Whether sharing dry recitations of road-design timelines, impassioned calls for local control, or just general bewilderment, all the speakers at the January 27, 2022 Texas Transportation Commission (TTC) meeting were united around a cause: asking the state to relinquish part of a roadway to the city of San Antonio.
A carousel of city officials and mobility advocates took the stand urging the commissioners to delay a decision that soon would reveal itself to be a foregone conclusion. The state refused to budge. It would not follow through on years of work that would have transformed two of the six-car lanes into bike lanes on Broadway, also known as State Loop 368, which passes through the northern end of the city and into Alamo Heights.
“We cannot reduce capacity,” TTC Chairman J. Bruce Bugg Jr. said multiple times after the speakers finished. Despite not physically being in the room, Governor Greg Abbott’s presence was also felt. Bugg cited a statement from the governor that read in part: “Governor Abbott’s priority is to alleviate congestion on our state highway system. A recent local proposal to remove travel lanes along State Loop 368, which has been and continues to be on the state highway system, would run counter to that goal.”
