‘Death after death after death.’ Locals decry deadly US 67 between Cleburne and Glen Rose
When Toni Jackson would commute home from work, she would always take the long way.
Taking the back roads to her home near Glen Rose added another five minutes to her drive, but it was a small sacrifice to make to avoid making a left turn off of U.S. 67 to head down her driveway.
“I was afraid to turn,” Jackson said, as she filled a display case in an Exxon gas station with fried pies on Wednesday.
“There were different routes to go when I didn’t feel safe,” Jackson said.
Additional lanes have since been added near Jackson’s home, but much of U.S. 67 is just two lanes, making the highway — the site of Tuesday’s crash that killed six people — dangerous to travel on as traffic volumes increase, multiple residents said. The highway’s speed limit ranges from 65 mph to 70 mph in the area near the crash site at County Road 1119.
Locals who live, work, and shop along the stretch of U.S. 67 between Cleburne and Glen Rose rattled off scores of fatal crashes that had occurred there before Tuesday’s wreck.
Nine years ago, a 16-year-old girl was killed in a crash outside of the Squaw Valley Golf Course in Glen Rose on New Year’s Eve. The girl was traveling in a car driven by a 17-year-old boy, who was later charged with manslaughter in her death, according to the crash report from the Texas Department of Transportation.
In 2017, at the same intersection where Tuesday’s crash occurred, a car traveling south on U.S. 67 collided with a car traveling north as the driver of the first car attempted to turn left onto County Road 1119. The crash killed 63-year-old Rhonda Cagle, a beloved teacher who had retired from the Glen Rose school district. The 17-year-old driver of the first car was charged with criminally negligent homicide.
Mac Bone, a business owner in Glen Rose, said that intersection — where southbound drivers on U.S. 67 turn left onto CR 1119 — needs to be made safer.
“It’s just constant,” Bone said about the crashes, injuries and fatalities near her home. “It’s death after death after death.”
Bone said she’d like to see both U.S. 67 and nearby Texas 144, which connects Glen Rose to Granbury, become wider, with turn lanes and signs indicating intersections.
The Texas Department of Transportation has proposed widening 13 miles of U.S. 67 from Glen Rose to Cleburne. According to the department’s website, the project would expand U.S. 67 from two lanes to four lanes, with a median and 12-foot shoulders. The project, which has not been funded, would cost an estimated $96 million.
Asked to comment, a TxDOT spokesperson emailed information about public hearings regarding the project.
In the last 11 years, 73 people have died in car accidents along U.S. 67 in Johnson and Somervall counties, according to data from the Texas Department of Transportation. Tuesday’s crash occurred in Johnson County just before the county line.
Jackson, who works at the Exxon station in Glen Rose, said she feels much safer now that the part of U.S. 67 near her home has been expanded to four lanes.
“With 67 as busy as it is, it could definitely be wider,” Jackson said.
The Texas Department of Public Safety released preliminary information about the crash on Wednesday. According to the initial investigation, a pickup truck traveling south on 67 entered the northbound lane in a no-passing zone near the intersection with County Road 1119. A minivan traveling north hit the pickup head-on, according to authorities. Six of the minivan’s seven passengers died, including two children, police said. The crash occurred at about 4 p.m. Tuesday.
The owner of one business less than two miles from Tuesday’s crash was so concerned about the road’s safety, he installed a steel pipe to act as a guardrail for his building. Inside, a first aid kit with emergency supplies stands ready to go in the event of a crash.
“We’re the first people out there,” said the owner, who asked that he not be identified, in part because of the local debate over whether to widen U.S. 67. His employees are often the first to respond to crashes, and work to secure the scene and provide emergency first aid before first responders arrive. He estimates his employees have responded to at least six crashes on U.S. 67.
They can hear when something’s gone wrong on the highway outside: First, they’ll hear the screech and noise of the crash. After, the traffic stops, and everything is quiet.
This story was originally published December 27, 2023 at 4:12 PM.
