Incarnate Word, Zoo in Turf Battle! (San Antonio, Highland Park: home, neighborhood, construction)

[Buffyfan]

Originally Posted by datacity

I would love to see passionate alumni such as yourself take the lead by contributing land and money to make this happen.

I do donate money every year. As well as the years spent as a student.

[datacity]

Originally Posted by Buffyfan

I do donate money every year. As well as the years spent as a student.

More power to you. Who knows... maybe it will be called the Buffyfan School of Fine Arts... and Vampire Slaying?

[Buffyfan]

We crusaders/cardinals have many talents.

[Montirob]

Originally Posted by scuba steve

You seriously think the city built Highway 281?

Please don't tell me you think 281 was built with federal funds.

Because of the controversy put forth by the Conservation Society and the Sisters, the highway was built by the City of San Antonio and the State of Texas without any federal funds (the US Supreme Court even became involved). "Since the highway was built without federal funds, it is not officially part of the federal interstate system and is designated not Interstate 37 but U.S. 281" (from Lewis Fisher's excellent book, Saving San Antonio).

[RGJ]

Originally Posted by Montirob

Please don't tell me you think 281 was built with federal funds.

Because of the controversy put forth by the Conservation Society and the Sisters, the highway was built by the City of San Antonio and the State of Texas without any federal funds (the US Supreme Court even became involved). "Since the highway was built without federal funds, it is not officially part of the federal interstate system and is designated not Interstate 37 but U.S. 281" (from Lewis Fisher's excellent book, Saving San Antonio).

I think IH 37 stops at IH 35 interchange, then it becomes Hwy 281/McAllister north of that interchange. IH37 took part of the property I grew up in...Not all, but some of it. For many years, it was held up north of IH 35 interchange,

[Montirob]

Originally Posted by RGJ

I think IH 37 stops at IH 35 interchange, then it becomes Hwy 281/McAllister north of that interchange.

Thanks for the info. I wasn't sure where the controversial 2.5 mile "center section" of the highway ended.

What are really interesting (not to get off the thread topic too much) are the other proposed routes for the highway - one idea had it going between Alamo Stadium and Trinity University. Another scheme had it clipping a portion of the city of Olmos Park (they were not amused), cutting diagonally through Olmos Park Terrace to the intersection of San Pedro and Hildebrand, and then continuing through Alta Vista to Fredericksburg Road.

[RGJ]

I was not aware of the alternate routes. It was a major hurdle getting it through downtown and north as it ended up. I know that when it came time to run 281 through Olmos Park, skirting most of Alamo Hts, it had nothing to do with "environmental impact". It had everything to do with big, and I'm talking huge, money and political clout.

[wehotex]

Originally Posted by RGJ

I was not aware of the alternate routes. It was a major hurdle getting it through downtown and north as it ended up. I know that when it came time to run 281 through Olmos Park, skirting most of Alamo Hts, it had nothing to do with "environmental impact". It had everything to do with big, and I'm talking huge, money and political clout.

It would seem to me that the area that 281 runs thru had some pretty expensive homes considering that Olmos Park homes are there. What were the homes like that were demolished to make room for the 281? Were they fancy, average, middle class. Which neighborhoods of today did they most resemble?

[RGJ]

I'm not sure, but in those days, I would guess the average home price to be maybe $100-200k for the most larger places. But again, that was a lot of years ago. $100k was a lot of money back then. Now it's in the millions...

[scuba steve]

Originally Posted by Montirob

Please don't tell me you think 281 was built with federal funds.

Because of the controversy put forth by the Conservation Society and the Sisters, the highway was built by the City of San Antonio and the State of Texas without any federal funds (the US Supreme Court even became involved). "Since the highway was built without federal funds, it is not officially part of the federal interstate system and is designated not Interstate 37 but U.S. 281" (from Lewis Fisher's excellent book, Saving San Antonio).

Fine - US 281 sans part of it through San Antonio. The author's semantics on the highway system are off though. The familiar black / white shield signed highways aren't interstates but are still considered the US Highway system. Paid for with federal funds and built to federal standards. However, that has nothing to do with designating a highway US vs. Interstate. It appears that it was going to be Hwy 281 all along vs. I-37.

US 281 opened to traffic on February 7, 1978 and was certified on September 11, 1978. Named for Walter McAllister, San Antonio's mayor when the freeway was proposed. McAllister was influential in getting the freeway built. Was originally called the "North Expressway."

This highway was one of the most controversial freeway projects in US history. It was widely acknowledged by the early '50s that the city needed a north-central freeway and planning for the route had quietly begun by 1955. By 1960, several routes for the North Expressway were being considered: San Pedro, McCullough, and Broadway. The San Pedro route was dismissed because it did not provide access to San Antonio International Airport. The Broadway route would require too much expensive right-of-way to be acquired. The McCullough route was also too expensive. So a route midway between Broadway and McCullough that wound around Brackenridge Park (clipping-off a corner of the golf course), through the suburb of Olmos Park, and over the Olmos flood control basin was selected. The City of Olmos Park blocked that route though, so the Texas Highway Department chose an alternate route that skirted around the eastern edge of the suburb. The route ran between Alamo Stadium, the Sunken Gardens and the San Antonio Zoo. On January 10, 1961, San Antonio voters approved a bond issue to purchase land to replace the parkland that would be taken for the freeway. There was, however, heated debate over this routing as well. The protests by conservationists and preservationists centered on the "Yarborough Rule"-- a caveat in federal highway funding rules prohibiting the taking of parklands for highways. The section of the freeway skirting Olmos Park would run through the Olmos flood control basin, a wooded area viewed as "parkland" by many. In 1969, after years of protests and legal wrangling by the San Antonio Conservation Society, work began on the undisputed southern and northern thirds of the freeway while the debate over the routing of the center section continued. In May of 1971, construction on the whole project was halted by a federal court, which also revoked the project's federal funding. This delay caused problems for the City, which was trying to secure the land for a planned interchange at Loop 410. In 1972, the US Supreme Court upheld the lower court's injunction and it appeared that the North Expressway was dead. However, in 1973, Senators John Tower and Lloyd Bentsen sponsored legislation which would allow the City and State to build the freeway without federal money. The legislation passed both houses of Congress and was upheld by a US District Court on December 10, 1973, removing all federal involvement in the project and allowing the City and State to go it alone. Work resumed on the project's stalled northern and southern segments within 24 hours of the ruling. A last-ditch court challenge suspended the project for five more months in mid-1974, but that case was dismissed and work started on the controversial center section on November 13, 1974. The freeway opened on February 7, 1978, and in 1981 was named by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) as one of the nation's three most attractive urban freeways.

The San Antonio Area Freeway System - US 281 North