Potranco & 1604 Part II (San Antonio, Del Rio: estates, ranking, lawnmower)

[wcresident]

Originally Posted by Hoot Owl

Grosenbacher will intersect with Wiseman just .2 mile west of Cottonwood Way. This is GREAT news for people in Westcreek who have kids attending Brennan HS. It keeps them off of Loop 1604. They are also clearing land where Cottonwood Way ends at the entrance to Brennan. Not sure what will happen there...and if they plan to connect Saxonhill.

Just drove past what we all thought would be Grosenbacher Rd. connecting with Wiseman...street sign is up at Wiseman west of Cottonwood Way and it says Westcreek Oaks. Will it connect through the new Fronterra subdivision to where WC Oaks ends now? Also, new street in the other new subdivision that is at the end of Cottonwood Way has a street sign that says Sage Run, but it doesn't look like it will connect to Sage Run on the Westcreek side. I was really hopeful that there would be a way for Westcreek families to get to Brennan without having to go out on 1604 or Talley. So shortsighted to cut off a school from the primary neighborhood it serves. Tired of it taking 30 minutes to get to Brennan from Westcreek.

[prim8]

It really takes you 30 minutes to get there from Westcreek? It takes me 11 minutes to get to Westcreek from my house which is much further away than Brennan.
Is it because of traffic? If so, if they do connect the communities you could still end up with the same traffic.

[rickycrunner]

Anyone notice the increased frequency of graffiti down Potranco? Several bad spots on Caracoal Heights wall facing potranco, another spot on the utility box by Payless and a spot on the trailer by the Wal Mart facing the gas station. What steps can be taken to diffuse this before it gets out of hand?

[TexasRedneck]

Best bet is to paint over it as quickly as it shows up. It's a PITA, but they'll usually move on.

[wreckitralph]

Originally Posted by rickycrunner

Anyone notice the increased frequency of graffiti down Potranco? Several bad spots on Caracoal Heights wall facing potranco, another spot on the utility box by Payless and a spot on the trailer by the Wal Mart facing the gas station. What steps can be taken to diffuse this before it gets out of hand?

Download the San Antonio 311 app and report all tagging with great frequency until the vandals get it through their thick skulls that their crap is unwanted.

[rickycrunner]

Awesome, didn't know there was an app. Will do.

[wcresident]

Originally Posted by prim8

It really takes you 30 minutes to get there from Westcreek? It takes me 11 minutes to get to Westcreek from my house which is much further away than Brennan.
Is it because of traffic? If so, if they do connect the communities you could still end up with the same traffic.

It's all about timing...7:30 and 8:30 are the worst because those are the two peak drop-off times for students. I get on to 1604 at Westcreek Oaks. Turnaround at Potranco. Wait at light at Military for 2-3 light cycles. Wait again at turn lane onto Wiseman (sometimes 4-5 light cycles if drivers aren't on the ball), and again at the turn lane onto Cottonwood Way (2-3 cycles). Then driving back to 1604 on Wiseman, you'll wait at the light at 1604 roughly 2-3 cycles. Not much better coming from Talley...nearly all EB traffic on Talley is queued a ways back to turn right onto Wiseman in the mornings, and again, queued to turn right onto Cottonwood Way. No right turn lane. So, 30 minutes is probably the outside time estimate, but not really an exaggeration most days.

There will still be people from Westcreek for whom these are still the more practical routes, but opening up Sage Run, Westcreek Oaks and maybe even one other street from Westcreek would at least disperse the traffic and cut the wait times at these junctures. It would also help the traffic backups created by school buses, as the busses would adapt their routes to include the additional ingress/egress.

Call me crazy, but I think all schools should be connected to the neighborhoods they serve. Brennan is the exact opposite of this - it is isolated and connected to nothing. For the past five years, kids have climbed over barbed wire and walked through private property (with livestock, rattlesnakes, etc), because they are so close to the school they can smell it, but to drive takes them miles around. It also unnecessarily puts young drivers out on 1604, and busses add to the congestion. It's just wrong.

Thanks for letting me rant - have a great day!

[Sharpydove]

Originally Posted by wcresident

It's all about timing...7:30 and 8:30 are the worst because those are the two peak drop-off times for students. I get on to 1604 at Westcreek Oaks. Turnaround at Potranco. Wait at light at Military for 2-3 light cycles. Wait again at turn lane onto Wiseman (sometimes 4-5 light cycles if drivers aren't on the ball), and again at the turn lane onto Cottonwood Way (2-3 cycles). Then driving back to 1604 on Wiseman, you'll wait at the light at 1604 roughly 2-3 cycles. Not much better coming from Talley...nearly all EB traffic on Talley is queued a ways back to turn right onto Wiseman in the mornings, and again, queued to turn right onto Cottonwood Way. No right turn lane. So, 30 minutes is probably the outside time estimate, but not really an exaggeration most days.

There will still be people from Westcreek for whom these are still the more practical routes, but opening up Sage Run, Westcreek Oaks and maybe even one other street from Westcreek would at least disperse the traffic and cut the wait times at these junctures. It would also help the traffic backups created by school buses, as the busses would adapt their routes to include the additional ingress/egress.

Call me crazy, but I think all schools should be connected to the neighborhoods they serve. Brennan is the exact opposite of this - it is isolated and connected to nothing. For the past five years, kids have climbed over barbed wire and walked through private property (with livestock, rattlesnakes, etc), because they are so close to the school they can smell it, but to drive takes them miles around. It also unnecessarily puts young drivers out on 1604, and busses add to the congestion. It's just wrong.

Thanks for letting me rant - have a great day!

I don't disagree with your points on ease and commuting. However, one reason we sold in Westcreek this past spring was being sad to see that beautiful ranch land destroyed. We had deer, cows, horses, and all kinds of animals behind our house until the land started to get cleared. I hope the equine property stays.

It made me think how our own house must have displaced so much wildlife and natural beauty and we'll make different choices next time. Now, it will soon just all blend in to one big sea of houses. Alamo Ranch already looked like that when we left.

[Azure110]

Originally Posted by Sharpydove

It made me think how our own house must have displaced so much wildlife and natural beauty and we'll make different choices next time. Now, it will soon just all blend in to one big sea of houses. Alamo Ranch already looked like that when we left.

The land where Alamo Ranch is now was nice green pasture. Now it is a concrete jungle.

[tr_resident]

Originally Posted by TowBar

I live in Redbird Ranch, and sometimes when the conditions are right if I am on my back patio I can hear trains blow their horn. Certainly not loud enough to hear inside my house though.

It's probably the train that travels travels to/from Mexico via Del Rio. The tracks parallel US 90 then turns south just west of Castroville before turning east again to enter the SA metro area near Loop 410 and IH 35 on the southwest side.

On cold days, particularly in the morning just when the sun is coming up, you can hear sounds from miles away. I used to hear dogs barking to the north in the morning where I used to work. Nearest place dogs were was 3 miles away as the crow flies.

The cold dense air enables sound to travel long distances.