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Boerne outlines Safe Streets for All planning work; downtown parking could be reduced to improve pedestrian safety
Summary
City staff told the Boerne City Council on Feb. 10 that a federal Safe Streets for All planning grant has identified downtown corridors and a high-injury network; staff said some safety measures under consideration could reduce on-street parking as part of designs to protect pedestrians and bicyclists.
City staff presented a year-long planning effort tied to the federal Safe Streets for All (SS4A) program and said safety projects identified for downtown Boerne could require removing some on-street parking.
"We have 2,342 crashes in the city of Boerne proper. Of those, 36 of them are fatal and serious injury. From 24 of those were pedestrian bike related crashes," Director Jeff Carroll told the council, summarizing five years of TxDOT CRIS accident records the city analyzed as part of its SS4A planning grant work. Carroll said the city identified a high-injury network that concentrates roughly 73% of crashes on about 15% of city road mileage.
Why it matters: city staff said the federal grant application and future implementation funding prioritize projects on the high-injury network and that downtown Main Street and River Road are priority corridors because they account for most pedestrian collisions. That prioritization will shape which projects are shovel-ready for grant-funded construction.
Carroll described outreach and technical work behind the plan: public surveys and market-day engagement, three task force meetings held in the same room, intersection safety assessments, and direct coordination with TxDOT and Boerne ISD. He listed task force participants, including two county commissioners and local school district representatives, and noted the safety review included pedestrian-focused measures such as leading pedestrian intervals at signals, curb and sidewalk improvements, medians and refuge islands, and crosswalk visibility upgrades.
On trade-offs: staff warned that many of the safety solutions under consideration would reduce downtown parking or change left-turn access. "These safety projects more than likely will cause a reduction of parking on the downtown corridor," Carroll said, adding that design decisions such as adding a dedicated left-turn lane or medians could remove parking on both sides of a block and change access to some driveways.
Council concerns focused on school-run congestion and practical trade-offs. One council member asked whether staggered school start times had been discussed as a traffic mitigation tool; staff replied that bus-routing constraints and limited fleet scale make staggered starts impractical for the district in its current configuration. Staff also described coordination with the district on the Boerne High School driveway and other school-area locations.
Next steps and timeline: Carroll told council staff will present a draft Safe Streets for All safety action plan on March 10, post the draft for public comment later in March, and, if council approves a resolution in May, seek an implementation grant in June.
What remains unresolved: the council did not vote on any item during the meeting; policy choices about parking, left-turn access and the scope of construction remain to be decided in later council meetings once staff returns with draft concepts and cost estimates.
Provenance: primary presentation and Q&A on the SS4A planning grant occurred Feb. 10 (transcript starting SEG 087 through SEG 857).
