The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 114, No. 46, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 11, 2004 Page: 6 of 32
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THURSDAY 11 NOVEMBER 2004
news page
THE CANADIAN RECORD
TxDOT's hazard elimination advisory committee
hears highway sa ety, environmental reports
To cut or not to cut. That is the question Mark
Tomlinson, district engineer for the Texas De-
partment of Transportation, posed to the twen-
ty-member hazard elimination advisory com-
mittee which held its first meeting in Canadian
Thursday.
The committee was formed to evaluate
TxDOT's tree removal proposal. Last spring,
Hemphill County residents caught wind of Tx-
DOT's plan to remove 1,185 trees in the 30-foot
clear zone along Highways 60 and 83 in six Pan-
handle counties.
When the plan was reported in local and area
news media, TxDOT began to receive a barrage
of phone calls and letters protesting the plan. "A
lot of people were not happy to hear that," he said,
speaking of the response TxDOT's proposal re-
ceived.
The purpose of the committee is to find a way
to preserve trees in the area for aesthetic and en-
vironmental purposes, yet eliminate safety haz-
ards for drivers. "The project was initiated be-
cause of safety concerns," Tomlinson said. "The
safety concern hasn't changed.'"
To make that point, Tomlinson invited Dr.
Roger Bligh of Texas A&M University's. Trans-
portation Safety Institute to address the com-
mittee in its initial meeting. Using a computer-
ized Power Point presentation, Bligh illustrated
the history of and rationale for development of a
highway clear zone. Bligh explained the signifi-
cance of fixed object removal, particularly trees,
citing statistics showing the number of tree-re-
lated fatalities statewide.
In Texas, more than 3,700 people were killed
in traffic accidents in 2001—the equivalent of a
fully loaded Boeing jetliner crashing every two
weeks, Bligh said. This represents a 17 pereent
increase from six years ago, a situation "likely to
getworse,"he said.
TxDOT has pursued several initiatives to
bring down the number of fatal crashes by im-
proving the design of barriers, guardrails, medi-
ans, bridge rails and light poles, and by promot-
ing the removal of fixed objects.
In 1969, more than 53,000 were killed in traf-
fic accidents—a number that Bligh said was low-
ered to 43,000 in 2002 through TxDOT's safety
initiatives. "If we had not made an effort to im-
prove safety, we'd now be killing 140,000 people
per year/' Bligh said. "We take great pride in
bringing down crash fatality rates."
Trees make up a significant portion of the
harmful events that cause most fatal crashes on
today's roads, he said. Trees Were involved in 29
percent of roadside fatalities, and 90 percent of
fatal tree collisions occur on two-lane highways.
Trees are "by far one of the biggest problems"
on the roadside today, Bligh said. In the United
States, approximately 11,000 fatal crashes in-
volved fixed objects, and 25 percent of those were
trees, while 11 percent were utility poles.
Bligh showed a series of pictures involving ve-
hicle collisions with trees, including some demon-
strations done in labs and some actual accidents
where fatalities occurred. "Tree collisions are a
reality that occur everyday and are generally se-
vere in nature," he said.
To reduce these accidents, TxDOT has a hi-
erarchy of options, which includes removing the
obstacle or relocating it, shielding the obstacle
with a barrier, or delineating the obstacle. Trees
should not be placed in areas where they are vul-
nerable to vehicular contact, or where they are
blocking signs or sight, Bligh said.
Committee member John Horst of Pampa
noted that excessive speed was a factor in most of
the wrecks Bligh had used to illustrate the prob-
lem, and pointed out that those wrecks might still
be fatal without the tree. Bligh said it is possible
that contributing factors have something to do
with the end result, but could not say for certain
whether fatalities would have occurred without
the trees.
"My point is, if we eliminate crashes caused
by excessive speed or the influence of alcohol
and drags, they would be significantly smaller,"
Horst said.
Loralee Philpott of Miami said the statistics
and factors involving trees and roadside traffic
accidents need to be more area-speeific.
"I think the study in the field is important.
I think statistics are valuable if you're building
a new highway," Philpott said. "This is not our
problem here. I would like to bring some of this
down to our problem in these counties and what
can we do about it?"
Bligh said the statistics apply anywhere and
should be used as guidelines for improving exist-
ing roadways. Tomlinson added that plans are in
place "down the road" to turn Highway 60 into a
four-lane highway, at which point the clear-zone
will be required.
The committee also heard from TxDOT offi-
cial Bill Jordan with environmental affairs. Jor-
dan highlighted some of the findings of the envi-
ronmental impact study, and said the removal of
tees alongside the highway would have minimal
impact on nesting and breeding birds and other
wildlife habitat, "although impact to individual
birds maybe significant."
There are no bird species currently identified
as threatened or endangered in the area, Jordan
said. Tree removal may have a "slight impact on
hawks, eagles and faleons," adding however that
removal of the trees which provide nesting' for
those birds "could benefit those species' prey"
Jordan said there are 9,452 trees within
TxDOT's right of way in the six county area. "I
think of the nearly 10,000 trees in the right of
TXDOT HAZARD ELIMINATION CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
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Brown, Laurie Ezzell. The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 114, No. 46, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 11, 2004, newspaper, November 11, 2004; Canadian, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth220655/m1/6/?q=EARTH: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hemphill County Library.