TxDOT plans to get rid of stoplights along 71

Terrifying video we shared with you earlier in the week, shows the dangers of this intersection that TxDOT is addressing.

This crash between a Bastrop ISD school bus and 18-wheeler happened Wednesday morning.

"The bus driver advised he had a greenlight. He waited before he turned and he was turning right onto State Highway 71." DPS says the truck driver tried, but could not stop.

Nobody was killed. But what if we could have avoided this crash all together?  "Any time you see a crash it really is of concern, but when you see a school bus involving children, it's heartbreaking," said Brad Wheelis, TXDOT Spokesperson.

TXDOT says they plan to remove traffic lights from five intersections along the 71 East corridor. "At Tucker Hill, Hope Bend, Ross, Kellum and FM 1209 we are going to put in overpasses," said Wheelis.

The intersections would look something like the new bridge at SH 95 and 71. 

"You will not have a stoplight there, that way the traffic that's going a high speed of 65 mph, does not have to stop. That way you will eliminate or greatly reduce a T-bone crash,” said Wheelis.

TXDOT plans to start building the overpass at Tucker Hill Lane  and 71, plus Pope Bend and 71 in the Fall of 2020. It's a need that not only TXDOT saw, but the residents and drivers who drive along SH 71 saw as well.