Liberty Hill’s small businesses and our neighbor’s livelihoods are at risk! If the proposed Highway 29 bypass is constructed, Liberty Hill’s founding small businesses and economy will disappear.
Several studies, including a University of Texas paper, have shown that highway bypasses have caused significant negative impacts to the local economies in many Texas communities:
- Bypassed cities suffered a loss in per capita sales, up to a 60% decline, in all four industrial sectors considered (Retail, Food/Beverage, Gasoline Service Stations, Services).
- Bypasses also affect the local economy negatively in terms of employment, per capita income levels and sales volume.
The final recommendations warn:
- In light of these findings, transportation planners and cities should carefully consider proposals for relief routes, in order to determine if a bypass is in fact desirable and socially beneficial.
- Certain sectors of the economy, like eating and drinking establishments and gasoline service stations, could be critically impacted.
To see this first hand, one just needs to drive down Highway 183 in Cedar Park. After the Highway 183A bypass opened, this area has seen stagnant development and the shuttering of many small businesses.
This has resulted in hundreds of lost jobs and years of declining sales tax revenue. So much so, that Cedar Park is spending millions in tax dollars to try to revitalize what was on track to flourish before the bypass.
Don’t let the county destroy Liberty Hill small businesses!
The proposed Highway 29 bypass would do exactly that, bypass our local businesses and kill local jobs.