Plans for new highway gain traction as Blanco looks for traffic solution
(BLANCO, TEXAS) – Plans for a new highway in Blanco have become more clear recently as the small town prepares a solution for its traffic problems.
The town is situated along US-Highway 281, a major artery for both personal and commercial traffic that serves traffic from the southern and northern borders of Texas and many towns in-between, including small towns like Blanco and larger cities such as San Antonio. The highway intersects Blanco’s Fourth Street in a light-controlled intersection in the downtown square, causing frequent congestion. Due to the location of the current highway, the city faces unique considerations when trying to solve the congestion issues.
“281 comes right through the center of town,” Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Libbey Aly said. “These are historic buildings, so they can’t widen the road any bigger than it already is without removing historic features.”
With there not being enough room to widen or otherwise improve the current highway, Blanco looks to a new highway as the solution. Although the idea has been circulated through the town for many years now, more serious proposals have recently been made, with the Texas Department of Transportation launching efforts for community input on the new highway. Additionally, several meetings have been held in the town over the past two years with another to be held in early 2025.
Rerouting the through traffic away from downtown Blanco could affect the residents and businesses in the area. For example, businesses that rely on attracting drivers on the highway would have a more difficult time sustaining itself if less traffic was traveling through the town. However, small business owners in the town, such as wine bar owner James Galizia, feel that removing the freight and other through traffic would make it easier for tourists to visit Blanco, and its small businesses, directly, while allowing the through traffic to have an easier time traveling to its destination.
“If people want to come here, they’ll come here directly,” Galizia said. “Most people are passing here to go to Fredericksburg or Johnson City.”
The overall opinion, from both the business owners and from the Chamber of Commerce, is that Blanco is able to stand on its own as a destination in of itself and not a just a town to make a quick stop on while traveling somewhere else. By building the new highway and diverting through traffic away from the town, it becomes easier for tourists to visit the town, as most of the traffic flowing into Blanco’s square would be reduced to only be those visiting Blanco specifically. With more highway capacity freed up, the town could grow and be better able to cater to its visitors.
“We feel that Blanco’s established itself enough now and we have, say, ten years to establish ourselves more as a destination so we’re not relying on people just going, oh look, a cafe or a store and stopping on their way through town,” Aly said. “They’re specifically going to come here.”
Businesses on Blanco’s square are mostly more niche stores that are not meant to support motorists on a road trip. It is populated by businesses such as bars, sit-down restaurants, and small shops. Moving the traffic that would not normally stop in downtown away from the square, then, benefits businesses such as Cranberry’s Antiques, owned by Heidi Savory, by allowing more room on the highway for potential customers.
“I think that if we have the right people in place on the city council, mayor, that we could revamp downtown,” Savory said. “I think actually the impact is going to be great.”
There are some concerns still lingering in the town concerning the new highway, however. The idea of a major highway, with the frontage roads and on-ramps along with it, potentially attracting large corporations is something that business owners are particularly uncomfortable with.
“When you start adding a bunch of access roads on the side of the highway, you’re going to start having the Home Depots or the Walmarts or the Targets and the big box stores coming in,” Savory said. “It might create jobs, but then that will take away from a small town.”
As proposals intensify and the picture comes more in focus, however, these fears have addressed, and the highway is not expected to attract such businesses to Blanco.
“Where that comes into play is if you don’t limit the access, the on and off ramps of that relief route,” Aly said. “Our messaging to TxDot through the committee and through the city council is that we want to limit the access.”
With all the concerns being heard and proposals being made, work on the highway is closer than ever to starting, but extensive planning is still underway, with the next community meeting being held in early 2025.
