Austin’s Ready To Rumble on ‘Crashy Cameron’ and ‘Deathtrap Dessau’ Roads

Image: Austin Transportation and Public Works Department

If you drive regularly on Cameron Road between East 51st Street and Rundberg, or Dessau Road, which is what that same road’s called once you hit the north side of Rundberg all the way up to Parmer Lane, you’re probably aware in the abstract that it’s a pretty difficult transportation corridor — busy, congested, maybe even risky. But how risky? The numbers from the City of Austin’s crash data are pretty stark, so let’s start there:

Austin crash data shows that between 2019 and 2023 there were nearly 2,400 crashes (including 1,200 with a full police crash report) on Cameron Road / Dessau Road between East 51st Street and Parmer Lane—or more than one crash every single day. These crashes tragically resulted in 12 people killed, 77 seriously injured, and another 397 suffering minor injuries.  

— Austin Transportation and Public Works Department

Sure, the Cameron/Dessau corridor is roughly seven miles long, but it’s still pretty hard to spin nearly 480 crashes a year — that’s 1.3 crashes a day, and the city estimates the public safety resources dedicated to traffic incidents on this single road represent a yearly cost of roughly $100 million.

High vehicular speeds along the corridor likely play a role in almost every severe crash. Speed data collected in one 24-hour period in March 2024, for example, recorded over 2,900 vehicles traveling over 50 mph on Cameron Road where the posted speed limit is 40 mph. On Dessau Road, 3,900 vehicles were observed to be traveling faster than 60 mph where the posted speed limit is 50 mph, and over 300 vehicles per day were clocked going over 70 mph!

— Austin Transportation and Public Works Department

Good news is, the city’s Transportation and Public Works Department has entered the ring to elbow drop the tag team heel duo of Crashy Cameron and Deathtrap Dessau from the top rope with a safety and mobility project, bringing new infrastructure improvements all the way from 51st Street to Parmer Lane. Scroll away, brother:

Along with safer pedestrian crossings, relocated bus stops, and enhanced street lighting, these upgrades are set to include a reconfiguration of lanes between 290 and Parmer Lane, generally reducing lanes from three to two in each direction to accommodate the installation of protected bike lanes and sidewalks — hang on a second, is that Barton Springs Road’s music?

The City’s Barton Springs Road Safety Project Works. Where Should It Go Next?

To be fair, plans for improving this corridor have been in the works since 2019, predating the success of the lane-reducing Barton Springs Road Safety Pilot — but we don’t think it hurts to cite that project’s success as precedent for making similar changes on high-risk roads all over town. The city is now seeking feedback from the public on its plans for the Cameron/Dessau corridor, and the presentation on these changes really takes its time explaining how you can reduce the number of lanes in each direction without making traffic significantly worse, which we appreciate:

So how do we plan to maintain motor vehicle capacity while repurposing a travel lane for much of the corridor? The answer comes down to how and where congestion occurs. Motor vehicle congestion typically occurs at intersections with a traffic signal because traffic in one direction must stop while other directions take their turn. In contrast, a free-flowing lane away from a traffic signal can carry about three times the traffic volume as a lane through a traffic signal and is therefore typically not the source of congestion.

Since capacity is limited by major signalized intersections, in the proposed design existing motor vehicle capacity along Cameron Road / Dessau Road is maintained by providing additional traffic lanes at key intersections and segments. Where additional vehicle lanes are needed, shared-use paths are provided through the intersection to connect to in-street protected bicycle lanes.

— Austin Transportation and Public Works Department

There’s even a handy video illustrating the concept, which is helpful since we understand some people don’t like to read anymore: