Running through the heart of Bee Cave, Hwy. 71 functions as the main connector to several cities in the Lake Travis region. As population sizes have increased in the area, traffic and crashes on major roads have as well.
Eight traffic fatalities have been recorded in the city since 2015, according to the Texas Department of Transportation, with a total of 255 car accidents and two fatalities in 2023.
In an effort to decrease crashes and traffic fatalities on Hwy. 71 specifically, TxDOT officials have put forward the State Highway 71 Safety Improvement Project, which implements raised medians on a 6.4-mile corridor between Bee Creek Road and Uplands Ridge Drive in Bee Cave.
Some city officials, however, have voiced concerns about worsening traffic, with Bee Cave Police Chief Brian Jones expressing that additional traffic could impact police response times.
“If traffic is even farther backed up, how are we going to get there in a timely fashion?” Jones said.
Diving in deeper
Data collected by TxDOT shows that crashes along Hwy. 71 in Bee Cave have increased over time, from 124 in 2019 to 151 in 2022. Sideswipe crashes, involving two vehicles flowing in the same direction of traffic, increased by 15% during this time span, and nonintersection crashes increased by 10%, according to a presentation shared by TxDOT engineer William Semora Jr. at a Bee Cave City Council meeting last fall.
By implementing raised medians on this stretch of Hwy. 71, TxDOT officials estimate that crashes may be reduced by up to 39%.
Current plans detail 17 protected median breaks, providing drivers access to shops and businesses along the side of the highway. Break locations were created with input from Bee Cave residents shared at TxDOT’s open house meeting Oct. 17, TxDOT Public Information Officer Antonio Lujan said.
What they’re saying
Several median break locations were added following public feedback, but some residents are concerned about the current plans.
Falconhead neighborhood resident Geoff Perlman compared the project to Lakeway’s 1.4-mile median project on RM 620.
“[RM] 620 is far more dense in terms of businesses than [Hwy.] 71,” Perlman said. “The council and the chief of police seem very concerned about traffic getting worse as Bee Cave’s population grows.”
Others, such as Melissa Takamatsu, owner of collision repair center Epps Body & Paint, argue that medians will provide benefits.
“I run a collision repair shop, I don’t need any more business. If I wanted more business, I’d say, ‘no, forget the medians, that’s fine.’ ... No, [the current traffic flow] is bad news for everybody,” Takamatsu said.
The response
Semora said at a March 11 special council meeting that the department’s highest priority is safety, followed by mobility.
“The [Hwy.] 71 traffic study that we did, it did a very in-depth dive on statistics, heat maps, where the crashes were, what types of crashes, the severity rate,” Semora said. “What you see is that medians aren’t always the easiest to implement but what you see is they have the best long-term return for severe crashes.”
When the city of Bee Cave requested help from TxDOT to reduce crashes and fatalities in the Bee Cave corridor of Hwy. 71, TxDOT decided that, based upon its 2019-22 traffic study, medians would be the best solution. Since then, traffic has increased in the city, likely leading to the increased complaints regarding traffic, council member Andrea Willott said.
“We’re just trying to deliver on a safety need,” Semora said. “If the city is saying that we wanted it back then but we don’t want it anymore, then administration has to hear that, and it has to come from council in writing.”
No written opposition to the project has been issued by the city as of press time.
In comparison
In Lakeway, a similar initiative by TxDOT was completed in 2020, adding raised medians to a 1.4-mile stretch of RM 620 between Bella Montagna Circle and Lohmans Crossing Road. Senior Planner Charlie Sullivan said that the project was implemented in response to high traffic volume and crash rates in the corridor and as a preparatory step for the larger RM 620 widening project, which is expected to begin in 2028 following delays related to funding prioritization.
Results of the project show that crashes have been more evenly distributed along the road rather than centralized at specific “hotspots,” Sullivan said.
“Comparing 2020 data to 2024, traffic volumes increased by 33%, but the number of crashes increased by only 8%,” Sullivan said. “So in general, the data shows that the median project has been a modest success: The intensity of Lohmans Crossing as a crash hot spot has decreased, crashes are more evenly distributed, and crashes have increased at a slower rate than traffic volumes.”
What’s next?
Following public and City Council feedback, the Highway 71 Safety Improvement Project is continuing to move forward, with work expected to begin in late summer or fall and last from 10-12 months.
“We ask for the public’s patience during construction—this project will ultimately solve safety and mobility concerns community members have brought up,” Lujan said.
According to TxDOT, the project timeline includes:
- Fall 2024: TxDOT public workshop
- Spring 2025: Revision of plans finalized
- Fall 2025: Construction starts
- Fall 2026: Construction ends
