Business owners on the south side oppose Pleasanton Road medians, citing declines in customer traffic and preparing a petition for their removal.
SAN ANTONIO — A traffic safety project on the south side is doing more harm than good, according to local business owners.
Construction began late last year along Pleasanton Road to install new medians. Since then, several businesses say customer traffic has dropped significantly — and now, some are organizing a petition to have the medians removed and prevent future construction.
“The businesses down Pleasanton Road are now suffering,” said Tomas Uresti, a longtime South Side business owner and former state representative.
One of the businesses feeling the impact is Griff’s Hamburgers. The Pleasanton Road location has been a neighborhood staple since the 1960s, serving the same burgers, shakes and generations of loyal customers.
“There’s only one location, on the south side. Pride of the South Side,” said shift manager Alex Uribe.
While Griff’s has seen record sales in recent months, Uribe said those numbers are now in jeopardy due to the new traffic patterns.
“It’s slowing us down. It’s putting us in more traffic jams, unfortunately,” he said. “[Customers do] basically one whole big turnaround. So it just makes it hard for us to get business. By the time people come, they’re hangry, they don’t want to pay.”
The medians span Pleasanton Road from Military Drive to Loop 410 — and are forcing customers to take alternate routes or make time-consuming U-turns just to reach businesses.
Despite the challenges, Griff’s is investing in the future. The restaurant is currently undergoing renovations and is expected to debut a new, improved look by September.
Uresti, who now owns Corner Coffee and More, says the damage mirrors what happened to one of his previous businesses.
“When I owned River City Donuts on Military Drive, the same type of project played a big part in shutting us down,” he said. “They basically told us we just need to adjust to this, and we cannot adjust to shutting businesses down.”
Uresti added that despite pushback at two community meetings, construction moved forward anyway.
“More traffic lights need to be installed. Not medians,” he said.
Pointing to several other businesses along Pleasanton Road suffering from the impact, Uresti mentioned Nico’s Mexican Restaurant, Hernandez Tire Shop, S&S Tire & Auto, Roca’s Tire Shop, Agave Mexican Restaurant, Taqueria Jalisco, Rossy’s Tacos and Fred’s Fish Fry.
Now, he and other business owners are gathering signatures to present to District 3 Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran in hopes of having the medians removed.
“I’ll be damned if I’m going to allow somebody from outside of this area to tell us what’s best for us,” Uresti said. “I’m going to work to help my fellow business members on this side of town not to be shut down, not to be forced out of business and to be picked on the way Public Works is doing now.”
KENS 5 reached out to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) about the project. A spokesperson confirmed Pleasanton Road is not a state-maintained roadway and referred all project-related questions to the City of San Antonio.
“There is federal funding associated with the project, which is why TxDOT is involved, and the city asked TxDOT to oversee the construction,” explained spokeswoman, Laura Lopez. “Any information related to the project needs to be directed to the city.”
City officials could not be reached Friday due to the holiday. However, Uresti says he is scheduled to meet with TxDOT, San Antonio Public Works, and representatives from District 3 early next week. Together, they plan to drive the affected area to discuss potential changes.
To learn more about the Pleasanton Road project, click here.