Work on I-35 'will never conclude:' TxDOT executive director says
Business owners and Hays County officials attended a transportation summit Tuesday to hear updates on what is being done to accommodate for explosive growth in the region.
SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) – Business owners and Hays County officials attended a transportation summit Tuesday to hear updates on what is being done to accommodate for explosive growth in the region.
Hays County, located between Austin and San Antonio along Interstate 35, consistently ranks as one of the fastest-growing counties in the state and the Nation. Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Executive Director Marc Williams, who was the keynote speaker at the summit co-hosted by the San Marcos Area Chamber of Commerce and Greater San Marcos Partnership, said that I-35 is vital to the economic growth of the region.
“A big part of what moves up and down I-35 is commerce,” Williams said. “That commerce is brought about by individuals, but also trucks and freight.”
“With that economic growth comes a demand for more transportation infrastructure,” he said. “The work will never conclude on Interstate 35 between Austin and San Antonio – I can say that pretty definitively.”
Williams sees the need to expand Texas’ transportation infrastructure to accommodate growth as a positive.
“We're very fortunate in Texas to still have that problem. There are many places around the nation – many of those people come to this region – that are seeing a decline in population and decline in economic growth,” Williams said. “This region is very well positioned to continue to take advantage of that. But our transportation system has to continue to grow, develop and improve to keep up with that demand.”
John Hardy, owner of Divided Sky Roofing a Solar in San Marcos, attended the event Tuesday. He said the growth to the region is good for his business, but growing the traffic problem is a nuisance.
"Our main issue with transportation is just the time it takes to get to in front of the customer,” Hardy said. “Like today, we had a meeting – we had three people that were 15 minutes late.”
Hardy said he hopes more lanes on the interstate will lead to less traffic.
"[I wish] I could wave a magic wand so that [traffic] would just keep moving and it wouldn't stop and probably just more lanes,” he said.