Bandera\u00a0County officials have declared a stretch of Texas Highway 46 \u201cunsafe\u201d and \u201cinadequate,\u201d calling on the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to take action after years of crashes and fatalities on the two-lane road.<\/p>\n
The Bandera County Commissioners Court unanimously passed a resolution during regular scheduled meeting on Thursday, April 9. A county employee who declined to give their name confirmed the vote. The minutes to the public meeting have not been posted by the county.<\/p>\n
The resolution demands that\u00a0TxDOT improve road conditions on the two-lane highway that runs through both\u00a0Bandera and Kendall counties.\u00a0A Change.org petition<\/a> cites TxDOT data that says there have\u00a0been around 550 crashes, 13 fatalities and 44 serious injuries in the last 10 years. MySA has not been able to verify those numbers.<\/p>\n Residents in the area recently created the petition, which has gathered more than 850 signatures, to urge officials to widen the highway.<\/p>\n In the petition, residents say the rapid growth in the Boerne area has increased traffic on the highway, increasing the risk for head-on collisions.\u00a0<\/p>\n “I drive Highway 46 between Pipe Creek and\u00a0Boerne every single day, and my young daughter does too,” said one petition signer under the user name “Yvie.” “This road is extremely dangerous, narrow, one lane each way, sharp curves, blind hills, and no shoulder or safe place to pass … Every day we drive it, we are taking a real risk.”\u00a0<\/p>\n In March, a 21-year-old was killed in a crash on the highway, just west of\u00a0Boerne, according to GoFundMe organizers<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n