Samsung Highway in Taylor opens ahead of schedule

With the new Samsung site in the background, federal, state and local elected officials and key stakeholders, gathered on Samsung Highway to celebrate the official opening of the new highway in Taylor, Texas. “Samsung Highway will be the gateway to the largest foreign direct investment in the history of the state of Texas,” Gov. Greg Abbott said. Through our partnership with local and state agencies, we have been able to address road improvements and safety around the Taylor site. Samsung Highway is part of Williamson County’s Southwest Taylor Improvements, which includes projects located near the new Samsung factory and is part of the County's Long-Range Transportation Plan, which is intended to plan for current and future growth by maintaining a high level of safety, mobility, and quality of life for residents and communities. “When we started our Taylor project two years ago, there were only cornfields here,” Dr. Chanhoon Park, President of the Taylor Project and Executive Vice President of Samsung Electronics, said. “As you can see today, Samsung has a new semiconductor fab and our local partners have completed this beautiful Samsung Highway ahead of schedule.” Samsung Highway is a four-lane road that provides a west-to-east connector from Farm to Market 3349 to Farm to Market 973. “All of these roads are engineered with safety in mind but they also bring opportunity, better quality of life, less time in traffic, work opportunities and opening up corridors to economic development,” remarked Williamson County Pct. 4 Commission Russ Boles. When Samsung initially announced we were investing $17 billion into a new semiconductor site in Taylor, local and state agencies were already putting transportation items in motion.

“If anyone knows transportation projects, they take a little bit of time to get developed,” Texas Department of Transportation Austin District Engineer, Tucker Ferguson, said. “Williamson County had already prepared plans, they had this in motion for many, many years.” “A project this enormous needs enormous transportation infrastructure, that need gave rise to Samsung Highway,” echoed Abbott. As the area continues to grow, more transportation projects are on the horizon to improve mobility in the area. “We have plans in place to expand FM 973 and SH 130, because we know when Samsung gets up and running, jobs and commerce and freight will be coming out of this place and we need to be responsive to that,” added Ferguson. In April, the federal government announced Samsung Electronics was receiving up to $6.4 billion as part of the CHIPS and Science Act. With the funding, Samsung is expected to invest more than $40 billion in the region in the coming years. “My goal is not to have the largest semiconductor manufacturing complex in Texas… I want to have the largest complex in the world,” Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell said. “And I want to drive the semiconductor industry from right here in this cornfield in Taylor, Texas with our partner, Samsung.” According to Williamson County, the total construction cost of the Southwest Taylor Improvements was $39 million and was partially funded through contributions from Samsung, the City of Taylor and the City of Hutto. Click here for Williamson County’s press release Click here for Gov. Greg Abbott’s press release