'People treat it like a race track,' Neighbors complain of unsafe roads following teen death
AUSTIN (KXAN) -- People in the neighborhood off of Harris Branch Parkway and Farmhaven Road say they are concerned with how fast traffic drives through their neighborhood following the death of a teen girl last week.
"People kind of treat it like a racetrack," Nichole Kuck, a neighbor in the area, said about cars driving down her streets. Kuck had been concerned about safety prior to the most recent tragedy. A 14-year-old girl, Treyshur Carter, was hit by a car on Farmhaven while riding her scooter. The driver left her lying in the road, and Austin police say Carter died from her injuries at the hospital on Jan. 5.
Kuck said she has faced multiple close calls while walking her dog around the neighborhood.
"It's terrifying! I almost get ran over all the time," Kuck said. She's not alone in calling for changes. The Home Owner's Association sent a letter to homeowners and renters in the area to ask them to notify the city of the problems through 311.
The letter from the HOA read, "The roads in our neighborhoods fall under the jurisdiction of our city, and with that in mind the HOA is hoping to encourage everyone in all 9 of our neighborhoods to contact 311 and get this issue trending."
Neighbors want cross walks to be installed along the roadway to make things safer for pedestrians.
The city of Austin's Transportation and Public Works department said it is aware of the concerns in the area and is working on installing pedestrian cross walks on Landsdowne, Farmhaven, and St. Merryn roads.
A spokesperson for the department also said Farmhaven and St. Merryn roads are in the queue for Dynamic Speed Display Devices. Those are the speed limit signs that show drivers how fast they are going in real time. It is not clear when these improvements will happen.
Wide roads, speeding drivers, and more traffic
Kuck says the problem is Farmhaven road is way too wide to not have a cross walk. Add that to the fact that people speed along the road, going over the posted 40 mile per hour speed limit, it can make crossing the road dangerous.
There has also been the development of more apartments north on Farmhaven as you get closer to Parmer lane. The added apartments has brought more traffic to the area.
About a month before Carter's tragic death, another driver plowed through a brick wall sign in the neighborhood. The tire tracks around the debris show the car almost went into the backyard of a nearby house that sits on the corner of Farmhaven. Kuck said change needs to happen now.
"There are children that live here too. There is an elementary school like right down the street. So, it should be a priority," Kuck explained.
Abandoned trucks
Kuck showed KXAN an odd sight along Farmhaven, something she calls the "parking lot." There is a section of the road wide enough to have cars parked on one side. In that spot are multiple food trucks, trailers, cars, and even an abandoned bus from McMullen county south of San Antonio.
Kuck said some of the trucks have been parked there for months and sometimes even years without anyone touching them. While KXAN was reporting on this story, a city employee was seen at the "parking lot" writing down license plate numbers of the trucks that have been left on the side of the road.
Kuck said they need to be removed because they add a blind spot for drivers trying to get by.