New traffic signals coming to RM 1431
Glynis Crawford Smith/The Highlander
Footings for a new caution light have been poured on the north and south sides of Ranch to Market Road 1431. They will warn approaching motorists for caution at the intersection with Burnet County Road 125/Highland Drive in and out of the City of Highland Haven or County Road 120 that connects eastward to US 281.
By Glynis Crawford Smith
The Highlander
Travelers of Ranch to Market Road (RM) 1431 west from Marble Falls can expect two new traffic signals.
One of them, a new caution light at the intersection of Burnet County Road 120 and Burnet County Road 125/Highland Drive, the entrance to the City of Highland Haven, is under construction.
“This is a safety issue that Highland Haven has been requesting from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) for several years,” said Olan Kelley, mayor of city.
“Be sure to pass along your thanks to Burnet County Judge James Oakley, and Cathy Kratz, the Burnet Area engineer for TxDOT and Burnet County Precinct 1 Commissioner Jim Luther Jr., who have been working to improve the safety at this intersection as well as others in Burnet County,” Kelley added in a message to Highland Haven citizens.
Although Krantz did not offer exact numbers, she said the Highland Haven light was initiated due to crashes at the intersection, where the highway speed is 60 mph.
The second new signal has been a concern in Granite Shoals for some time—a stop light for the intersection with Prairie Creek Road. A turn lane is provided for business and street access, but the speed limit through the city is 50 mph, a limit that has become even more attractive with surface improvements through the city.
Granite Shoals City Manager Ken Nickel told the city council Tuesday night, July 25, that the safety measure is in the works.
“The signal is in design, with a construction bid date of August, 2018,” said Kratz. “The intersection meets warrants to be signalized.”
Kratz theorizes the traffic may ebb and flow on RM 1431 with surrounding lake levels. Lake LBJ has a somewhat constant level, but the figures do seem to coincide with the levels of Lake Buchanan and Lake Travis during drought..
The latest figures on average daily traffic are for 2015, 10,254 cars per day, but they actually exceeded that in 2007, 10,800 cars per day. In the intervening years, however, traffic hovered between 9,400 and a low of 7,500 cars per day in 2012.
When new figures are in, however, regular commuters on the highway may be justified in the feeling that the line of bumpers in front of them is growing every day. It is a perception that has appealed to folks dreaming of a Wirtz Dam bridge to carry them south to Farm to Market Road 2147 and Cottonwood Shores or Horseshoe Bay.
