By Chris Shadrock
The City of Boerne continues to improve transportation and mobility as outlined by residents and community members in several recent citizen-led initiatives.
The City’s 2023 Citizen Survey showed overwhelming consensus that leaders should continue to address and enhance mobility and transportation.
The survey provided crucial insights to help City leaders and planners prioritize and manage growth effectively. Traffic and road improvements emerged as top concerns, with 62 percent supporting collaboration with TxDOT and 40 percent prioritizing traffic and road congestion management.
“Hearing directly from residents is a powerful tool in local government,” City Manager Ben Thatcher said. “The results of the 2023 Citizen Survey have allowed us to strategically align our work plans and prioritize our resources to address what residents want to see.”
RELATED: 2022 Quality of Life Bond Election
Since the January 2023 survey, the City’s Engineering and Mobility Department has made major progress on $26 million in voter-approved bond transportation projects.
That includes the reconstruction of W. Blanco Road, W. Kronkosky Street, and Parkway Drive, which is scheduled to begin in early 2025. Progress on the long-awaited overhaul and widening of Adler Road is also being made with the first phase of that project also set to begin in 2025.
Additionally, the City has:
- Added a continuous center turn lane to Esser Road in fall 2023, as recommended by the Kendall County Boerne Fair Oaks Transportation Committee
- Finalized design on a roundabout at Johns Road and School Street with construction slated to begin in summer 2025
- Upgrade traffic signals at the intersections of Herff Road and Oak Park Drive and Herff Road and Old San Antonio Road
- Secured a $600,000 federal grant to develop a comprehensive plan to assess the safety, transportation, and mobility challenges of 18 bridges across the City of Boerne
- Secured a $240,000 federal grant as part of the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program which will address downtown pedestrian safety and conduct road safety audits at crash hotspots
- Increased the Streets Department budget from $165,000 in 2019 to $886,000 in 2025, a 537% rise in seven years
“Planning for the future of our community is very important and a task we don’t take lightly,” Engineering and Mobility Director Jeff Carroll said. “It is exciting to see the years of hard work and planning come to fruition over the next several years, and I know our residents are just as excited for these safety and mobility enhancements.”
RELATED: City updates progress on Adler Road overhaul
With an eye on long-term needs, the Boerne City Council approved updates to the Major Thoroughfare Plan and Mobility Master Plan in Spring 2023. These updates incorporate environmental features and recommendations from local committees which aim to create a safer, more accessible transportation network for drivers and pedestrians.
These long-range plans involved collaboration with various jurisdictions and organizations and extensive public input to guide future transportation projects and policies as Boerne continues to flourish.
