The Texas Department of Transportation is currently in the middle of conducting a two-year study on the Highway 67 Corridor. As tourism and travel along the highway increases, the study aims to identify short, medium, and long term projects for the corridor.
One of the primary reasons for this study is concerns over safety. Christopher Weber is TxDOT’s Alpine-area engineer. He says the "corridor is above the Texas rural average for crashes." There were more than 600 accidents from 2010 to 2016. That figure includes 100 injury cases and 11 fatal accidents.
Weber hopes TxDOT will be able to decrease the number of crashes and fatalities by having a better understanding of transportation problems through public input. That's why they're hosting public meetings to educate citizens on the study and get a better sense of concerns. Weber says that no decisions have been made about the corridor, and public participation is crucial for the project's success.
The engineer encourages citizens to voice their opinion about everything from crosswalks, bicycle traffic, lighting, vehicle traffic, and pedestrian traffic.
"A lot times we talk about improvements to highways, and improvements can be one of two things in my mind. In this context, it usually means building or changing or modifying something," says Weber. "But it can be also something we want to preserve — whether that be quality of life or some special element of the roadway..."
Here is the schedule of public meetings:
- ALPINE: Monday, May 14, 2018 | 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM CST | Alpine Civic Center | 100 N 13th St | Alpine, TX 79830
- FORT STOCKTON: Tuesday, May 15 | 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM CST | Large Community Hall | James Rooney Memorial Park | Fort Stockton, TX 79735
- MARFA: Wednesday, May 16 | 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM CST | USO Building | 302 S Highland Ave | Marfa, TX 79843
- PRESIDIO: Thursday, May 17 | 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM CST | Presidio Activity Center | 1200 E O’Reilly | Presidio, TX 79845
Additional online resources:
- An online portal has been developed for the public to join in the conversation. Here participants can make a profile, find specific areas of concern and leave a comment or question.
- US 67 MindMixer Website: http://us67.mindmixer.com
- An online mapping tool (Corridor Planning Tool) has been developed to share information collected thus far:
- Online Map Portal: https://maps.viewprogis.com/vp/us67
