The Texas Department of Transportation is recommending a half-mile stretch of I-35 access road in Kyle get a speed limit increase, but Kyle City Council did not approve the measure at a Feb. 18 meeting.

No vote was taken on the proposed ordinance to bring speed limits of 40 and 50 mph up to 55 mph on southbound I-35 frontage road from Cortez St. to Center St., in central Kyle near downtown.

Instead, the council directed staff to draft an ordinance changing the speed limit to 50 mph.

According to city spokesman Jerry Hendrix, concern exists among the council that 55 mph would be too high for a stretch of road that is along Hays CISD bus routes.

Kyle Elementary School and Wallace Middle School are in the area.

The City Council approved a measure to erect a stop sign at the intersection of Sheldon and Kyle Centre drives.

Unlike the proposed speed limit change, the stop sign proposal was not recommended by TxDOT but by the city of Kyle after an investigation concluded that the lack of stop signs at the intersection and the presence of pedestrian crosswalk markings on the pavement created confusion among drivers.

Six traffic accidents occurred at the intersection in 2013, City Engineer Leon Barba said.

According to the Traffic Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, multi-way stop control should be implemented at intersections that have had more than five traffic accidents in a year.

The second reading of the ordinance to place a stop sign at the intersection will be held at a March 4 meeting.