MISSOURI CITY, Texas – Crash after crash and bumper to bumper traffic are two major problems the Texas Department of Transportation is targeting when it comes to improving Murphy Road in Fort Bend County. The heavily traveled road runs through Stafford and Missouri City.
According to TXDOT, the number of crashes on Murphy Road needs to be cut and to do that they’re putting in a raised median that’ll extend from the Southwest Freeway all the way down to Highway 6.
Jim Holgray lives in the area and says, “People are going so fast [on Murphy Road] and sometimes you think you’ve got enough room, and sometimes you don’t, you’re taking a chance.”
Several area businesses echoed Holgray’s concerns, cars driving too fast and taking a chance on left turns to make U-turns into the opposite lanes of traffic.
The crash rate between Fountain Gate and Stafford Centre Drive is 98% higher than the statewide crash rate for farm-to-market roads for the years of 2015 to 2019, according to TXDOT.
So here’s what the agency is planning on doing to fix this:
- The project will increase safety along the corridor by taking out some of the left turn opportunities, which should decrease the number of crashes.
- Currently, the corridor is a six-lane-- three in each direction-- undivided roadway with a continuous center turn lane. There are some sections that have four lanes and a center median.
- The project will place a continuously raised median along the entire stretch of roadway with designated left-turn lanes at certain intersections.
TXDOT says this work should cost about $4 million, using both federal and state funding. Right now, the project is still in the preliminary stages, but should go out for bid in April and construction should kick off anywhere between 30 to 90 days after that.