CALLISBURG, Tex. ― The intersection of U.S. Highway 82 and FM 678 in Callisburg has long been called dangerous by law enforcement, but TX-DOT hopes to change that. The highly traveled intersection will soon receive state funding to improve safety conditions. Rashi Vats has more.

The intersection of U.S. 82 and FM 678 is traveled by thousands of vehicles everyday many of the drivers are young people headed to school. One was killed in an accident at the intersection a few years ago, but now TX-DOT is hoping to prevent dangerous accidents by approving funding for a new safety project.

Callisburg superintendent Charles Holloway has seen many accidents at this intersection in the six years he's been on the job.

“There’s a lot of traffic. As years go on, our school district is growing and a lot more parents taking the children to the elementary south of 82 and the high school which is north,” Holloway says.

“It’s not anyone's fault. it's just the nature of the beast here that people get impatient, and sometimes people are speeding, someone makes a miscalculation of speed and they get hit.”

The Texas Transportation Committee approved a $4.1 million project Thursday to build an overpass on FM 678 over U.S. 82. That money will come from $600 million dollars in bonds that TX-DOT will sell to fund highway safety projects across Texas.

“It’s the greatest news we have had in a while. It has taken a lot of effort with TX-DOT,” Holloway says.

“We have to invest in the rural parts of our state, especially places like Gainesville, where our Metroplex is starting to move up here and we have an influx of population lately,” Adele Lewis with TX-DOT says.

“It is a very high priority project for our district, and apparently it competed pretty well against all the other safety projects in the state that we were able to get $4.1 million to build it.”

“I know money is tight and all that, but at the same time, there isn't any value that you can put on a student's life or anybody else’s life,” Holloway says.

A committee has already met to start the planning for the overpass the project should be finished in 2012.