SAN ANTONIO – The City of San Antonio says it has plans to upgrade a busy West Side intersection where a woman was hit while crossing the street Tuesday morning.
San Antonio police say a 74 year-old woman was hit by a southbound driver while crossing South General McMullen Drive near Wallace Street, an eight-lane-wide stretch of road near an H-E-B.
She was initially pinned under the pickup truck before being brought to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. Police say they do not expect charges to be filed.
But the intersection and larger traffic corridor are known for their dangers.
“If I know anybody crossing the street, I warn them. And still, as they’re crossing with caution, they still, people don’t stop,” James Calvillo, the owner of La Fe Hierberia, told KSAT about the intersection where his shop sits.
A KSAT review of a Texas Department of Transportation database showed eight crashes at or close to the intersection since 2021. The city includes a 1.9-mile stretch of the South General McMullen corridor as part of its High-Injury Network.
A TxDOT spokesman said the city has applied for $1 million in grant funding through the Highway Safety Improvement Program to improve safety along General McMullen between Commerce Street and U.S. Highway 90.
The proposed improvements with that money at the Wallace Street intersection include sidewalk improvements, ADA-accessible ramps and high-visibility striping.
The city is also set to upgrade traffic signals at the intersection with “intelligent transportation system” technology, which the spokesman said could include the ability to track pedestrians through the crosswalk.
The intersection, along with others in the High-Injury Network, will also be reviewed for the installation of “leading pedestrian intervals,” which would give pedestrians a headstart in the crosswalk before the light changes for turning traffic.
Read also: