard. It left deep tire marks through the grass and knocked down trees.
Neighbors told KSAT that this latest crash was the scariest because the driver nearly hit a couple walking on the sidewalk.
“We were standing right here,” Wehonna Toth said as she stood in front of what used to be her neighbor’s fence. “It was so quiet because he never hit his brakes. It was just going like 70 (miles per hour) straight at us. The cop later told me that evening that he was detained for a DUI (driving under the influence).”
Toth said she and her husband were paying attention and saw the car hurling toward them.
“My husband just grabbed me by the shoulder and just threw me into the street,” Toth said. “We were inches away from being hit. My husband did get hit by a piece of the fence post, but he’s OK.”
She explained that the neighbor’s fence had been hit before, and it cost them $10,000 to fix the first time. Sunday’s damage is far more extensive.
Toth said there are also at least two school bus stops right on Heather Meadow, with five schools in the area.
She said children are always walking around in the neighborhood.
“Our HOA (homeowners association) has like one small playground that’s past that curve,” Toth said. “Not a lot of people go there. I just think even the people in this neighborhood know it’s not safe.”
After nearly a year of complaints, the neighbors in the area said they are not only furious but also exhausted.
“Since you guys (KSAT) came out in May, there has not been one speed limit sign posted. They’ve placed speed bumps in the neighborhood over there,” Toth said. “They placed speed bumps in neighborhood behind us, but those streets aren’t the issue because they’re side streets. Heather Meadow is like a highway.”
In KSAT’s latest report in May, the City of San Antonio’s Public Works Department (PWD) said that traffic engineers would conduct a survey of the Blue Ridge Ranch neighborhood in July.
Following Sunday’s crash, KSAT reached out to Public Works for an update.
“Public Works and council district staff met with the members of the neighborhood association a few weeks ago. We are working to identify next steps,” the statement read. ”This may involve a comprehensive traffic study for which we will have to identify funding.”
When asked why speed bumps were installed on side roads, such as Lakeland Drive, Lake Tahoe Street, and Lake Meadow, instead of Heather Meadow, Public Works said that those projects were funded by the City Council’s District 2 Neighborhood Access and Mobility Program.
Toth said she wants all the agencies to know that her neighborhood needs immediate help.
“Increasing patrol in the area. I think that’s an easy fix to do right away,” she said. “Watching the cars go by and get ticketed, because that’s the first thing that is going to scare people: speed limit signs. There’s no blinking pedestrian signs. There’s nothing.”
Toth highlighted the dangers residents could face without improved safety measures.
“Nothing’s going to happen until probably a life is taken. That could be a kid waiting at that bus stop tomorrow morning,” Toth said. ”It could be neighbor planting a tree in their garden. It could even be our fellow neighbor in a wheelchair, who can’t dodge a car in time, the way that we did. I just really hope that they take this seriously."
KSAT reached out to SAPD about increased patrols in the area and to the District 2 office to inquire about why side streets were chosen for speed bumps.
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