Bexar County commissioners this week hired a traffic engineering firm to make roads safer in unincorporated areas.
The county approved $400,000 for WSP-USA to identify and recommend fixes on injury or death prone roads out in the county.
New homes have led to new roads that have led to new safety concerns.
Precinct 3 Commissioner Grant Moody wants the firm to look into improving safety for bikers.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Tommy Calvert said new East Side subdivisions have left some county flood control measures outdated. "It's causing loss of life," he said. "It's causing loss of livestock. It's causing all kinds of problems with respect to even farmers not being able to have their hay sold because the lands, the drainage, and the runoff is not working to our county plan."
About $300,000 of the approved funds is not county money, but rather from a federal safe streets and roads program.
A study comes first, and the physical fixes won't appear for a couple of years, according to the engineering firm.
County Judge Peter Sakai said the county, TxDOT, and builders often work together to make roads safer.
As an example, he pointed to a recent project in Far West Bexar County where a red light was installed on State Highway 211 after a fatal traffic accident.
