New Radar Gun May Make 290 Safer Road
Among the items in the proposed $25 million Fayette County budget for next year is $1,850 to equip Pct. 2 Constable Roger Wunderlich with a radar gun and a ballistic vest.
A recent fatal accident in which a elderly couple from Carmine died while trying to cross US 290 drew a lot of attention to traffic issues on the busy highway at the northern tip of Fayette County. At a budget workshop meeting on July 30, County Judge Joe Weber said the new equipment will help Wunderlich increase traffic enforcement on the highway that runs through his territory.
“We’ve really got to put some emphasis on the northern part of the County, especially in Carmine and on 290,” Weber said at the meeting. “He’s willing to put in the time to do that.”
Pct. 2 Commissioner Luke Sternadel gave a brief history of the traffic problems on US 290:
“Years back, there was some consideration about putting an overpass in when they (reworked) the highway,” Sternadel said. “A lot of towns weren’t in favor of that because people wouldn’t stop and do business.”
The four-lane divided highway was built through Carmine and Ledbetter without overpasses. There are no red lights or stop signs on 290 in either community. The speed limit on 290 is 75 miles per hour through Ledbetter and drops to 70 in Carmine.
“It is very difficult to get across the highway with the increasing amount of traffic,” Sternadel said. “You’ve got a lot of farmers and ranchers with their cattle trailers and stuff, and it’s almost impossible to get all the way across. They’ve had some very bad accidents up there. The speed (on 290) is just unreal.”
Sternadel said Wunderlich recently caught three people in a row who were speeding in excess of 90 miles per hour on the highway.
“If you catch somebody going 90 miles and hour, that ought to be a trip to jail,” said Pct. 4 Commissioner Tom Muras.
Texas law does not allow law enforcement officers to arrest a state resident for speeding alone, but they can arrest speeders for reckless driving or if they are racing.
Weber said plans are underway for Texas Department of Transportation to conduct a traffic study and install flashing signs warning motorists of their speeds in Carmine. He said the study may result in a flashing yellow light on US 290.
Wunderlich won a threeway race to capture the Republican primary in March, and he does not face an opponent in the general election this November. Traffic enforcement was one of the main topics in the Constable race. Wunderlich and both of his opponents vowed to increase patrols.
The County’s emphasis on traffic enforcement comes at a time when the Texas Department of Public Safety has increasingly pulled Highway Patrol troopers off roadways to perform other duties for the state. Starting in 2015, DPS began rotating troopers from across Texas to temporary assignments on the Mexico border to assist with immigration enforcement. Earlier this year, DPS temporarily assigned local troopers to assist with security at homeless camps in Austin. In recent months, the State began rotating troopers to metro areas to assist local police with civil unrest.