San Antonio – The City of San Antonio set aside nearly $6 million dollars during the 2022 budget to start a street light program to target darkness gaps in residential neighborhoods.
A gap analysis looked at over 3,200 miles of residential streets, says Michael Shannon with the Development Services Department.
“We identified some gaps where there’s not as many street lights as the code would prescribe today,” explained Shannon.
The program is going to start by targeting areas where there’s high crime, prone to crashes, or older subdivisions over 50 years old.
“The idea was not just waiting for people to call it in and say, my street is dark, or this area is dark, I have a problem, but how can we proactively just start addressing this issue that the community needs?” Shannon said.
District 2 is pushing for some of the first street lights to be placed in the Sunrise community.
Oralia Rico, a homeowner, says when the sun goes down, crime goes up.
“There’s no light over here, just that little one,” she points to a street light on the corner. “You can’t see anything.” Her carport and truck are riddled with bullets from a shooting on the street. Adding cameras, she says, does very little when the streets are so dark.
Eastside residents say homeowners need to advocate for their neighborhoods and call the city if they want to see some lights pop up on their streets.
To see what the gap analysis revealed in your neighborhood by clicking here.