TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas — A growing community just East of Austin is adapting to traffic woes.
It was especially bad early in the morning on Aug. 6, when a fatal crash shut down FM 969 in the Hornsby Bend area.
Neighbors told KVUE that growth in the area might make traffic even worse than it currently is.
Adolph Blevins, who lives in Austin Colony where it's usually a two-minute drive to the highway, says it took hours for traffic to clear.
“Because of the road closure, there's just no way to get out of the neighborhood,” Blevins said.
Blevins says they only have two ways out of the neighborhood: Hunter’s Bend and Gilbert Road– which was built a few years ago.
“They go into 969, and 969 takes you to SH 130,” he explained. “So, if 969 is closed, we can't even get to 130 from here.”
Blevins says he felt trapped. He says he waited 45 mins in traffic before he turned around to go back home, but others couldn't.
“Some lady came to the donut shop and said, ‘Oh I’ve been sitting in traffic for two hours’,” Phanna Phan said.
Phan and her husband own a donut shop facing FM 969. She says the traffic build up from the accident reminded her of how 969 used to be before the highway expanded from two lanes to four.
“It was only two lanes, so that's why it was really bad, but now it's kind of okay,” Phan said.
However, she says the traffic will only get worse as school starts up again.
Blevins says the growing amount of traffic worries him. He says more people are moving out of Austin into areas like Del Valle and the existing infrastructure isn’t designed for the amount of people coming.
As the area grows, Blevins says places like his neighborhood might not be able to keep up with the limited access points.
“Tesla went up quick, but, yet, this neighborhood still didn't get any kind of benefit from it as far as getting more access out of this neighborhood. …Potential emergency situations– I mean, not being able to get out or get to a hospital, that's the main thing,” Blevins explained.
ESD 4, which the Austin Fire Department contracts from a place just down the street, covers the Hornsby Bend area.
Asst. Chief Thayer Smith says they don't have any problems serving the area now, but are talking about expanding services at the station to prepare for the boom.
“It concerns us as well and we know we need to-- for standard of coverage-- work with our partners out there to provide additional services out there,” Smith said.
KVUE also reached out to Travis County, who said the expansion project on FM 969 is 95% complete to keep helping with the growing amount of traffic in the area.