Cars yield to oncoming traffic at the Interstate 35 on-ramp near Burleson Street. (Photo by Wes Ferguson)
by WES FERGUSON
Let’s say you’re idling in your car, yielding to the traffic that flows day and night from access roads onto Interstate 35 in Kyle.
An 18-wheeler is barreling toward you. Will the truck veer onto the interstate, or will it stay on the frontage road and pass harmlessly by? Now there’s a string of cars. They’re approaching fast. Do you punch the pedal and shoot the gap? Or will you play it safe, waiting for a clearer opening?
Nope, too late. You missed it.
This is the gauntlet of the Interstate 35 access road. The scene plays out every day in Kyle, where an influx of new residents has turned a sleepy town into a sprawling suburban city. Road projects haven’t always kept up with the new traffic.
That should be changing soon, as the Texas Department of Transportation begins the process of improving Kyle’s access roads.
“It’s obviously safer, and it’s more convenient for drivers,” Kyle Mayor Lucy Johnson said of the planned changes.
TxDOT should be accepting bids on the projects sometime in August or September, she said, and construction is scheduled to begin in December.
In the meantime, though, let’s say you’re still in your car, idling at an Interstate 35 yield sign. A glance in the rearview, and the other commuters are stacking up behind you. They look impatient.
“Come on, buddy,” you almost hear them say. “Why don’t you go already?”
So you inch forward, tempting fate, and now you’re nose to nose with the cars and trucks that keep swerving, one after the other, onto the interstate.
Just when hope is fading, you notice your savior advancing from the distance. If the approaching driver had intended to turn onto Interstate 35, he or she would have used the inside turn signal, of course. But instead, this fellow traveler flips on her outside blinker.
In any other situation, a flashing outside blinker indicates the motorist will be turning away. But on frontage roads in Kyle, the outside blinker has assumed a new meaning. Here, it means the oncoming motorist will be keeping straight. Proceed freely, the blinker says. Don’t even worry about a head-on collision.
It’s a small courtesy from one neighbor to another. With this stranger’s blessing, you step on the gas, and you’re on your way.
