Watauga City Council Workshop Meeting – January 12, 2026

The Watauga City Council held a workshop meeting on Monday, January 12, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. in City Hall Council Chambers, 7105 Whitley Road. Mayor Hart Minor presided with six council members present; Place 5 was vacant. The sole agenda item was an update on the city's Comprehensive Safety Action Plan, presented by Paul Hackleman, Director of Public Works, and consultants from Burgess & Niple. No requests for public comment or testimony were made, and no formal action was taken. The workshop adjourned at approximately 6:26 p.m., with the regular council meeting scheduled for 6:40 p.m.

Discussion Items

• Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant and schedule: Consultant Robert Paken explained that Watauga received a second-round SS4A discretionary grant from the Federal Highway Administration in 2023. The city signed the FHWA agreement in November 2024 for a 24-month period of performance; Burgess & Niple was awarded the project in October 2025 and has been working on it for about two months. A draft report is targeted for mid-August 2026, with final plan adoption and closeout by late September/October 2026.
• Crash data analysis: The consultant reported 970 total crashes citywide from 2019 to 2024, about 40% of which occurred on US 377 (Denton Highway). Those crashes were excluded from the systemic risk analysis and high-injury network so the analysis would not be dominated by a state-owned roadway, but a separate US 377 corridor safety study will be included in the plan. On city streets, there were 583 crashes over six years: 4 fatalities, 26 serious injuries, 91 minor injuries, 120 possible injuries, and 322 no-injury crashes. Watauga has about 83 miles of roadway, about 80% local streets, about 130 miles of sidewalk, approximately 78% of centerline miles with sidewalks on both sides, 560 intersections, 22 all-way stop-controlled intersections, 518 two-way stop-controlled intersections, 20 traffic signals, 4 at-grade rail crossings, and 6 enhanced crosswalks. The crash density was about 1.17 crashes per mile per year. Total crashes trended slightly upward, while severe crashes were flat or slightly downward, averaging about 5 severe crashes and about 97 total crashes per year.
• Emphasis areas: Based on the Texas Strategic Highway Safety Plan, the analysis groups crashes into seven emphasis areas; the top concerns identified for Watauga were intersection-related, speed-related, lane departure, and distracted-driving crashes. The consultant noted that one crash can be assigned to multiple emphasis areas, so the percentages are not additive.
• Council member input: Council members asked the consultant to examine whether intersection crashes increased after red-light cameras were removed by the 2019 Legislature, to break out crashes at Rufe Snow intersections, and to look for correlations among intersections, speed, and red-light running. A council member requested data on aggressive driving and distracted-driving trends. Councilwoman Downing expressed concern about excluding US 377 from the core analysis because first responders regularly handle serious crashes there, and she highlighted lane-departure dangers and cut-through traffic on High Tower Road. Councilman Taylor prioritized speed-related crashes, described traffic on High Tower Road and the Rufe Snow/High Tower hook as dangerous, and reiterated his support for lowering residential speed limits to 20 mph. The mayor and other members described the 377/Water Burger area as a high-risk location and asked that the 377 corridor study include TxDOT input.
• Vision, goal, and objective: The consultant presented draft vision statement options such as 'safe streets for a great place to live.' Council members generally felt they needed more time and public input before choosing a vision, goal, and objective; Councilwoman Downing asked that the matter go through strategic planning, and Councilman Neal said it was difficult to respond to two months of consultant work in a one-hour presentation. Councilman Taylor offered 'safety without exception' as a draft vision.
• Safe System Approach and zero deaths: The consultant described the federal Safe System Approach, which aims for zero traffic deaths and serious injuries through layers of protection. He noted that calendar years 2021 and 2023 included 356 days with zero fatalities or serious injuries, and that there were 186 consecutive days without a fatal or serious-injury crash from December 27, 2022 through July 1, 2023, suggesting zero deaths is attainable.
• Community engagement survey: A short eight-question survey and an online comment map were developed. The survey takes two to three minutes and will be open through Wataugafest; the consultant requested council members take it and encourage residents to respond. Next steps include launching the survey, finalizing the systemic risk analysis, high-injury network, and US 377 corridor study, identifying engineering and non-engineering countermeasures, and planning a pop-up engagement booth at Wataugafest.

Key Outcomes

• No votes or formal council actions were taken at the workshop.
• The council did not adopt a vision, goal, or objective; it directed that these be discussed further at a strategic planning retreat and with citizen input.
• The consultant will incorporate requested follow-up analyses, including red-light-camera-era comparisons, Rufe Snow intersection details, speed/red-light-running correlations, distracted-driving trends, aggressive-driving data, and the separate US 377 corridor study.
• The city will promote the eight-question survey and comment map, with public engagement continuing through Wataugafest; the draft Comprehensive Safety Action Plan is expected around mid-August 2026, with final adoption and closeout by October 2026.