New developments, along with the start of several key Capital Improvement Projects (CIPs), are on the docket for Buda officials as they prepare for a busy 2018.

Buda Assistant City Manager Micah Grau said Buda experienced commercial growth in 2017 that should come to fruition in 2018.

Additionally, 28 total CIP projects will be getting underway in 2018. However, Grau said residents will be exposed to more construction and possibly more traffic delays in the near future.

Grau said many of the 2014 bond projects will be breaking ground in 2018, such as improvements to City Park and the Green Meadows Splash Pad.

Transportation projects including the Main Street expansion and the Goforth Road improvements, as well as several drainage projects, are also on the horizon.

Upcoming developments
for Buda

• Improvements to City Park and Green Meadows Splash Pad

• Main Street expansion and Goforth Road improvements

• New City Hall and Library opening in the spring

• New restaurants and a possible medical facility

“Some pains always go along with construction but it will help traffic in the long run,” Grau said.

Grau said the new City Hall and Library will open in the spring.

The city will begin its wastewater treatment plant expansion that should be completed in approximately two years.

Several new commercial developments are expected to break ground and potentially open in 2018.

One of those projects could be a large medical facility coming to Buda. However, Chance Sparks, assistant city manager and director of planning, could not provide additional details at this time.

Speculation of a new Baylor, Scott and White facility in the Buda area surfaced in 2017. However, officials with Baylor, Scott and White have made no formal announcements at this time.

New restaurants, including a Chick-Fil-A, a Freddie’s Frozen Custard and a Panda Express, are all expected to open in the area near Cabela’s, Sparks said.

Sparks also said Buda is about to get its first official dance hall. Maverick’s Dance Hall, which has been in the works since 2015, received permitting for a space located on Old San Antonio Road.

Officials are also planning for a 300,000-square-foot warehouse or distribution facility located by U.S. Foods. It is unknown at this time what company could move into the new facility.

Sparks said the Robert S. Light corridor would also experience growth both in infrastructure and light industrial development in 2018.

“These incremental spaces allow small businesses to expand with time and ability,” Sparks said.

Hays County’s Robert S. Light connection project is also slated to begin in the summer of 2018.

Sparks said the connection, which will bridge FM 967 to FM 1626, will ease traffic congestion and accidents in the area, as well as remove 18-wheeler traffic from the downtown corridor.

“It’s impossible to completely prevent traffic accidents. But access management helps us be more strategic about where driveways are placed for an incoming businesses requiring access on side streets instead of a main drive. That can help limit the number of potential conflict points for travelers on that thoroughfare,” Sparks said.