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San Antonio City Council Votes to Remove Bike Lanes on S. Flores
Like many of you, we watched the San Antonio City Council’s decision to remove S. Flores bike lanes with disbelief and disappointment. Despite hearing from many people who ride bikes, including one gentleman who indicated he and his wife began riding for their health after the S. Flores lanes were installed, the city council voted 10-1 remove the bike lanes at a cost to the city of up to $700,000. Council member Shirley Gonzales (District 5) was the lone vote in favor of keeping the bike lanes. (Watch the video of the council meeting here; the bike lanes item begins at 2:27:38).
| Image from The Rivard Report. |
This decision is a major step backward for a city that claims to be committed to building a bike network. Council Member Shirley Gonzales gave an impassioned speech (watch here beginning at 3:26:36) reminding her fellow members that San Antonio is committed to a healthy and safe future for all, and that removing bike lanes is not in accordance with that goal. For much of this process, Gonzales stayed out of the debate because it was not her district, but the most recent plan (the one the City voted for) included the portion of the lanes in Gonzales’s District 5. Once again, the City ran roughshod over the public process by not giving District 5 residents any input.
Mayor Julián Castro was forceful in saying that San Antonio has a policy to install bike lanes anytime there’s a resurfacing project, per the Complete Streets ordinance and the bike plan. He said we cannot set a precedent of asking people whether they want bike lanes, because we are committed to building a complete bike network. He added that many of the crashes that residents opposing the bike lanes described seemed to be the fault of drivers, not the bike lanes.
However, in the end he voted for removing the lanes, citing, as many council members did, the Harlandale Superintendent’s unsubstantiated claims that the bike lanes made traffic less safe around the schools in the area.
City engineers showed concrete evidence that traffic volumes are the same as before, with faster or the same travel times at the speed limit. The only traffic delays averaged only 9 to 25 seconds behind VIA buses, something that they could have mitigated by reducing a few seldom-used bus stops along the corridor. Crashes have gone down on S. Flores by 4% since the bike lanes went in.
The Mayor and city council chose to ignore these facts and instead follow the unproved claims by those in the district who have been inconvenienced. Please be sure to contact the mayor and your city council member to let them know you are disappointed in their decision. If you live in District 5, please thank Council Member Gonzales for standing with people who ride bikes and want to see a healthier, safer San Antonio.
Mayor Julian Castro: mayorjuliancastro@sanantonio.
District 1: Diego Bernal http://www.sanantonio.
District 2: Ivy Taylor district2@sanantonio.
District 3: Rebecca Viagran district3@sanantonio.
District 4: Rey Saldaña district4@sanantonio.
District 5: Shirley Gonzales http://www.
District 6: Ray Lopez district6@sanantonio.gov,
District 7: Cris Medina district7@sanantonio.
District 8: Ron Nirenberg district8@
District 9: Joe Krier district9@sanantonio.gov
District 10: Mike Gallagher district10@
For more coverage of this story, see The Rivard Report’s coverage here, the San Antonio Express News city council meeting article here (paywalled), and the San Antonio Express News editorial here. You can also see coverage of the protest ride on Wednesday, June 4, here and video coverage of the ride is here.
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