SAN ANTONIO – People without sight often rely on other senses to go about their daily lives.
West Side resident Roland Gomez already has limited mobility due to his disability, but enjoys walking around his neighborhood.
"I need to get to the store. I like to get to the bakery. I go down to the church down here, St. Jude's," Gomez said.
Before 1991, Gomez didn't need to rely on a white cane to get around. A bullet to his head in a drive-by shooting caused him to lose his sight. He's mostly independent, except for when he needs to cross the major street closest to his home.
"It doesn't speak to me," he said about the crosswalk at West Commerce Street and North San Felipe Avenue. The intersection lacks an audible pedestrian signal.
"Sometimes I got to stand here and wait for about 10-15 minutes, wait for somebody to walk by and then I bother them to see if they can help me cross the street," Gomez said.
Gomez said he remembers a time when he could hear the signal telling him it was safe to cross, and he's not the only one.
"It had a beep and it also had a voice that used to say the countdown, telling you how many seconds you had to cross the street," said Tony Salazar, a local barber.
"It's not just so much for me, you know? It's for any individual that's blind, so they can use the crosswalk," Gomez said.
Gomez said he's reached out to the city's Transportation and Capital Improvements Department, the Americans with Disabilities Act and his city councilwoman's office about the crosswalk.
A spokeswoman with the Transportation and Capital Improvements Department said the city has no record of the intersection ever having an audible pedestrian signal. The city started installing such signals in fiscal year 2006. A map of the locations, which now stands at 114, can be found here.
When the Transportation and Capital Improvements Department spokeswoman was asked how residents can request an audible pedestrian signal, KSAT-12 received the following information via email:
"Requests for audible pedestrian signals can be requested by calling 311. The Disability Access Office within the TCI department will review the request with the requestor, and will often meet on site with the requestor to be sure that staff clearly understands their needs and recommendations. Following this first step, the TCI traffic management team will review the intersection to determine what additional access improvements may be needed, such as ADA ramps. Once all improvements are identified and a cost is determined, staff will work to identify funding. When funding is identified, the project is then scheduled."
Members of the Transportation and Capital Improvements Department staff are planning to add an audible pedestrian signal near Gomez's home. An estimated timeline, however, couldn't be provided until funding is secured.