Fort Sam Houston (FSH) will experience growth due to the realignment of the Department of Defense medical training and research missions. The numbers are:
- 4500 students
- 7600 faculty, and
- 8500 family members.
The majority of this growth will take place between 2010 and 2012. Construction of new facilities and barracks began in 2007.
The area’s northern boundary is Rittiman Road. This puts Terrell Heights outside the urban plan. The plan concentrates on the area south of FSH: Government Hill, Mahnke Park and the east side of downtown. The idea is to stimulate growth so that people working at Fort Sam Houston will live near the base. Additionally, the area east of Fort Sam Houston would be developed into a healthcare business zone.
Traffic Patterns
A Salado Creek Parkway is being proposed to connect 410 and Fort Sam Houston. Streets on the west side of Fort Sam Houston would be linked to ease the flow of traffic. Carson Street was mentioned often in the briefing; it runs east-west south of FSH. New Braunfels will not be reopened through FSH. FSH will retain the current number of gates.
As to the impact on our neighborhood, we are not a through area for traffic to Fort Sam Houston. The majority of employees live in the Northside and Northeast ISDs. Their traffic patterns are IH-35, 410, Harry Wurzbach, & US 281. However, we will be looking at current traffic patterns to establish a baseline to evaluate the future.
Job Creation
The consolidation of military medical missions should create up to 4,000 jobs due to current employees not relocating to San Antonio. The idea is to work with local schools and colleges to begin the education process to help fill those vacancies.
