San Antonio committee backs Major Thoroughfare Plan amendment to add South Texas Parkway; concern raised over notice and property impacts

The Planning Commission Technical Advisory Committee voted to recommend approval of a city-initiated amendment to the Major Thoroughfare Plan that would create a new South Texas Parkway corridor linking I-35 and I-37 and reclassify and realign sections of Kelly Parkway to Malerman Road.

Kat Hernandez, director of the city's transportation department, presented the proposal and said, "I'm bringing forward to you, an amendment to our major thoroughfare plan" to add a corridor and reclassify existing segments to provide east–west connectivity in the southern sector of the city. Hernandez said the change is intended to support recent growth around University Health System, Texas A&M and the South Star development and to reduce freight traffic using neighborhood streets.

The amendment would add a conceptual freeway-class corridor (a freeway classification in the Unified Development Code provides a right-of-way range of roughly 250 to 500 feet) between I-35 and I-37. Staff said the corridor would likely be built at about 300 feet. The proposal also would reduce the Kelly Parkway–Malerman Road segment from a super-arterial (about 250 feet) to a secondary arterial (about 86 feet) and shift that alignment to follow the existing Malerman Road out to Pleasanton Road. Hernandez said the central portion of the proposed corridor is a new conceptual alignment intended to close an existing gap on the city’s Major Thoroughfare Plan.

Hernandez described the project timeline: staff held three community…