Culebra Road stretches more than 16 miles across San Antonio’s West Side, running from the edge of downtown to the growing communities near Alamo Ranch. It passes through three City Council districts and serves thousands of drivers, bus riders, cyclists and pedestrians each day. It has also developed a reputation as one of the most dangerous streets in the city.
Now, local officials are advancing a plan they hope will begin to reverse that trend, according to San Antonio News.
In March, the San Antonio City Council approved an $8 million federal award to begin planning and designing safety upgrades along a five-mile segment of Culebra between General McMullen Drive and Loop 410. The city will contribute $3 million in matching funds, bringing the total for this phase to $11 million under an agreement with the Federal Highway Administration.
The funding will support planning, environmental review and detailed design. The design phase is expected to begin this summer and could continue into spring 2032. City leaders must hire a design consultant by the fall, and a request for qualifications is already underway. The newly formed Capital Delivery Department will oversee the work.
Crash Data Places Culebra at the Top of the City’s High-Injury List
District 7 Councilwoman Marina Alderete-Gavito said the improvements are critical.
“Improvements on Culebra Road, especially inside Loop 410, with this grant will save lives,” she said during the March council meeting. “We know that Culebra Road is one of the most dangerous roads for cyclists and pedestrians in our city, so this work cannot start soon enough.”
Crash data highlights the urgency. A 2020 Vision Zero and Public Works Department report found that from 2017 to 2020, more fatal crashes occurred on Culebra Road than on any other non freeway roadway in San Antonio.
A spokesperson for the Capital Delivery Department told MySA, “From 2017–2020, more fatal vehicle crashes have occurred on Culebra Road than on any other road in San Antonio, excluding freeways.”
In December 2025, the city’s transportation department launched an interactive High Injury Dashboard that maps where severe and fatal crashes have occurred. The dashboard uses Texas Department of Transportation crash data from 2018 to 2022. During that five year span, 116 severe or fatal crashes were recorded along Culebra Road, placing it at the top of the list citywide.
A Corridor Flagged for Action Nearly a Decade Ago
The corridor has been under review for years. In 2016, it was one of 12 roadways examined during development of the San Antonio Tomorrow Multimodal Transportation Plan. It later became the first priority corridor selected for more detailed study because of its high rate of serious pedestrian injuries.
The newly approved project will evaluate several possible changes aimed at improving safety. Options include reconfigured traffic lanes, upgraded crossings and sidewalks that meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards and other design adjustments intended to slow traffic and improve visibility.
Redesigning Culebra for Drivers, Cyclists and Pedestrians Alike
City officials also plan to apply the Complete Streets framework, which San Antonio first adopted in 2011 and updated in 2024 with input from community advocacy groups. The approach calls for streets that serve everyone, including people who walk, bike, use wheelchairs, take public transit or drive. Examples of Complete Streets projects in San Antonio include Avenue B between Jones Avenue and McCullough Avenue and East Nueva Street through Hemisfair.
The transportation department is developing a Complete Streets Design Guide that will provide street design recommendations based on different types of corridors. Conger, in an email to MySA, said the guide will help inform design elements for future streets as they are developed or redeveloped. The guide is expected to be completed by June 2026.
For residents and business owners along Culebra Road, visible changes are still years away. But with federal funding secured and the design process set to begin, city leaders say the long effort to make one of San Antonio’s most troubled corridors safer is moving forward.
Sources: San Antonio News
