SAN ANTONIO — With Texas’s population recently surpassing more than 30 million people, state officials have stressed the need for a more robust approach when it comes to improving highway infrastructure.
That was among the messages emphasized at the 2024 Transportation Summit in San Marcos, where elected officials and business leaders came together to discuss various issues related to roadways across Texas.
Marc Williams, executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), served as the keynote speaker. Williams remarked he’s never known a day when there has been some type of construction along the bustling I-35 corridor between San Antonio and Austin.
Several projects are currently underway in different stretches of the interstate.
“We’ve got at least three major transportation projects going on right now with the NEX Project in San Antonio, the work that’s going on for some of the widening in San Marcos and now some of the work going on up in the Austin area around I-35,” Williams said.
Comal, Guadalupe and Hays counties are among the communities that have seen tremendous growth.
“Some of that is due to the transportation system that is here to support that business and development," Williams said. "But as that growth occurs it adds to the demand of that transportation system."
In August, Gov. Greg Abbott announced a record $142 billion investment in transportation projects. Williams said only a third of funding for these projects comes from the federal government.
Williams stressed the importance of continued collaboration with the community as additional construction projects begin in the coming years.
“This is really an opportunity for kind of a collaborative exchange between state and local elected officials to talk about how we can better work together to do more planning more effectively.”
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