Samsung Austin Semiconductor is officially the namesake for a new highway being built in the area.
At the Dec. 20 regular meeting, Williamson County Commissioners named a stretch of road just south of the semiconductor fab site between County Road 404 and Farm to Market 973 “Samsung Highway.”
Previously called “Future County Road,” Samsung Highway will eventually connect Farm to Market 3349 and Farm to Market 973 with a four-lane roadway with additional safety features.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Russ Boles said this road project is going to be a major artery in the area. “It is going to be a significant road,” he said. “It’s going to transverse the southern boundary of the Samsung site . . . with that type of development in the area, it allows people to zero in and find the quickest route there, once we get everything in place, and they get it up and running.”
According to Williamson County’s list of Southwest Taylor Improvements, the highway will be completed in segments.
County spokeswoman Connie Odom said on July 19, 2022, the Commissioners Court selected Chasco to complete segment 1, from CR 404 to FM 973.
The court approved $11.3 million for the project, and it should be completed by fall 2023, according to county officials.
Boles said this work will allow area people greater safety on the road.
“You know, the roads that it’s replacing were older county roads, and traffic had outgunned them,” Boles said. “They had horrible 45 degree angled right turns in them. This will be a safer route. The road will be better constructed. It will allow the farmers, because I have heard from them, to get their equipment from one side of the area to another, so it’s going to be a big improvement.”
At the meeting, Robert Daigh, the county’s senior director of infrastructure, gave a report of all the road updates in the county, including other improvements around the Samsung site.
“I think everyone is aware there is a lot of construction going on, so we are actually pouring hot mix at night, so we can get materials,” Daigh said.
County Judge Bill Gravell expressed his appreciation to Daigh and Boles for the work they have been doing to minimize the disruptions to the surrounding community.
“I want to say thank you to you and Commissioner Boles.
Thank you for working together, but thank you for working with the residents out there,” Gravell said. “Members of the court, it is the most complicated construction site I have ever seen, and us being able to work in the middle of the night to do asphalt and other things is just being respectful of our residents and even an area church that’s involved, so thank you guys. We are not going to be done there for a few years, so you have got some work ahead of you.”
