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The San Antonio City Council approved nearly $5 million in contracts on Thursday for the city’s Cool Pavement Program.
The city contracted with Stripe it Up LLC to repave some of the hottest parts of the city with low-heat absorbing pavement.
The city’s Cool Pavement Program is intended to bring down surface temperatures in 22 miles of San Antonio’s hottest streets. Those areas have few trees and little shade, leading to areas of the city that can be as much as 20 degrees hotter than other parts of San Antonio.
The Fiscal Year 2025 budget included nearly $6 million for the Cool Pavements Program.
Researchers throughout South Texas are developing better understandings of urban heat islands, particularly in lower income parts of San Antonio and other cities, and how they diminish the quality of life for residents.
In 2024, three South Texas border communities partnered with the Rio Grande International Study Center (RGISC) to launch a heat mapping initiative named CALOR, or "Climate Action in Laredo to Organize Resilience."
Data was gathered from Laredo, Rio Bravo, and El Cenizo using vehicle-mounted sensors. Officials hoped to use the initiative to better understand the dangers of heat islands and develop strategies to effectively cool their communities. The RGISC recruited volunteers to help collect data.
Weather experts are also learning more about the heat domes that can soar over huge regions of the U.S. and intensify the danger of existing heat islands. In June 2024, NPR published a useful explainer on the science behind heat domes.
