Stop signs and turn arrows are intended to prevent eastbound traffic on Renner Road from running into a house at Tall Tree Drive. Bob Wieland/Murphy Monitor

After a series of car accidents where Renner Road dead-ends into the 600 block of Tall Tree Drive, the city of Murphy is modifying the eastbound lane to keep vehicles from hitting a house.

The first accident took place a few years after the house on Tall Tree Drive was built in 2001, and the worst mishap took place early Christmas morning, 2020.

Police said the driver, a 25-year-old Wylie woman, was intoxicated and didn’t realize she had to turn right or left onto Tall Tree Drive.

Instead, her 2008 Nissan Rogue plowed through two bedrooms and a bathroom of a home at the intersection, setting the house afire and coming to rest atop a woman asleep in her bed, fire officials said.

The house required extensive reconstruction before it was sold again in March 2024.

Two months later, a speeding motorist demolished a car parked in front of the house on May 26, 2024, prompting the residents to request the City Council at the June 4 meeting to do something to fix the problem.

Additional signage was deployed, but an ordinance to close the eastbound lane of Renner at South Murphy Road was tabled at the July 2 council meeting. Several residents of The Timbers and an HOA representative said they would like to provide input on any proposed changes.

More “traffic calming” and road safety solutions were subsequently researched, and a plan was made to reconfigure the central island between the eastbound and westbound lanes, curving the eastbound lane to the left before a stop sign.

However, the work had not begun when the resident of the house reported another crash at 1 a.m. Sunday, May 17.

“The driver failed to slow down or turn and continued straight through the intersection, crashing into the minivan parked in front of our home,” the resident said. “The force of the collision destroyed our mailbox and caused the minivan to spin 180 degrees into the front yard.

The pickup truck then crashed into a tree in our yard, where it finally came to a stop.”

The resident said they always parked the van in front of the house as protection following the similar crash two years earlier.

“My family could have lost their lives tonight,” they said.

Assistant City Manager Jared Mayfield said, “It’s unfortunate that this has happened as we are very close to beginning our intersection modification project for the Tall Tree Drive and Renner Road intersection.”

Mayor Scott Bradley said the redesign of the road would create a physical barrier to prevent cars from getting to the house. Mayfield said the project was recently bid and was expected to begin in late June.

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