Some long-time business owners on San Antonio’s West Side have lost a battle to get their old street name back. The San Antonio City Council voted not to restore the name Old Highway 90 to what is now called Enrique M. Barrera Parkway.
The council voted 10-0. A group of business owners and community members had formed as Save Old Highway 90 in hopes of getting back the name. Combined, they had raised the $32,000 required to pay for replacing road signs. Javier Gutierrez owns Del Bravo Records on the strip of road. He says the outcome is disappointing.
“We’re licking our wounds. We’ll be back; it's not over for us. We’ll have to regroup and see what we’re going to do and how to fix this because it's wrong.”
He and other shop owners told council members they have lost business over confusion in the name change which council approved in mid-2015.
Enrique Barrera was a former Edgewood school board member and former District 6 Councilman who died in 2007. San Antonio resident Carlos Resendez told the council he likes the new name Barrera.
“The name Enrique Barrera Parkway personifies a person with vision, a person with dedication, a person committed to helping senior citizens.”
The current District 6 Councilman Ray Lopez says residents he talked with believed Barrera was someone who should be honored and looked up to by young people.
“And letting them know there are people from the west side that have, by the grass-roots, grown-up contributed to the community and made a difference and they too can do the same thing. It’s called pride.”
Lopez also said many businesses had already updated stationary and adjusted to the change.
