SAN ANTONIO – The City of San Antonio is taking another look at an East Side intersection that one business owner says he’s been warning about for “years.”
Mark Outing, the owner of Mark’s Outing burger restaurant on East Commerce, posted a video on social media after he arrived at work Saturday to find his fence busted up from an overnight crash. After 21 years near the intersection with Pine Street, it’s not the first time he’s seen crashes.
“You know, I’ve been talking to the city about East Commerce and Pine for years now, and I keep telling them we need to get a stoplight,” Outing said in his video.
Outing is worried about drivers’ speed along East Commerce Street and believes the stop signs for the drivers merging or crossing from Pine Street are too far back. With a light, he said, everybody would stop.
“Does that mean it’s not going to be no accidents? No, it doesn’t mean that. People run lights, but I’m saying it would slow it down,” he told TheTXLoop.
San Antonio police said this weekend’s crash is still under investigation. According to preliminary information, a westbound vehicle on East Commerce Street with five people and a northbound driver on Pine Street collided at the intersection shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday morning.
The driver of the northbound car was treated for minor injuries at the scene, police said, while the driver and three passengers in the other vehicle were taken to a hospital.
Outing said a woman who identified herself as the mother of someone involved in the crash came by and took pictures. She also shared the picture he used in his video of the crashed car, he said.
Despite not knowing her name, Outing said they had been communicating.
“She let me know that her son was having surgery today,” he told TheTXLoop on Monday. “Actually, she let me know that two people also had had surgery and they were doing well, and it was one more young lady that was scheduled to go into surgery today as well.“
A Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) database shows that since 2021, there have been 16 crashes on East Commerce Street within a half block of the intersection. Most were right at it.
There were few recorded injuries in those crashes, which did not include this weekend’s collision.
Outing’s video attracted the attention of Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2), who advised him in the comment section to contact 311 with a request for a traffic light and then give his office the case number.
“We’re scheduled to end up meeting here very soon, and they gave me the channels that I needed to go through,” Outing told TheTXLoop. “So this morning I took those steps, and then I’ve reached out to the office since then, and they’ll probably be reaching out to me some point.”
McKee-Rodriguez confirmed in a statement texted by a spokeswoman that his office had followed up with Public Works on the request, but he also urged drivers to “be responsible.”
“We have followed up with Public Works on the request. While we continue to make investments in infrastructure, including a newly added median just a couple blocks down the street, we urge drivers to be responsible.
“There is no reason for a driver to have hit that property if they were unimpaired and following the rules of the road. We cannot make drivers drive better if they continue to ignore stop signs, speed bumps, signage, medians, and other drivers.”
Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2)
Later Monday afternoon, a Public Works spokesman said that while the department had not found a need for additional traffic control measures when it investigated the area in 2019, “staff will review again based on recent data.”
“The Public Works Department investigated the area near Commerce & Pine in 2019. At that time, the data did not indicate a need for additional traffic control measures. Staff will review again based on recent data.
“Traffic control measures can include traffic signals, but also stop signs, pavement markings, medians, and other treatments. The best way for residents to submit traffic safety concerns is to contact 311 via phone call or the ’311sa’ mobile app. Each concerned is logged and tracked to ensure a timely response.”
Nick Olivier, Public Works Department spokesman
The spokesman was unable to immediately confirm if Outing had reached out before.
Read also:
Copyright 2026 by TheTXLoop – All rights reserved.