With the new school season underway, we should reaffirm the commitment to practicing safe driving. As you know driving is not a right but a privilege, and requires practice and patience. BEC has more than 100 vehicles on the road each day, traveling more than 1 million miles annually, so for us vehicle safety is an everyday focus.
Unfortunately, not all roads are created equally. As one of the many who travel on State Highway 46 between Boerne and Bandera, I have seen my fair share of accidents and near misses on that 11-mile stretch of road.
I recently met with a member who lives along this corridor, and he provided me with some shocking information. The 11-mile stretch of SH 46 between I-10 and SH 16 is one of the busiest and, by state crash data, one of the most dangerous. 47% of the fatal and serious-injury crashes were head-on crashes and over the last 5 years there have been 6 fatalities and more than 20 serious injuries.
But there is promising news: due the tireless efforts of this member and his sustained advocacy and coordination with the Texas Department of Transportation, TxDOT has committed to a set of funded safety improvements for the corridor. These include centerline rumble strips, a wider buffer between opposing lanes, protective barriers, and turn lanes at several intersections.
This is funded and is scheduled to move forward in the next several months with construction scheduled for early 2028, but this can be moved up if we let our elected officials and TxDOT know that this is a priority. Not only is BEC an advocate for safety for our employees, we are also advocates for the safety of our members.
Bandera Electric Cooperative is proud to add its voice and support for these much-needed improvements along with many local governments, school districts, and community organizations that have called on TxDOT to keep this important safety work moving forward without delay.
Members who would like to learn more or share their thoughts on the SH 46 safety project are encouraged to contact their local officials, county commissioners, state representatives, and senators. Let’s commit to doing all we can to make our roads safer.