AUSTIN (KXAN) — A dangerous stretch of road in a part of town that has experienced huge growth, will be getting major safety improvements this year. KXAN Traffic Anchor, Erica Brennes spoke with a man who lives off FM 973, near the Tesla Gigafactory.

“It’s more common than it should be. I think we definitely need more traffic patterns that will help alleviate some of that mess,” Brad Justice lives in a southeast Austin neighborhood near the Tesla factory off FM 973, “I check the traffic every day because I never know which way is gonna be more efficient to get to work and I have to be there at a specific time.”

This week a car hit and killed a person walking along FM 973, not far from Brad’s neighborhood.
Another crash this week also caused major delays, “Some people were trying to just get to the airport, which is usually a five-minute drive that was taken an hour and a half.”

But there are plans in the works to help make it safer for drivers. In October, TxDOT will start construction of an improvement project for FM 973 between FM 969 and Thyone Drive.
They’re going to add a lane in each direction and a dedicated center turn lane.

The work is expected to cost nearly $23 million.