A rise in car crashes at a busy intersection has prompted the town of Flower Mound to look for solutions to help keep drivers safe. But doing so may be easier said than done.
Growth has meant more traffic on FM 2499. Police said some drivers ignore the posted speed limit of 45 mph.
"Well, it's a little bit treacherous," said Chuck Patterson, a Flower Mound resident who’s lived near the intersection of 2499 and Waketon Road for two decades. Patterson has never had an accident there, but he’s had near-misses.
"Close calls," he said. "Primarily because the traffic on 2499, it's high speed."
The number of car wrecks at the intersection has spiked this year. Flower Mound police report ten crashes there in 2018, compared to an average of three to four per year. In response, they’re adding enforcement, a tough task, because there's no safe place to park.
"Enforcing the laws in that area are incredibly difficult for safety of the officers," said Captain Shane Jennings. "We don’t want to put officers in the intersection and do more harm than good."
Traffic engineers for the town are also addressing the issue. One change includes adjusting the timing of traffic signals. Patterson said yellow turn signals are often inconsistent, and don’t follow a pattern.
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"Sometimes you have a protected signal, sometimes you don't," he said. "And you're basically taking your chances getting out there."
Police said there's only so much they can do through added enforcement. They said safety is up to the person behind the wheel.
"At the end of the day people have to stop for red lights," said Jennings. "And use caution when proceeding through an intersection."
