Make SH 171 Safer: Demand a Safety Study Between Hubbard and Hillsboro TX
The Issue
Make SH 171 Safer: Demand a Safety Study Between Hubbard and Hillsboro
For families in Hubbard, Malone, Bynum, Hillsboro and the surrounding rural communities, State Highway 171 is part of everyday life. We travel it for work, school, church, medical care, shopping and to reach the people we love.
Too many trips on this highway have ended in tragedy.
Using crash records obtained from the Texas Department of Transportation's Crash Records Information System (CRIS), we reviewed reported crashes along the approximately 21-mile SH 171 corridor between Hubbard and Hillsboro.
From 2021 through 2025, this corridor recorded 75 crashes and 7 traffic deaths.
By September 9, 2026, another 15 crashes and 7 traffic deaths had already been recorded.
In just over eight months of 2026, this stretch of SH 171 has recorded as many traffic deaths as it did during the previous five years combined.
Our analysis also found concerning patterns involving severe opposing-direction collisions and recent crashes involving passing behavior. These findings raise questions that deserve evaluation by professional traffic-safety engineers.
We are not claiming that every crash has the same cause, nor are we demanding a predetermined solution.
We are asking TxDOT to investigate.
We call upon the Texas Department of Transportation, its Waco District and Hillsboro Area Office, together with our state and local leaders, to conduct a comprehensive corridor safety study of SH 171 between Hubbard and Hillsboro.
We ask TxDOT to evaluate crash locations and severity, passing and no-passing zones, opposing-direction collisions, speed and operating conditions, intersections and sight distance, shoulders, pavement markings, rumble strips, signage, roadway geometry, traffic volume, nighttime visibility and any other factors identified by its engineers.
We further ask TxDOT to:
• Identify evidence-based safety improvements warranted by the study
• Develop an action plan for appropriate improvements
• Make the findings available to the public
• Meet with affected communities, local officials, law enforcement, EMS and volunteer fire departments
Our preliminary review is not a substitute for a professional engineering study.
It demonstrates why one is warranted.
We do not need to know the answer before asking the question.
What can be done to make SH 171 safer—and why would we wait for another family to die before finding out?
Please sign this petition and stand with the communities along SH 171 in asking for answers, action and a safer road home.
93
The Issue
Make SH 171 Safer: Demand a Safety Study Between Hubbard and Hillsboro
For families in Hubbard, Malone, Bynum, Hillsboro and the surrounding rural communities, State Highway 171 is part of everyday life. We travel it for work, school, church, medical care, shopping and to reach the people we love.
Too many trips on this highway have ended in tragedy.
Using crash records obtained from the Texas Department of Transportation's Crash Records Information System (CRIS), we reviewed reported crashes along the approximately 21-mile SH 171 corridor between Hubbard and Hillsboro.
From 2021 through 2025, this corridor recorded 75 crashes and 7 traffic deaths.
By September 9, 2026, another 15 crashes and 7 traffic deaths had already been recorded.
In just over eight months of 2026, this stretch of SH 171 has recorded as many traffic deaths as it did during the previous five years combined.
Our analysis also found concerning patterns involving severe opposing-direction collisions and recent crashes involving passing behavior. These findings raise questions that deserve evaluation by professional traffic-safety engineers.
We are not claiming that every crash has the same cause, nor are we demanding a predetermined solution.
We are asking TxDOT to investigate.
We call upon the Texas Department of Transportation, its Waco District and Hillsboro Area Office, together with our state and local leaders, to conduct a comprehensive corridor safety study of SH 171 between Hubbard and Hillsboro.
We ask TxDOT to evaluate crash locations and severity, passing and no-passing zones, opposing-direction collisions, speed and operating conditions, intersections and sight distance, shoulders, pavement markings, rumble strips, signage, roadway geometry, traffic volume, nighttime visibility and any other factors identified by its engineers.
We further ask TxDOT to:
• Identify evidence-based safety improvements warranted by the study
• Develop an action plan for appropriate improvements
• Make the findings available to the public
• Meet with affected communities, local officials, law enforcement, EMS and volunteer fire departments
Our preliminary review is not a substitute for a professional engineering study.
It demonstrates why one is warranted.
We do not need to know the answer before asking the question.
What can be done to make SH 171 safer—and why would we wait for another family to die before finding out?
Please sign this petition and stand with the communities along SH 171 in asking for answers, action and a safer road home.
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Petition created on September 9, 2026