According to TxDOT data, the 11-mile stretch the highway recorded 244 crashes between 2021 and 2025, including six fatal crashes. In April, Kendall County and Bandera County commissioners formally declared the highway unsafe and urged the state to accelerate improvements as population growth and new development continue to increase traffic volumes.
This summer, the agency will install new pavement markings, warning signs and centerline rumble strips designed to reduce head-on collisions along the two-lane highway.
According to Jennifer Serold, TxDOT’s lead public information officer, crash data shows unsafe speed and driver inattention are among the most common contributing factors in Texas 46 crashes.
TxDOT says it has already invested roughly $2 million in highway safety improvements, including upgraded pavement markings, new signage, friction treatments, pavement repairs and visibility enhancements. Preliminary 2025 data shows crashes have declined by about 7% compared with the previous year.
Within the next two years, TxDOT has secured approximately $7 million to add turn lanes at several high-crash intersections along Texas 46. The project will also include a four-foot centerline buffer, lane widening and dedicated left-turn lanes. Officials expect the project to go out for bids in 2027.
A larger Highway 46 expansion project remains years away.
TxDOT is conducting a feasibility study that could take four to six years to complete. Officials say long-term improvements could include expanding Highway 46 into a four-lane divided roadway, widening shoulders, adding medians or center turn lanes, creating additional passing zones and realigning dangerous curves.
However, TxDOT officials said those improvements will require additional state funding before construction can begin.