- An online and in-person public meeting was held by The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) on Thursday, Sept. 19.
- Citizens were invited to attend the meeting virtually or in-person and to leave their input about the proposed plan.
- The proposed 'SH 361 Mustang Island Project' consists of widening the road from a 2-lane to a 4-lane highway, adding a raised center median, and adding a sidewalk/shared-use path.
- Another option to attend the same public meeting is being offered on Wednesday, Sept. 25 at the Port Aransas Civic Center from 4:30-6:30 p.m.
On Thursday evening, Texas Department of Transportation hosted a public meeting at Island in the Son United Methodist Church to receive public comment from citizens on proposed improvements to the 15-mile stretch of SH 361 from Beach Access Road 1 in Port Aransas to Park Road 22 in Corpus Christi.
"We don't have a design yet. We know that we're going to add one lane in each direction, probably have a raised median, and maybe a shared use path," Rickey Dailey, the TxDOT Public Information Officer for the Corpus Christi District said.
The construction on the SH 361 Mustang Island Project is tentatively set to start in 2030. Currently, the project is in the preliminary design and environmental study phase.
“We’re looking at the environmental process, the birds, the endangered species, that are out here. We don’t want to disrupt those. So, we have a lot of factors that contribute to us moving forward with this project," Dailey said.
Citizens who live in Port Aransas and on Padre Island who use SH 361 to travel regularly are ready to see changes be made to improve the safety of this highway.
“Way too little, way too late, in my opinion. First of all, it’s going to take, they’re talking 10 years or so to get this done," Port Aransas resident Joseph Titlebaum said.
SH 361 is notorious for being a hot spot for serious, and even fatal car accidents.
“It’s always terrible to hear about the accidents out here. There’s no reason for it, just people are a little bit too much energy in them, and they want to go around and they can’t wait, you know," Padre Island resident Harold Smith said.
Residents say one large problem on SH 361 is drivers illegally passing in the other lane.
“The safety on 361 is not the roadway, in my opinion. The roadway is flat, it’s more or less straight. The problem, in my opinion, are the drivers," Titlebaum said.
According to TxDOT officials, proposed improvements require an additional Right of Way. The location of the additional Right of Way has not been identified yet.
"There is a lot of information that needs to be gathered," Dailey said. "We have environmental constraints out here. We're trying to do it without acquiring new Right of Way, but we know that we're probably going to have to acquire some new Right of Way. We have a state park. So, we're constrained by how big the footprint can be."
In Thursday's meeting presentation, TxDOT provided a crash analysis heat map, showing the location of crashes along Highway 361 that resulted in a minor injury, a serious injury, or a fatality from 2019 to 2023.
Through the traffic safety crash analysis study, TxDot found that the top 5 contributing factors of the crashes were failure to control speed, failure to yield right of way when turning left, failure to drive in a single lane, failure to yield right of way at a stop sign, and driving under the influence.
“We need more mobility out here, we want to reduce conflict points. We want it safer, a safer road, so that you have two lanes in each direction. The raised median tends to cut down on head-on crashes," Dailey said.
A virtual recording of the meeting presentation can be found here. TxDot is accepting additional public comment from citizens about the SH 361 Mustang Island Project online, through e-mail, and by mail until Friday, Oct. 4th.
An additional in-person opportunity to review the meeting materials is scheduled for 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, at the Port Aransas Civic Center, 701 W. Avenue A, Port Aransas, Texas.
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