The construction milestone is bringing relief to businesses and event organizers who have navigated ongoing disruptions for several years.
SAN ANTONIO — After years of construction delays, South Alamo Street is set to reopen Wednesday—just in time for Fiesta and the arrival of throngs of revelers to downtown San Antonio.
The South Alamo Bond Project, approved in 2017, began construction in 2022 and was originally expected to wrap up in 2024.
But the timeline was pushed back, with completion now landing in spring 2026. In the meantime, drivers and visitors have had to navigate ongoing construction, including detours, fencing and rubble, to access popular destinations like La Villita and Hemisfair.
For nearby business owners, the prolonged construction has taken a toll.
“It’s been a headache,” said Brandy Garcia, owner of Blink in La Villita. “All of us here in La Villita have been feeling it for the last several years, especially during the summertime. That’s usually one of our slower times of the year, because a lot of folks aren’t out and about walking because of the heat. And with the South Alamo construction making it really confusing for a lot of visitors and tourists to walk, they just don’t want to mess with the trouble and make their way out here.”
Event organizers say adapting to construction challenges has become routine. NIOSA Treasurer DeAnna Keesee described the situation as “the new normal,” noting the logistical hurdles the project created.
“We had to park the trucks for the vendors, bring their trucks for our food and our beverages, and we use the curbs along where the construction’s going to provide stuff for us,” she said. “We were very optimistic they were going to actually do what they said, and it looks like they’re actually doing it for us.”
The city wrote in a statement that the South Alamo construction will be “substantially complete” this week, and “any lane or sidewalk closures near these attractions will be related to Fiesta events.”
After Fiesta, the city said, there will be minor corrective work to complete, which officials state is standard practice.