Release Date: February 18, 2011
 Office of District 10 Councilman John G. Clamp: 207-7276

A "Complete Street" Makeover: Transforming Harry Wurzbach Road into 'TAPS Memorial Boulevard'

To completely overhaul the aesthetics, traffic mobility, and sustainability of this rather venerable old roadway is the overarching goal of this new project. Commissioned by Councilman John Clamp, District 10, this long overdue "makeover" seeks to take maximum advantage of what he refers to as the "long-neglected portal to Fort Sam Houston's front door." To prepare the ground work for the transformation of this diamond-in-the-rough, Dixie Watkins III & Associates (DWA) was retained to prepare a conceptual planning and design study for the full length of this four-mile corridor.

Building on their previous work as the planners for the Fort Sam Houston Growth Management Plan, DWA's overall role is to better integrate this growing, historic post with the greater San Antonio community and the surrounding neighborhoods.

"There are really two overriding themes for this study," Watkins says. "One is to celebrate the history, significance, and uniqueness of Fort Sam Houston, and the other is to lay the groundwork for San Antonio's first 'Complete Street'." This first goal entails using a rich mixture of urban design ideas from iconic architectural, symbolic, and sculptural features of the Post as part of the streetscape.

The second goal of becoming a "Complete Street" incorporates the new sustainability-based model that has been previously known across the country as 'green,' 'smart,' or 'integrated' street systems. According to Watkins, "This new hybridized name is really more inclusive and represents how cities need to treat both the functional and visual realm of our thoroughfares. At its best, a "Complete Street" will integrate multi-modal transportation and be as friendly and safe for pedestrians and cyclists, as it is for drivers, and transit systems. In the case of Harry Wurzbach Road, the project will include consolidation and burial of overhead utility lines, retrofitting old stormwater systems with innovative native landscape, traffic calming features, street trees, wayfinding and informational signage."