People who work near the intersection of State Highway 71 and Golf Course Road in Del Valle say they see accidents all the time. They are happening because heavier traffic between Bastrop and Austin, near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, is making it less safe for turns along the roads.
“It can get pretty bad,” said Angela Cotton of Direct Dry Cleaners. “If there is a wreck, you are just sitting there.”
According to the Texas Department of Transportation, more than 50,000 vehicles pass through the intersection each day. It was completed decades ago, and predates ABIA.
On Sunday, Glen Baum was the latest person involved in a crash at 71 and Golf Course. No one was seriously hurt, but people in the neighborhood tell KVUE that they have witnessed deadly accidents there. Baum was headed from Bastrop towards Austin, when he says he saw two cars turning left off of Highway 71 in front of him. Because there was no turning lane for the cars to use, the second one stuck out onto the high-speed lane that Baum was in.
“I just hit my brakes and started sliding,” Baum said. “The skid marks were like sixty feet long.”
The impact was enough to deploy the airbags in Baum’s small Mazda.
A spokesperson for the Texas Department of Transportation says the agency has no immediate plans for the road. There have been talks of working with the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority to turn Highway 71 into a controlled access highway someday.
