In The Media

San Antonio can get hot. Some parts of the city, especially those with a lot of buildings and roads but not much natural shade, can get even hotter – sometimes, by as much as 20 degrees.

This is called the “urban heat island” effect.

One reason is our streets. Asphalt, used to pave roads, traps heat and releases it at night, making a hot city even hotter. It can also increase air pollution.

With heat-related illness on the rise in San Antonio, “it’s critical that we direct resources to those most in need of relief,” the city’s chief sustainability officer said.

The City of San Antonio continues to lead by example in its climate planning efforts. To expand its Cool Pavement pilot from 2023, the City partnered with the University of Texas at San Antonio's (UTSA) Sustainable Pervasive Urban Resilience (SPUR) Center to measure heat vulnerability in San Antonio and help direct resources toward the areas most impacted by extreme heat.

The city of San Antonio is ramping up efforts to cool down neighborhoods and reduce the heat emanating from streets as another sweltering summer approaches.

San Antonio city officials said road maintenance crews will begin fully using what they describe as a cool pavement product designed to better reflect sunlight during warm temperatures.

This is part of a larger effort to counter the effects of climate change and extreme heat, officials said.