Trucks Overwhelm FM 969

Bastrop County Residents Fear More Bus Accidents  Involving Commercial Truck

Last month’s tragic bus crash in Bastrop County has drawn long-overdue attention to the increased risks of commercial truck traffic overwhelming state and county roads in fast-growing Central Texas. For Bastrop residents living along FM 969, however, navigating the winding, two-lane road has been a daily ordeal since five sand and gravel mines have become their neighbor in the past three years.

The state’s inadequate response to potential hazardous zones on FM 969 is most glaring at the road’s intersection with Wilbarger Bend Road, six miles west of the city of Bastrop. In the past year, three new sand and gravel mining companies have begun operating within a mile of each other in Wilbarger Bend. Two of them are using Wilbarger Bend Road to enter 969 at the same spot the Bastrop ISD school bus picks up and drops off students who live along the unpaved county road. The third mining operation, once it receives a permit for a rocker crusher, will enter 969 just100 feet away from the bus stop.

The speed limit in the county’s section of FM 969 is 65-mph — 10 mph above the limit for the road inside Travis County. Dust from sand and gravel trucks is so thick at the intersection it obscures visibility, which is already limited by the road’s incline to the Utley bridge crossing the Colorado River.

Despite these hazards and numerous complaints by residents in the past year, there are still no turning lanes despite three entrances to the mines along this dangerous mile-long stretch.

“Those entry/exits points for the trucks are in direct line with children waiting for the school buses,” commented a neighbor who asked not to be identified. “The trucks are traveling at speeds that far exceeded the speed limit at times. However, I have seen far more smaller trucks, cars and motorists attempting to pass the gravel & dump trucks that seem to cause the incidents.”

That was the case in the December 2022 fatal crash at the intersection of Howard Lane and FM 969, a quarter mile west of Wilbarger Bend Road. More recently, a 24-year-old employee at Travis Materials’ mining facility farther west on 969 was killed last summer when a pickup passed in a no-passing zone and and hit the young man head on. He was killed a few hundred feet from the mine’s entrance, which also had no turning lane at the time.

The possibility of a similar tragedy is constantly on the minds of residents living near Wilbarger Bend Road, especially once the mines get up and running at full capacity.  Skid marks, broken windshields, and lane closure from maintenance crews that can’t keep up with the trucks’ wear and tear are the most visible evidence of a road overburdened and under-supported by an industry it was never designed for.

A recent random count of vehicles stopped at yet another road repair project on this stretch found one commercial truck for every two cars or pickups. TxDOT’s most current traffic count numbers for FM 969 in Bastrop County, which it uses for accident reports, is 2019. Those reports show average daily commercial truck counts ranging from 6-8% of total traffic loads.

“We’re asking for a moratorium on new mining permits,” says Skip Connett, Friends of the Land co-founder who lives a mile from Wilbarger Bend Road.  When TCEQ reviews the permits, however, the impact of commercial trucks outside the mining operations can’t be considered in their decision making, he added.

That leaves only TxDOT that can make more demands on the industry. The county’s updated transportation plan shows 969 is slated to become six lanes but that expansion is years away, DOT officials say. The flyover project to remove the traffic light at HS 71 and FM 1209, which connects to FM 969, has been delayed for at least three years, which means more traffic will be diverted onto FM 969.

For some residents, however, FM 969 has become too dangerous to travel and are taking HS 71 into Austin, even though it is a longer commute.

Last month’s tragic bus crash in Bastrop County has drawn long-overdue attention to the increased risks of commercial truck traffic overwhelming state and county roads in fast-growing Central Texas. For Bastrop residents living along FM 969, however, navigating the winding, two-lane road has been a daily ordeal since five sand and gravel mines have become their neighbor in the past three years.

The state’s inadequate response to potential hazardous zones on FM 969 is most glaring at the road’s intersection with Wilbarger Bend Road, six miles west of the city of Bastrop. In the past year, three new sand and gravel mining companies have begun operating within a mile of each other in Wilbarger Bend. Two of them are using Wilbarger Bend Road to enter 969 at the same spot the Bastrop ISD school bus picks up and drops off students who live along the unpaved county road. The third mining operation, once it receives a permit for a rocker crusher, will enter 969 just100 feet away from the bus stop.

The speed limit in the county’s section of FM 969 is 65-mph — 10 mph above the limit for the road inside Travis County. Dust from sand and gravel trucks is so thick at the intersection it obscures visibility, which is already limited by the road’s incline to the Utley bridge crossing the Colorado River.

Despite these hazards and numerous complaints by residents in the past year, there are still no turning lanes despite three entrances to the mines along this dangerous mile-long stretch.

“Those entry/exits points for the trucks are in direct line with children waiting for the school buses,” commented a neighbor who asked not to be identified. “The trucks are traveling at speeds that far exceeded the speed limit at times. However, I have seen far more smaller trucks, cars and motorists attempting to pass the gravel & dump trucks that seem to cause the incidents.”

That was the case in the December 2022 fatal crash at the intersection of Howard Lane and FM 969, a quarter mile west of Wilbarger Bend Road. More recently, a 24-year-old employee at Travis Materials’ mining facility farther west on 969 was killed last summer when a pickup passed in a no-passing zone and and hit the young man head on. He was killed a few hundred feet from the mine’s entrance, which also had no turning lane at the time.

The possibility of a similar tragedy is constantly on the minds of residents living near Wilbarger Bend Road, especially once the mines get up and running at full capacity.  Skid marks, broken windshields, and lane closure from maintenance crews that can’t keep up with the trucks’ wear and tear are the most visible evidence of a road overburdened and under-supported by an industry it was never designed for.

A recent random count of vehicles stopped at yet another road repair project on this stretch found one commercial truck for every two cars or pickups. TxDOT’s most current traffic count numbers for FM 969 in Bastrop County, which it uses for accident reports, is 2019. Those reports show average daily commercial truck counts ranging from 6-8% of total traffic loads.

“We’re asking for a moratorium on new mining permits,” says Skip Connett, Friends of the Land co-founder who lives a mile from Wilbarger Bend Road.  When TCEQ reviews the permits, however, the impact of commercial trucks outside the mining operations can’t be considered in their decision making, he added.

That leaves only TxDOT that can make more demands on the industry. The county’s updated transportation plan shows 969 is slated to become six lanes but that expansion is years away, DOT officials say. The flyover project to remove the traffic light at HS 71 and FM 1209, which connects to FM 969, has been delayed for at least three years, which means more traffic will be diverted onto FM 969.

For some residents, however, FM 969 has become too dangerous to travel and are taking HS 71 into Austin, even though it is a longer commute.