A fatal icy early-morning crash on Monday shut down several eastbound lanes of Highway 90 at General McMullen on San Antonio’s West Side after a man was struck and killed while attempting to service his truck. The incident turned the rush-hour drive into a crawl. The wreck unfolded as a lingering winter storm left stretches of pavement slick, sending traffic off the main lanes and onto the frontage road and creating backups that stretched for miles. Drivers reported stop-and-go frustration as emergency crews worked to sort out the mess and reopen the highway.
Crash Brings US 90 Traffic to a Standstill
According to MySanAntonio, the collision happened around 6 a.m., right as the morning commute ramped up. Texas Department of Transportation cameras showed several eastbound lanes closed, with only limited movement getting by. The traffic-monitoring site SigAlert clocked vehicles creeping along at roughly 1 to 4 miles per hour and warned of an estimated two-hour delay, as drivers were pushed off the main lanes and onto the frontage road. Early reports did not specify how many vehicles were involved, and authorities had not yet released information on possible injuries.
Winter Storm Turns West Side Roads Treacherous
The National Weather Service’s Austin/San Antonio office had an Extreme Cold Warning in place, cautioning that “Hazardous travel conditions continue at least into Monday morning for roads that have ice on them from packed down sleet and freezing rain accumulation,” according to NWS Austin/San Antonio. Forecasters said temperatures early Monday would hover near 20°F, with wind chills dipping into the low teens, setting up ideal conditions for any moisture, puddles or treated surfaces to refreeze overnight. Local agencies urged residents to stay off the roads unless travel was absolutely necessary while crews worked to clear crashes and lingering ice.
City Keeps Warming Hubs Open as Crews Work the Roads
Per a city news release, San Antonio scaled back nonessential operations and kept resiliency hubs and warming centers open to help residents ride out the cold snap. Officials reminded the public to look after the “four P’s” - people, pets, plants and pipes - and to double-check city resources before heading out, since some services were running on adjusted schedules. City crews and partner agencies remained on standby as first responders managed lane closures along Highway 90 and handled cleanup at the crash site.
Crash-Prone Stretch Has a Rough Track Record
U.S. 90 on the West Side has seen multiple major crashes in recent months, particularly during early-morning commutes and bouts of wintry weather. A chain-reaction wreck on January 6 is one recent example that shut things down for hours, local reporting shows. The San Antonio Express-News has connected similar pileups to sudden braking and domino-effect collisions when the pavement turns slick, a pattern that has led officials to repeatedly urge drivers to slow down and leave extra space on this corridor. Local traffic managers say TransGuide and TxDOT camera feeds frequently show some of the region’s worst backups on this stretch whenever the weather goes sideways.
What Drivers Are Being Told to Do
Motorists were urged to delay nonessential trips and brace for longer-than-normal commutes if they had to be on the road, according to live traffic reports. MySanAntonio noted that SigAlert advised using the frontage road to skirt the closure where possible. Commuters were encouraged to check live traffic cameras and mapping apps and to build in plenty of extra time if their route took them through the West Side.
Authorities had not yet released a cause of the collision or a final vehicle count as crews continued working the scene. Updates from TxDOT and other local agencies were expected as the morning wore on and lanes gradually reopened.
