Boerne City Council on March 10 reviewed the draft Safety Action Plan being prepared with the Safe Streets for All Planning Grant, or SS4A.
The plan helps receive federal funding for transportation and pedestrian safety projects.
The overview
Director of Engineering & Mobility Jeff Carroll said staff have been working on the plan since 2022, and in 2025, City Council entered an agreement with Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc. to complete the plan.
“This grant will put us to be ready for the future implementation grant,” Carroll said. “That’s where we can apply and get funds to design and potentially build these things we’re recommending.”
Between 2020 and 2024, 2,342 crashes were reported in the city of Boerne, with 36 of those crashes being fatal or resulting in serious injury. Around 48% of crashes were related to intersections.
“We are trying to get that 36 down to zero,” Carroll said. “And at the same time, putting a lot of effort into pedestrian and bike crashes.”
Carroll highlighted targeted intersections for city staff to pursue grant-funded improvements, including:
- Main Street and River Road
- River Road and Plant Street
- Main Street and Bandera Road
- Cascade Caverns Road and Scenic Loop Road
- Main Street and School Street
Carroll said the Main Street corridor is also being targeted, focusing on pedestrian and traffic improvements.
Pursuing grant funding opportunities for these intersections would allow the city to implement pedestrian crosswalks, roundabouts, turnlanes or other improvements.
Carroll said projects and proposals for the intersections in the plan are not concrete, and any improvements are subject to change as staff work on the design and funding of each project.
“There’s schematics and conversations about what we could do to improve, but it would be that next grant where we would actually go and design something,” Carroll said.
While the Herff Road and River Road intersection was not specifically highlighted during the meeting, the intersection is planned for future improvements, utilizing partnerships between the city of Boerne, Kendall County, the Texas Department of Transportation and the Alamo Area Regional Planning Organization. The timeline and scope of the improvements have not yet been announced.
Get involved
One aspect of the plan is to get community input through public meetings, surveys and stakeholder outreach.
The plan is scheduled to be put online for public input March 26, and City Council is scheduled to adopt the final plan in May. After adoption, the final plan will be put online, and city staff can pursue grant funding by the June closing period.
Carroll said the grant application to project start can take a couple of years due to the length of the process, meaning any grant-funded projects are unlikely to begin until 2028 at the earliest.
In most grant scenarios, the city would pay 20% of the project cost while the grant would cover the remaining 80%, Carroll said.