City leaders believe these changes are long overdue.
AUSTIN, Texas — Five years ago, Lauren Thomas lost her only sibling and the man she calls her “absolute best friend,” Keaton Carnley.
In April of 2019, just after 10 p.m., her brother and his partner, Garrett Davis, were driving home, about to turn left into an apartment complex on East Slaughter Lane when tragedy struck.
“Due to lack of visibility, there was a truck, and there’s a hill there that kind of obscured the view. They didn’t see them. So then they were struck, pushed 50 feet, and they both died on scene,” Thomas said.
Thomas said the lack of street lighting caused this devastating loss to her family.
“Nobody should lose their life just trying to get from A to B or trying to go home. Lack of visibility, it shouldn’t happen on busy Austin roads,” Thomas said.
Now, the city is set to move forward with adding more lighting along Pearce Lane and 13 city intersections like Cullen Lane, Slaughter Lane at South First Street, East Riverside Drive at Tinnin Ford Road and West Slaughter Lane at Brodie Lane. City leaders hope to improve visibility for people on the road and reduce the risk of crashes at night.
According to the Vision Zero viewer, a dashboard and map for crash data, four crashes have happened along Pearce Lane ending in fatalities or serious injuries since 2021.
This project will affect constituents in the districts of Council Members Vanessa Fuentes and Zo Qadri.
“We have heard from near-misses, from constituents. We heard from a constituent who was struck by a car while crossing the road at a point,” Qadri said. “One incident is one incident too many.”
“We know that by having better lighting available for our residents, we’re going to have safer streets, be easier for both drivers and pedestrians and cyclists to move around our city,” Fuentes said.
It is reflecting on the tragedies of the past to build a safeguard for the future.
“We just don’t want anybody else to have to lose their life and deal with what we have dealt with due to unsafe planning,” Thomas said.
City council is expected to approve the contract for more lighting at Thursday’s meeting. It comes with a price tag of more than $1.5 million. Construction is expected to begin in January and last eight months.
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