Skip to main content

Residents on rocky, muddy northeast Bexar County street see improvement

Road construction project has been causing a major inconvenience, residents say

SAN ANTONIO – People who live on a particular northeast Bexar County street say they are seeing signs of improvement after months of living amid a muddy, rocky mess.

>>>‘How is this acceptable?’: Neighbors want quick end to work that made Bexar County street rocky, muddy

When KSAT 12 News visited Bent Meadow Drive last Wednesday, drivers were struggling to navigate a road covered with huge rocks.

At one end, where it intersects with Meadow Ash, there was a muddy pit.

Tommy Ortiz, who lives on Bent Meadow, said road construction is to blame.

For nearly two weeks, Ortiz says the project had been keeping him from parking in his own driveway because he didn’t want to risk damaging his car.

Other neighbors spoke of being unable to leave their homes, and of the damage the rocks had done to their car tires.

However, on Tuesday morning, Ortiz proudly showed off the fact that his vehicle had returned home.

He called the situation on his street now “much different, much better.”

Since KSAT 12 News’ last visit to the neighborhood, the road crews have created a bit of a smoother ride on Ortiz’s street by adding smaller rocks to make the big ones more stable.

Tiffany Payton, a spokeswoman for Bexar County Public Works, said the work being done on Bent Meadow Drive is part of a larger project in that neighborhood near Converse.

Several streets were targeted for improvements during an 18-month-long period.

Payton said crews should begin the final steps in paving over Bent Meadow Drive on Thursday.

“That’s awesome!” Ortiz said excitedly after hearing the news. “The work they do is excellent, but compassion is also important.”

While Ortiz is happy with the signs of progress he sees, others in the neighborhood aren’t quite there yet.

“I cannot wait. I cannot wait for it to be over,” said Ileyia McDavid, who lives a few streets away.

Her home is currently in the midst of a scene that resembles how Ortiz’s street looked last week.

“It’s an everyday situation, so you don’t get out of it until about 5:00 when they get finished,” she said. “Weekends are the days when you can actually get out.”

Besides feeling trapped, McDavid said the construction project has actually been destructive to her car.

She said some of the big rocks have banged up her bumper.

“Initially, when we called, they were, like, ‘Oh, it’s gonna be 18 months but it’s gonna look great.’ Yeah, but that’s 18 months of inconvenience,” McDavid said.

When McDavid heard that part of the paving would involve rocks being laid down, she said she never imagined how large they would be.

A contractor who spoke to KSAT 12 News off-camera said going forward, he plans to use a smaller version of those materials.

He said, though, that rocks are part of the paving process and something they plan to use on every street targeted for the improvement work.

Payton said anyone whose property is damaged as a result of the construction work should file a claim with the contractor, Alamo City Constructors, by calling (210) 226-3100.


Read also