TxDOT Engineer Andres Gonzales detailed planned 2025-2028 projects for Bandera County at the May 23 Commissioners’ Court, appealing for community input and highlighting the ongoing campaign to improve road safety statewide.
Accompanied by a group of colleagues, Gonzales presented a review of the 2025-2028 Rural Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) projects covering Bandera, Kendall, Kerr and Uvalde Counties.
Gonzales declared that Nov 7, 2000, was the last deathless day on Texas roadways.
“Obviously, that means that every day after that date, there’s been at least one death on our Texas roads, so our slogan basically is, ‘End the Streak,’ our goal is to stop that. This is a reminder that simple things like not being distracted while driving, wearing your seatbelt, driving the speed limit. The main contributing factor is speed. Again, those three are the major reasons for fatal accidents on our roadways. So please share this message with your loved ones.”
Gonzales asked everyone to promote safe driving in general and safe practices.
TxDOT’s Rural TIP is a list of added capacity and regionally significant projects to be funded within a TxDOT’s district during the next four years, including those eligible for federal funding.
This includes projects for vehicles, pedestrian, buses, bicycles, and trucks.
“The idea is for everything we are doing to be consistent with projects and objectives including a regional kind of longrange plan to make sense, if you will, with the entire statewide plans,” stated Gonzales.
According to Gonzales, some of the aspects that they look at in the project’s selection process are congestion and development that increases the average daily traffic, fatal and severe crashes throughout the area, and development.
Gonzales said the impetus for their presentation is to receive feedback and input so they could modify Rural TIP projects and resend them to local entities.
Providing a list of the current Bandera County TIP projects, Gonzales provided an overview of each project’s progress: Project 0291-06-053 expands Highway 16 from a two-lane to a four-lane from Robindale East Rd to Old San Antonio Rd.
“Currently, we are about 30 percent complete, roughly. We’re still on time based on the allotted time of the contract,” said Gonzles. “We are roughly going to switch traffic around the end of July this year. We’ll provide more information as we get closer to that. During the summer, we plan to make the intersection work by the high school. Rough finish date is summer of next year.”
Project 0291-06-062 involves widening Highway 16 to add shoulders between Privilege Creek and 0.2 miles west of FM 1283.
“We are about 60% complete,” said Gonzales. “We are going to switch traffic within the next couple of weeks. We are expected to finish roughly at the end of August through September.
Project 0915-47-039 replaces the bridge and approaches at English Crossing Rd. at Medina River.
“That one is making pretty significant progress. Today, we finished the flooring of the deck of the bridge. So we’re looking to make the final processes to close this project in probably about 3 months,” said Gonzales.
Afterwards, Gonzales shared the TIP projects planned for Fiscal Years 2025, 2026,and 2027, saying that most were preventative maintenance projects.
Referencing the 2026 project to add left turn and right turn lanes at both sides at the intersection of Main St (Hwy 16) and TX 173, Gonzales said that they are looking at the challenges of parking on Main St. along with their overall plan to improve mobility at that intersection in May 2026.
Per Gonzales, not shown on the list yet planned for 2028 is the replacement of the Patterson St. Bridge in Medina, which Judge Richard Evans requested be moved up on the schedule.
Another item undergoing a feasibility study is a plan to widen Highway 16 from a two-lane to a fourlane divided from Robindale East Rd all the way out to PR 37.
“We’ll be looking for sections that we could fund little by little.”, said Gonzales.
Multiple County Commissioners voiced their concerns and frustration with long-term problem areas on Highway 16 and TX 46, where congested twolane roads have dangerous areas with no shoulders, no turn lanes and random sections for passing lanes, all factors they said tend to add to the problem of auto accidents and fatalities.
“We do have a study and I know things don’t move as fast as you’d like,” said Richard De la Cruz, TxDot Director of Transporation, Planning and Development. “There is construction going on on 16 now, correct? We do have some expansion going on there. The rural funding is very difficult to get. Highway 16 is all about expansion. We are not forgetting about you. We understand the judge is very vocal on that.”
De la Cruz said that they are also looking at interim safety improvement projects for the stretch of road on TX 46 between Interstate Hwy 10 and Highway 16.
“There could be areas where we can put right-ofways, but not everywhere. People are using the 46 to get to the 10. Once 1604 is cleaned up and expanded, it could take some of the traffic away from 46,” he said.
Commissioner Jody Rutherford added, “They’re outgrowing us out there.”
De la Cruz responded, “This stuff doesn’t happen overnight but we get it.”
“We appreciate what your doing but you need to plug at it a little harder. We’re a step child here,” said Rutherford.
“No, you’re not. We’re just trying to keep up,” said De la Cruz.
TxDOT says that Rural TIP is a fiscally constrained list of projects that functions as a budgeting tool per district and that funds can come from the Federal Highway and Transit Administration, from TxDOT through its Unified Transportation Program funding categories, and local governments who may be required to provide matching funds for federal monies.
According to a map that Gonzales shared, Bandera County is represented by the Alamo Regional Rural Planning Organization (ARRPO), which also includes Gillespie, Kerr, Kendall, Medina, Frio, Atascosa, Wilson, Karnes, and McMullen Counties.
Organized by elected officials and responsible for rural transportation planning, the ARRPO helps identify transportation needs, plans transportation, and recommends rural transportation priorities.
TxDOT is conducting a virtual public meeting starting on June 4, at 12:00 PM through June 14.
The virtual public meeting will be available at txdot.gov/projects/hearings-
meetings.html.
To learn more about the projects occurring in
Bandera, Atascosa, Frio, Kendall, Kerr, McMullen, Medina, Wilson, Uvalde, Gillespie, and Karnes Counties and to participate, join anytime between the dates indicated above to view a pre-recorded presentation and submit comments.
All input must be received on or before Friday, June 14, 2024. The public can provide comments via mail, per address on Tx-Dot web page or email to [email protected], att: Rural TIP.
To read more about the virtual event, visit txdot.gov/projects/hearings- meetings/san-antonio/ 2024/2025-2028-rtipsan- antonio-district.html.
- Andres Gonzales, TxDOT Engineer
“WE APPRECIATE WHAT
YOUR DOING BUT YOU
NEED TO PLUG AT IT A LITTLE HARDER...”
- Jody Rutherford, Commissioner
