DMN: Poor highway planning caused three Texas deaths

Three girls killed near Dallas

Steve Hawley, Dec 15, 09.

Inadequate highway planning led to the deaths of three teenage girls last week in Terrell, TX, according to a Dallas Morning News editorial. The girls, who were ages 12, 14, and 16, were trying to cross a state highway that passes through a residential area and has no speed limit signs or nearby crosswalks. The incident took place in Terrell, about 20 miles east of Dallas.

The editorial board states:

Because the traffic patterns are still under review by the state, drivers on that road can drive the state maximum of 70 mph in the day, 65 mph at night. That must seem like madness to the families and community who are mourning the deaths of the three girls.

While authorities have not disclosed whether speed was a factor in the accident, this heartbreaking loss demands an evaluation of how speed limits are set, how traffic is controlled and how state highways are configured within city limits.

While the road meets the minimum state and federal safety requirements, the Morning News says that is not enough. For instance, it says:

After a new state highway is opened, the Texas Department of Transportation allows drivers to get used to the roadway for a couple of months. Local TxDOT engineers then document traffic patterns and speed and send their findings to Austin with a recommendation.

In this case, traffic engineers had already determined that most motorists drove less than 50 mph on the new road, which would have meant setting the speed limit in the 40-45 mph range. Yet the report hadn’t been moved out of TxDOT’s Austin offices.

Another example is the fact that the highway lacked lighting and crosswalks. According to the paper, there are currently no indicators on that stretch of road to warn drivers that they are entering a populated area.

The Morning News notes that the deaths highlight issues raised in the recent Transportation for America report Dangerous by Design. The report states:

The pressure to move as many cars through these areas as quickly as possible has led transportation departments to squeeze in as many lanes as they can, while designing out sidewalks, crosswalks and crossing signals, on-street parking, and even street trees in order to remove impediments to speeding traffic.

The report lists Houston as the eighth-most dangerous city for pedestrians, while Dallas-Fort Worth ranks 13th. Austin is 19th and San Antonio is 30th, out of 52 total cities.

Transportation for America report: Dangerous by Design

(Photo Credit: Crystian Cruz)