Duty of Care

In the early morning hours of Thursday, October 29, 2026, a vehicle traveling westbound on State Highway 71 crossed into an active highway work zone near Tucker Hill Lane in Bastrop County, Texas, and fatally struck two contracted construction workers, the Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office said, as reported by FOX 7 Austin. The driver of the vehicle was also killed. Jordan Foster Construction confirmed that the two workers were its employees, working on a TxDOT project that includes a new overpass at Tucker Hill Lane.

TxDOT posted shortly before 5:40 a.m. that all westbound lanes were closed, and they reopened at about 7 a.m., KVUE reported. The Texas Department of Public Safety is leading the investigation; the victims’ names and the factors leading up to the crash had not been released, and no arrests had been reported.

For any crew working next to live traffic, the defenses to check are positive protection such as barriers or truck-mounted attenuators, buffer space and lane closures sized for the real traffic speed, lighting and high-visibility gear for night work, and traffic control plans that are updated as lanes shift. These are work zone design and planning controls, not just worker or driver attention.

• FOX 7 Austin
• KVUE