RR 1431 safe for Manzano Mile exit, TxDOT says
MARBLE FALLS —Though the area is accident-prone, there are no plans to widen two-lane RR 1431 at the proposed Manzano Mile leading to the future Colt Elementary School, state highway officials confirmed Wednesday.
By next fall, however, hundreds of families could be using the much-narrower 1431 to get to the school, heightening fears of mishaps at the intersection.
“The road meets all our criteria for a new roadway, including spacing and sight distance criteria,” said Area Engineer Howard Lyons of the Texas Department of Transportation. “It meets all our standards.”
The Manzano Mile, which is under construction, empties onto 1431 about one mile west of a tight curve that wrecker driver Tommy Huey said has contributed to many accidents on the steep, winding road.
“There have been quite a few wrecks right around where that road’s going in,” said Huey, who operates a wrecker service in Marble Falls. “I would say I go out there (to respond to wrecks) every one or two months.”
Contractors from Austin-based Ross Construction started work on the $7.4 million, five-lane Manzano Mile this month.
Two lanes of the new road will be ready when the new Colt campus opens north of Marble Falls High School next fall, said Marble Falls Independent School District Superintendent Ryder Warren. The road will eventually connect with Mormon Mill Road.
Manzano Mile is named for Marble Falls High School graduate and Olympic athlete Leonel Manzano.
TxDOT officials said portions of 1431 were widened from the original two-lanes at Mustang Drive after traffic became a concern when the high school opened.
Lyons said those concerns don’t apply to the intersection with the Manzano Mile.
He said any business or government that builds a road opening onto a state highway must first submit to a lengthy process of TxDOT safety and traffic-study requirements.
“If it is a large traffic generator, like the new Lowe’s (on U.S. 281 North in Marble Falls) or a school, not only do they have to meet spacing requirements for a driveway or access way, we require a traffic impact analysis to be conducted by an independent engineering firm,” Lyons said. “If the study determines the new road will impact traffic, we ask that the builders do improvements to the system to offset that. For example, if the traffic impact warrants a new signal, then they would pay the construction costs for that signal.”
Lyons said the traffic-impact analysis for Manzano Mile didn’t indicate any need for changes to 1431 near the construction site. The road consists of two lanes in that area, with no turn lanes and a shallow shoulder.
Rather than create additional traffic headaches on 1431, Warren said the opening of Manzano Mile will alleviate several safety concerns at the high school, which right now has only one way in and one way out — Mustang Drive.
“The safety issue was kind of the other way around,” Warren said. “We’ve always wanted to have the additional road because of the issue we had with having one way in and one way out of a 4-A high school. Even if we did not have the new Colt, we would still want to have the new road there.”
Warren said having the road in place will allow district officials to finally complete a paved loop around the high school.
“We’re going to complete that loop and bring it out onto the Manzano Mile,” he said. “That will allow us to separate the school bus traffic from the parent and student traffic. We’re going to totally separate that traffic, which will make it much safer.”
Warren said the buses will enter the campus from Mustang Drive and exit onto Manzano Mile after picking up or dropping off students behind the high school.
In the meantime, Lyons said TxDOT will likely install warning markers once the new road is completed to warn approaching motorists.
“There may be some warning signs that would be reasonable and practical to put up to let people know they’re approaching a school area,” Lyons said. “We may also look at extending the school zone out toward that area.”
Lyons said there haven’t been as many fatal wrecks on 1431 since a portion of the road about seven miles east of Marble Falls was completed a few years ago.
“We’ve fixed many of those curves where they’ve had repeated accidents,” he said. “The county, the city and TxDOT are working to complete the (1431) corridor through Burnet County. We’ve finished most of the middle parts of the highway, and we’re hoping to complete the portion near the Marble Falls city limits next.”
chris@thepicayune.com