Downtown Boerne’s Main Street, long the backdrop for leisurely strolls and quick curbside pit stops, may be headed for a tune-up that trades parking spots for safer crossings and calmer traffic. City staff say a federally funded safety study has fast-tracked a list of design fixes that would likely remove some curbside parking in the downtown corridor, a shift that has some business owners worried about how visitors get around and how long they stick around. A series of briefings and public comment opportunities is coming this spring before any permanent lane changes go to a final vote.
Crash data that pushed Main Street under the microscope
The starting point for all this is not aesthetics, it is crash numbers. The city logged 2,342 crashes inside Boerne over the past five years and 36 fatal or serious injury collisions. Pedestrian and bicyclist crashes made up about 1 percent of all incidents but accounted for 24 of the most severe cases, according to MySA. Staff told City Council that a majority of the most serious wrecks happened on roads owned and maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation, so any big changes will need state partners at the table. That pattern has vaulted Main Street and River Road to the top of the list for redesign work and safety investments.
What could change and who is drawing up the plans
Early engineering concepts include adding medians, tweaking pedestrian signal timing and carving out new turning lanes to reduce conflict points and bring speeds down through downtown. Officials warned that some of those fixes could potentially cause a reduction in parking downtown along those parallel parking areas, according to the City Council meeting transcript and video. The council has signed off on hiring Kimley-Horn to lead Safe Streets and Roads for All planning, downtown pedestrian audits and community outreach as the city assembles an action plan and project list, according to City Council materials.
Federal money on the table and what SS4A actually is
Boerne landed a $240,000 Safe Streets and Roads for All, or SS4A, planning grant in 2024 to update its safety action plan, complete a downtown pedestrian study and carry out intersection safety audits, the city announced. City of Boerne documents note that the grant will be paired with local matching funds so the final plan qualifies for future federal construction money. The SS4A program, run by the U.S. Department of Transportation, funds planning and projects aimed at cutting roadway deaths and serious injuries, and winning an SS4A implementation award typically requires having a federally compliant action plan in hand, according to the U.S. DOT.
Key dates, public comment and what is at stake
City staff expect to present a draft Safe Streets for All action plan to City Council on March 10, with the draft scheduled to go online for public comment starting March 24. Staff are targeting a council resolution in May and an application for a federal implementation grant in June, MySA reports. Those public comment windows, along with any open houses, will give business owners and residents an early shot at arguing for parking protections, pushing alternate traffic calming ideas or pressing for design tweaks that keep access intact. More intersection audits and outreach events are expected as consultants sharpen their recommendations.
For merchants who depend on quick-turn curb parking and for families who descend on downtown on weekends, the next few months will frame a choice between keeping drive-up convenience and reducing the risk of serious crashes. Any actual removal of on-street stalls will still need a council vote, coordination with TxDOT where state routes are involved and, in all likelihood, outside construction funding before any crews touch Main Street.
