In effect beginning Aug. 5, the highway’s speed limit has been reduced by 5 mph, and new speed signs were installed Aug. 3, according to a news release by TxDOT.
The 290 Safety Coalition, a local community action group that formed in 2019, petitioned last year to have the speed limit in the same stretch of highway reduced due to a high volume of car accidents in the area.
Last summer, TxDOT hosted a number of community meetings to discuss safety concerns and future improvements along the highway. A feasibility study for possible additional safety improvements or roadway expansions launched last year and is currently underway.
“TxDOT is currently reviewing data collected through public/stakeholder input as well as traffic, safety, environmental, and engineering analysis,” TxDOT spokesperson Brad Wheelis said Aug. 5 in an email to Community Impact Newspaper about the study. “We anticipate the study resulting in a report at the end of the year, and an environmental study will follow.”
TxDOT has said it plans for a potential project along the corridor to connect to the Oak Hill Parkway project, a forthcoming construction initiative set to widen Hwy. 290 and improve intersections to increase mobility through the Y at Oak Hill.
Wheelis said construction on the Oak Hill Parkway project is still scheduled to begin later this year.
