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Champions Village residents press New Braunfels council to accelerate Mission Valley/Highway 46 traffic signal
Summary
Multiple residents of Champions Village told City Council the promised traffic signal at Mission Valley and Highway 46 has been repeatedly delayed and urged council to expedite installation to address safety concerns ahead of summer traffic and camps.
Multiple residents of Champions Village urged the New Braunfels City Council on Monday to accelerate installation of a traffic signal at the intersection of Mission Valley and Highway 46 after the timeline for the light was pushed back several times.
Susie Mitchell, HOA president for Champions Village, said residents were told the signal would be installed in 2024, then in March 2025, then April, and that she recently learned the city had moved the Mission Valley signal to the end of a three-signal installation schedule with an anticipated September date. "Turning left off of Mission Valley onto 46 is super dangerous," Mitchell said. "We hear sirens on 46 on a daily basis. I eventually end up turning right and then having to turn around." She said the approved money for the signal is in place and asked council to reconsider the timeline.
Renee Walker Sanchez, a Champions Village resident of six years, said two recent major crashes closed Highway 46 for six and eight hours in the past 30 days and described speeding vehicles that make it difficult to exit the subdivision. "Some of the people are going 65, 70, 85, 90 miles an hour, and we're barely getting out of our subdivision," she said.
Sara Fields, also a Champions Village resident, echoed the same safety concerns and asked council to take their request under consideration. Bentley Pais, a District 1 resident who spoke later in the public-comment period, criticized council members for what he said was a pattern of dismissing constituent concerns and said he would renew his campaign for mayor; his remarks were broader civic criticism rather than specific to the Mission Valley signal.
Council did not take an immediate action on the traffic-signal requests during Monday's meeting. No staff presentation accompanied the public comments, and residents were not given a formal timeline update from staff during the meeting. Council members did not dispute the safety concerns raised by residents but also did not commit to a revised schedule on the record.
The residents said summer camps and increased seasonal traffic at nearby facilities increase the urgency for a signal installation before summer.
