“I know my grandmother used to shop in Austin. If you needed to see a doctor, you had to go to Austin,” he said.
But now the east side of Plugerville is one of the city’s fastest-growing sections, an expansion that is largely due to Toll 130 and Toll 45, Gonzales said.
“The construction [of the tollways] created that synergy to bring businesses to Pflugerville, and more importantly, bring that traffic to Pflugerville—because we had people from all around coming to shop in Pflugerville: Hutto, Manor, Taylor, Elgin. It became more of a regional type of destination for business,” he said.
Driving north on Toll 130 through Pflugerville, development is evident in the booming retail Stone Hill Town Center. As soon as February, drivers might also see roadway construction near Kelly Lane as the city aims to ease traffic congestion and attract retail business.
Pflugerville is not the only city growing along the tollway. Farther north, near Hutto and past Hwy. 79, drivers can view the beginnings of commercial development—pipes for water and wastewater lines and the land that has been set aside for the campus of the East Williamson County Higher Education Center that will come to be in 2013.
By the time drivers reach University Boulevard, the scenery has once again reverted to open fields, but Round Rock Planning Director Peter Wysocki said he does envision growth near the tollway—just not for several decades. He expects the city to continue growing on east University Boulevard first.
Three cities, one road
Since opening in September 2007, the section of Toll 130 between Hwy. 290 and Hwy. 71 has attracted businesses looking for close proximity to airports, high-traffic areas and retail growth spots.
“We’re 20 minutes from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The Austin Executive Airport is visible from Pecan Street. It’s kind of been one of the driving forces for a lot of the economic development that’s going to happen. The toll [130] will be kind of the main artery,” Gonzales said.
Some of the businesses to take advantage of the toll’s connectivity most recently are St. David’s Emergency Center and Shogun Japanese Restaurant, which was the first business officially signed on to a planned “restaurant row” in Stone Hill Town Center.
According to Ken Yung, manager at Shogun Japanese Restaurant—a sister restaurant in Pearland, Texas—Toll 130 was a major reason for the site’s selection.
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