ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) — Round Rock’s transportation team unveiled its recommendations to update the city’s transportation master plan, which includes safety and capacity improvements. People can now view the recommendations and provide feedback on its website.

“We know that traffic remains a top concern for our residents, and we are aggressively investing in projects that shape a comprehensive transportation network that supports our community’s growth and enhances the quality of life for all residents,” mayor Craig Morgan said in a city news release.

Road safety recommendations

The city’s master plan team offered recommendations of six road segments and four intersections. One of the road sections is A.W. Grimes Boulevard from U.S. 79 to Plateau Vista boulevard.

That stretch of road experienced 157 crashes during a four-year stretch from 2017 to 2021. The team is recommending a speed study to reduce the speed limit by five miles per hour, install raised medians, and evaluate the closure of a driveway.

Round Rock transportation director Gary Hudder said the city is in preliminary discussions with the state on a major project at the intersection of U.S. 79 and A.W. Grimes Boulevard.

“Initial design would grade-separate A.W. Grimes at US 79. So it would become an overpass there which would eliminate a lot of the accident data that we see there,” Hudder explained.

This heat map shows the area of town with the most crashes from 2017 to 2021 (Courtesy: city of Round Rock).

The image above shows the roads in Round Rock that experienced the highest volume of crashes in a four-year stretch. You can check the other safety recommendations the master plan team has made in its presentation.

Capacity improvements

The team also looked at two travel corridors, Sam Bass and McNeil roads. Both were shown to not have the capacity at certain intersections during the PM and AM rushes.

“I think the congestion frustrates people, right. If you’re a driver, and you’re in traffic all the time, at some point you get frustrated and might make risky decisions that you might otherwise not make,” Hudder said.

The two roads can not be widened because of zoning areas around the roads, but Hudder said the team is looking at surrounding roads to make traffic flow better for these travel corridors.