Texas Department Of Transportation Reports Several Accidents Along I-35
A recent report released by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has shown that more intersection-crashes in Denton happen along Interstate 35 and Interstate 35E near ramps onto and off of those highways.
The Denton Record-Chronicle reports that, according to the Denton Police Department and TxDOT, there were a total of 2,286 crashes in the city between November 6, 2019, and August 13, 2020. A heat map supplied by TxDOT shows that busy ramps, such as those for University Drive (U.S. Highway 380), Fort Worth Drive, and at the intersections on University Drive with Locus and Elm Streets have the most crashes.
According to Sgt. Bryan Cose, with the Denton Police Department’s Traffic Division, those three areas and intersections see the most traffic and have more lanes than any other in the city. Cose also indicated that other factors might be contributing to these areas having a higher number of collisions.
“We know that most of where a lot of crashes happen around 380 and 35, those are actually on 35,” Cose said, “ and are frequently related to the backup and congestion from the lanes merging right there at that 380 exit ramp.”
Driver confusion and visibility also contribute their fair share to the number of crashes in Denton’s University District. Area resident Matthew Davis told the Record-Chronicle that he has had his close calls in the 10 years he has lived around Texas Women’s University. “I see people going the wrong way, south down Locust from University or the Walgreen’s parking lot all the time,” Davis said. It has become enough of an issue that he always drives defensively.
Alexandra Castro, who also works in the same district, said that vegetation and street parking make collisions a regular occurrence. “It’s a tough intersection due to the street-parked cars blocking the view of oncoming traffic,” Castro said of the area surrounding West Oak Street and North Cedar Street.
Cose said that the Denton Police Department and the TxDOT would likely get together and come up with solutions to address the issue of higher collisions in the area.