SAN ANTONIO – A yearslong street construction project downtown is nearing its final stages, but that may not mean the end of construction cones in that area.
The roadwork, which has been going on since 2022, is known as the South Alamo project and is being managed by the City of San Antonio’s Capital Delivery Department.
It’s a $58 million bond project that includes improvements, such as repaved streets and upgraded sidewalks along South Alamo Street between Cesar Chavez Boulevard and Market Street.
In March, Nicholas Olivier, a spokesman for the Public Works Department, said the project should reach “substantial completion” by April 13.
In a new email, though, he clarified that there still could be additional work to do even after that date.
Gustavo Lorensy, who was making deliveries nearby Thursday morning, said he is praying for an end to the road closures.
“We came down here to deliver, and I had to park half a block down to deliver to this place,” he said, pointing to a restaurant in the area.
Lorensy said at one point, he worked at La Villita but gave up that job due to the difficulties he had in getting around with all the construction.
It also proved to be a difficult task for Mariah Burns as she tried to travel to Hemisfair Park.
“I had to make a couple of loops and my husband was, like, ‘No, I think you can still go that way,’” she said. “It was super confusing just trying to get to this spot.”
Burns, who is visiting from Louisiana, said she found out about the park while doing research online.
The traffic problems, though, came as an unwelcome surprise.
“You really have to know the area and, kind of, like, maneuver with the GPS system to figure it out,” Burns said. “It was a little bit of a headache, I’m not going to lie.”
People like Lorensy are hoping for an end to this sort of headache soon.
The April 13 date for “substantial completion” is just days ahead of the start of Fiesta.
Several of the events take place each year in La Villita and other areas near the construction zone.
Olivier said among the jobs that crews are still working to complete are brick paving, landscaping, lighting, signage, signal work and street striping.
He said additionally, there will be a period for completing “punch list items,” or minor corrective work.
That part of the project will begin once Fiesta is over, Olivier said.
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