CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — For locals such as Billy Lerma on the northwest side, FM 624 has been a danger for anyone using the road. Some of the reasons include car accidents, the influx of traffic and nowhere for neighbors to walk.
"You know, one of the biggest issues out here is traffic out here but not only traffic," Lerma said. "People walk from the apartment complexes that are here on 624. The younger generation walks the most because they go to work to these new restaurants opening up out here. At nighttime, it's very dangerous. There are no sidewalks out here. They have to actually walk on the side of the street to get to their jobs and there's no lighting here at all."
The Texas Department of Transportation has heard the woes from the community and is holding a virtual and in person meeting on the future plans for FM 624.
TxDOT is looking to improve this stretch of road from Wildcat Drive all the way to Country Road 73, which they'll widen the road to three travel lanes in each direction, providing sidewalks and adding raised center medians.
The goal of this proposed plan, according to TxDOT Public Information Officer Rickey Dailey, is so that they can make roads like this safer for everyone for the foreseeable future.
"The reason that we're doing this is to improve safety for pedestrians, for bicyclists, and for vehicular traffic," Dailey said. "We want to reduce the conflict points. Conflict points are where crashes are most likely to happen. So, one of the goals is to improve how people travel through there. So we got safety and mobility is the reason that TXDOT is doing this project."
The in person meeting will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Calallen High School Cafeteria. If you’re not able to attend the meeting, there’s still time for neighbors to comment and share their thoughts on the project.
Construction on the road is expected to begin sometime by late 2025.
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