Delay in installing new stop signs on Chaparral Road

Despite the anticipation and a small crowd of residents who showed up near the intersection of Chaparral and Featherline roads, Bell County Commissioner Louie Minor announced Friday that new stop signs will not be installed at the troubled intersection, or at least not right away.

The new stop signs were delayed due to a late request for a public hearing Thursday and, under county law, would now have to go through a 30-day process that will end with a public hearing and a vote in Bell County Commissioners Court.

Minor stood in the parking lot of the Bell County Water Supply — near the intersection — where he explained that the section of Chaparral that runs horizontally from Featherline is split between his precinct and Bell County Commissioner Bobby Whitson of Precinct 2.

“One of the issues with the District 2 commissioner was he wanted a study done,” Minor told those gathered at Thursday’s event, including Killeen City Councilman Joseph Solomon, residents and former council members.

“I think we need something here. But I think the study is going to show we need more than a stop sign. We’re going to need a red light.”

Minor had previously said the stop signs were meant to be a temporary measure, with school starting Aug. 14.

He said doing a traffic study and installing a red light would cost more.

“My problem is the county commissioner at Precinct 2, he’s been there for six years. This school opened in 2022,” Minor said, referring to nearby Chaparral High School. “So they’ve had plenty of time to deal with that intersection.”

Minor said nothing was done until council members Solomon and Nina Cobb held a public meeting on the issues with Featherline and Chaparral earlier this month.

“I want to help the voters. I know you do too,” he said, saluting Solomon. “At least we’re going to work with the city to fix this problem and we were able to make some improvements to the road at that intersection. That’s something I’m willing to do.”

Whitson said in a phone call with the Herald Friday that he wasn’t necessarily against installing stop signs, but he felt more research was needed first.

He said the person who requested the public hearing was concerned that traffic would be backed up at the intersection if stop signs were added.

Whitson said adding stop signs could have “unintended consequences.”

“When traffic isn’t flowing, people get upset, cut each other off,” Whitson said, which he said could actually make the safety situation worse. “We still have a responsibility to make traffic safer. Let’s do it right and not do more harm than good.”

He said he thought Minor “was a little hasty” in saying he didn’t add an additional sign in the driveway where the Bell County water supply is located, making it a four-way stop, which he said should have reset the eight-day notice period because it wasn’t in the initial public notice.

Minor and Whitson both separately agreed that no matter what happens in commissioners court, there would be traffic calming measures once school starts, which could take the form of police officers directing traffic.

“We’re not putting this off. We’re already working on it,” Whitson said. “We know we have a problem. It’s going to be exacerbated by the college.”

Minor said the public hearing will be held Aug. 12, meaning it’s possible stop signs will be placed before classes start.

“I ask everyone to come out and speak to the commissioners court and let them know that you want safety, both for vehicles and pedestrians, at this intersection,” Minor said.

Minor also explained that the person who requested the public hearing did not provide his address in the email, so by his initial interpretation, he did not know if that person was a county resident. However, he said Whitson said he knew who he was.

Terry Clark, a former Killeen city councilman, told Minor that this particular section of Chaparral has been ignored for decades.

“All that’s happened so far is gravel and it’s been graveled from the other side more than once, and it’s been fixed,” Clark said. “And you can see it as soon as you come around that corner … it’s never been touched.”

Construction of Chaparral Road has been planned for a long time, but was recently pushed back to 2029.

Kyia Shatswell, who showed up Thursday because she thought the stop signs would be installed, said she wasn’t disappointed, but she mostly wanted to know what was going to happen and whether they would be installed before school starts on Aug. 14.

She said she was concerned because she had teenagers driving to school on Chaparral. She said she understood what Minor meant.

“Was I happy? No,” she said. “The school is now three years old… They should have acted when they found out, when the public found out, that a school was being built. They should have taken care of that too because, of course, we know – common sense, actually – that when you add buildings, especially high-capacity ones like that in a neighborhood that’s not used to that traffic flow, it’s going to create traffic.”

She said she would now become more involved in the Commissioner’s Court hearings.

“Because it affects me personally,” Shatswell said.

She also said she thought city officials should have been a little more forthcoming because discussions about improving Chaparral only recently began. She said she felt the recent city hall meeting gave the project a boost.

Solomon was not aware that the stop signs would not be installed until he arrived at the intersection Friday afternoon. He asked residents to be patient.

“I think we have to keep moving forward,” he said. “The city is trying to do everything it can within its means. … These kinds of projects take time.”

There are plans to widen Chaparral Road, a busy two-lane road in south Killeen where there has been heavy growth in recent years, but that project is not expected to begin until 2029, according to the city.