Residents voice concern after 4 die in highway crash

Residents in Bastrop County are pushing for something to be done following a deadly crash over the past weekend. Two adults and 2 children were killed in a crash Sunday on Highway-95.

TxDOT will be conducting a study on the 17-mile stretch of highway 95 between Elgin and Bastrop following the deadly crash. FOX 7 spoke to people along the highway, they said it's more dangerous than people realize.

“All roads are dangerous but that one seems to be the most dangerous,” said Teresa Owens. Ownes works at the VFW just off the highway where leaving work poses its own challenge. “They're going so fast it's dangerous to pull out,” said Owens.

To show how dangerous the highway in question is, Owens showed FOX 7 what's left of a sign they posted at the nearby intersection. “We have our bingo sign posted out at the corner and just a week or so again someone crashed into the sign and busted it all up,” said Ownes.

“95 south is very dangerous.” It's not just getting on or off the highway, Owens said just driving on the road can be risky. “I've had one with its bumper hanging off speeding on the shoulder passing me up flying up almost to Bastrop. It's dangerous,” said Owens.

FOX 7 looked up just how many crashes were reported on Highway 95 in-between Elgin and Bastrop. Since 2015, TxDOT reported 279 crashes. Out of those crashes there were 16 deaths.

To put that into perspective that’s about 1 death every 2 to 3 months on the 17-mile stretch of road.

These numbers don't come as a surprise to Owens. “I've been in the area for 2 years and already heard of deaths. 2 being run over and dragged on a motorcycle, it's dangerous,” said Owens.

The deadly crash this past weekend sparking a study of the road by TxDOT.

This study will see if any changes could be made to make the area safer. In this study, TX dot looks at curves on the road, surface width, right-of-way width, crash history, cross streets, school crossings and other things to see what the appropriate speed limit should be.

No word on when this study will be completed.