The city is kicking off a $1 million pilot program to apply cool pavement — a water-based asphalt treatment — to sections of roadway in all 10 City Council districts, totally to around 800,000 square feet. The pavement is supposed to reduce spikes in temperature by reflecting more sunlight and absorbing less heat.
The city identified the spots based on their equity and heat database to prioritize neighborhoods that are most impacted by the heat, said Murray Myers, the senior municipal sustainability manager for the city. Areas just east and west of downtown are the hottest, according to the city's urban heat island maps. The Medical District is also a hotspot. Neighborhood heat increases due to more concrete, less green spaces and smaller tree canopy.
Installation will begin this week and will continue for the next month. Next, the city will study the locations for six months and partner with the University of Texas at San Antonio to evaluate the results. UTSA professors and students will test the 10 sites and the 10 control sites during the hottest months of the year to measure for surface temperature, ambient air temperature, wet temperature and reflective radiation.
In 2021, San Antonio tested this technology at the east end of the Hays Street Bridge in the Dignowity Hill neighborhood. UTSA found that black asphalt was 10 to 12 degrees hotter than asphalt treated with cool pavement. This new pilot program will use four different cool pavement products and eventually determine which one is the most affective in San Antonio.
The city will notify residents who live on these cool pavement streets a few weeks in advance. The street will close down in the morning and should be ready to use later that evening.
"What we're hoping to see is that the products are effective, they're safe, they cool down the street by 10 to 15 degrees," Myers said. "And this is just cool pavement as one tool. That's why we're hopeful that if it works, we can start to explore adding tree canopies, cool roofs and other mitigation methods to really cool down some of the San Antonio neighborhoods."
HERE'S WHERE THE PAVEMENT WILL BE INSTALLED:
- Week of April 24: Grant Ave. from Cincinnati Ave. to W. Craig Pl.
- Week of April 24: Carol Crest from Kay Ann Dr. to Argonne Dr.
- Week of May 10: Moursund Blvd. from Gillette Blvd. to Baetz Blvd.
- Week of May 1: Rebeccas Trail from Stephens Ranch to Wolf Point
- Week of May 1: Mountain Star from Stephens Ranch to Wolf Point
- Week of May 1: SW. 21st St. from Saltillo Rd. to S. Laredo St.
- Week of April 24: Spiral Creek from Ribbon Creek to Creek Ridge
- Week of May 10: Madeleine Dr. from Princess Diane St. to Keystone
- Week of May 8: Clifton Forge St. from Big Meadows St. to Flint Hill St.
- Week of April 24: Encino Ridge St. from Encino Loop to Cul de sac
- Week of April 24: Park Farm from Park Bluff St. to Park Hollow
- Week of May 8: Higgins Rd. from Buckwheat St. to Nacogdoches Rd.
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