Regional growth and infrastructure developments discussed at annual Transportation Summit 

Sierra Martin, Christopher Green | Staff Reporters

SAN MARCOS – The San Marcos Area Chamber of Commerce and Greater San Marcos Partnership held its Annual Transportation Summit on Jan. 27. Speakers at the summit addressed how funding from the Investment and Jobs Act will be implemented in the Central Texas region.

The summit panel featured ten speakers in two separate discussions focusing on state-wide and local topics. The keynote speaker was Ed Mortimer, Vice President of Transportation and Infrastructure for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

During his speech, Mortimer spoke about how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill signed into law in November of 2021 will enhance the lives of Texans.

“For highways where Texas has a $15 million gap in funding, this bill is going to deliver over $28 billion in new investment to your state highway program,” said Mortimer. “That’s an over 52% increase in funding.”

Mortimer said the bill would make a significant impact on Texas infrastructure. 

“So again, this is a game-changing bill, for the state of Texas and for our country. It’s really something that is a long time coming,” said Mortimer. 

Willie Semora said the South Travis Area Engineer with TxDOT Austin has been working on mobility regarding infrastructure. 

“We have a strong mobility program that’s really targeted at delivering projects, which are intended to address congestion and mobility throughout the entire city and Texas region. Here in Hays County alone, we’ve got several projects that we’re undergoing. The Posey Road Project we just finished, just up the road I-35, and 123 ramp reversal projects that are ongoing in the Kyle and the San Marcos area,” said Semora.

Semora said TxDOT Austin is keeping up with infrastructure improvements and updates as the region continues to grow. 

“So those projects are significant. They’re going to significantly improve most transportation throughout the region, and will relieve congestion in this area,” said Semora. 

Burt Wellman, Director of Residential Services, said with Hays County being one of the fastest-growing counties in the nation, development and planning have to be a priority.

“So we are now the fastest-growing county in the nation, right,” said Wellman. “And so, growth, development, just everything that goes along with being that fastest-growing county in the nation, that’s our challenges and we got to hit that headstrong.”

Cassie Frow, General Manager of Amazon fulfillment center in San Marcos, said that the demand for Amazon packages in Texas has doubled since the beginning of 2020.

“For this area, specifically, in the last two years, it’s also more than doubled. It’s lagging the state by about two or three percent. But increasing weekly packages delivered, by several million packages a week in this local area in the last few years,” Frow said. “What’s interesting in that five years ago, in this area, we had two Performance Centers and one Middle-Mile delivery station. Since then, we’re up to five large Fulfillment Centers in this area and 14 Middle-Mile or Last-Mile delivery stations.”

Scott Sellers, City Manager of Kyle, spoke about how the city of Kyle has grown tremendously, and in the year 2000 was only known as “the Dairy Queen stop on I-35.” According to Sellers, the population in Kyle has grown from 5,000 to 60,000 in the past 22 years. 

“What that means for us is just an insane amount of growth and sophistication. But we’ve inherited a lot of substantive infrastructures,” said Sellers. “So as we’ve looked at our planning initiatives now, you know, 20 years ago we didn’t have plans for the city. Now we have a full Transportation Master Plan, Water Plans, Waste Water Plans, etc., and we finally have control of our destiny.”

The panel focusing on Texas infrastructure featured moderator Jim Carillo, Director of Planning for Haff Associates, Inc. and panelists Robert Carillo, Director of Transportation for Rodriguez Transportation Group, Inc.; Cassie Frow, General Manager of Amazon fulfillment center in San Marcos; Willie Semora, South Travis Area Engineer with TxDOT Austin; and Burt Wellman, Director of Residential Services, KFW Engineers & Surveying.

The panel addressing local transportation development and infrastructure featured moderator Ashby Johnson, and panelists Executive Director of CAMPO (Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization); Laurie Moyer, Director of Engineering for San Marcos; Scott Sellers, City Manager of Kyle; Kenneth Williams, City Manager of Buda; and Doug Wilson, CEO of SH-130 Concession Company.