SEGUIN, Texas – Guadalupe County grew by more than 30% over the past decade, according to the 2020 Census. That growth is leading to a change in how county leaders are handling road construction.
“Between San Antonio and Austin is going to be completely built out one day, and that’s where our mindset and our planning perspective needs to be from,” said County Judge Kyle Kutscher.
Previously a lot of growth in the county had been focused more on the Schertz and Cibolo areas, but that’s changed in recent years. Now a lot of it is happening in the State Highway 46 corridor between New Braunfels and Seguin.
New construction seemingly pops up every day, according to locals.
“There’s a lot more people and housing developments out here, the more people moving in, so of course, there’s going to be more people driving around,” said Gus Person, a Seguin resident.
Kutscher said there’s a number of projects in the works both on county roads and state highways and regional cooperation is now key to help make that happen. There’s a particular focus on building capacity on roadways that are parallel or connect with I-10 or I-35.
“We need to take a different approach from a county perspective…like on Highway 46, working with our city partners in Seguin and in New Braunfels, but also with Comal County and TXDOT to facilitate a bigger project that has more of a positive impact long term,” Kutscher said.
He also said there needs to be more planning to obtain right of way from property owners before road expansions are needed.
“If you don’t have the right of way, the footprint to be able to build that project, you can’t do it. If you wait too long to preserve and protect those rights of way, you have to bulldoze houses, properties, which is detrimental to the land and property owners, but also much more costly to the taxpayer,” Kutscher said.
The growth in the county shows no signs of slowing down, with many people attracted to the area’s quality of life and proximity to San Antonio and Austin.
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