OUR TURN: Dangerous stretch of Texas 29 should be a TxDOT priority

When something bad happens over and over again, it’s time to fix the problem.

So it stands to reason that improvements to a stretch of Texas 29 between Burnet and Bertram that has been the site of nearly 100 accidents, including four fatalities, from 2010 to so far this year should be a priority for the Texas Department of Transportation.

Sadly, that isn’t the case.

In spite of the mishaps that have caused so much pain and misery, the state highway department says adding turn lanes that would alleviate the danger is not at the top of its to-do list.

According to state highway officials, there are more immediate projects in the 254 counties and thousands upon thousands of roads the tax-funded department maintains.

At least three of the dead in the Burnet County crashes have been children. In the latest, Burnet High School students Sierra Hardin, 16, and her brother Caleb Hardin, 14, lost their lives Feb. 23 when their sedan ran into the back of a Burnet school bus that stopped to make a left-hand turn from 29 onto CR 252.

The Burnet County Commissioners Court last year finalized a traffic plan that called for adding four turn lanes to the eight-mile stretch of 29 between Burnet and Bertram that has turned into such a deadly roadway.

Those intersections are CR 258/303, CR 333, CR 304 and CR 252.

The cost is about $500,000 each.

TxDOT promises the turn lanes are coming. But the question is: When? How much longer should residents tolerate the dangers of the road?

Money for projects originates with the State Highway Fund, and the funding comes from taxes.

So, the people of Burnet County (or any travelers on 29 for that matter) who would benefit most from road upgrades, the people who are paying for TxDOT projects, are also those who are being told to wait.

That doesn’t seem fair. Or right.

Burnet County falls within TxDOT’s Austin district, which numbers 11 counties including population hubs Travis and Williamson. TxDOT officials must decide which projects have priority across that large district.

A lot of the projects, of course, go to Austin.

Also, say state officials, Burnet County has already benefited from TxDOT initiatives, including improvements to 6.3 miles of FM 963 northeast of Burnet; widening of U.S. 281 for 2.7 miles south of Burnet; replacing the 281 bridge in Marble Falls; and adding a center lane on RR 1431 for about a mile west of Marble Falls.

That might be true, but the facts and figures offer little comfort to the survivors of those whose lives were lost on 29.

How many more tragedies must occur before TxDOT makes the turn lanes a priority?

The commissioners and other local officials are urged to continue applying pressure so the highway department doesn’t put the brakes on the 29 roadway improvement measures.

Lives could be in the balance.