City Officials: “Tyler Is Growing in Every Direction”

TYLER � The city of Tyler is putting in a new water and sewer line along U.S. 69 North up to Interstate 20. According to KETK, Tyler Economic Development Council CEO Tom Mullins says the infrastructure is to make Tyler have a presence on I-20 for the first time. One local developer, Bob Garrett, says, “There’s every reason in the world to grow up there and now that there will be new infrastructure, I think you will see it more and more.” Garrett says his company has been interested in building on U.S. 69 for a long time, and now he’s considering using 800 acres there. “The main reason development hasn’t occurred any more than it has up there is because we just didn’t have the infrastructure,” he says.

The new pipes are part of the Tyler 21 plan to expand the city, and when you pair it with Toll 49, officials say growth around Tyler is bound to happen in every direction. “Growing north becomes more possible and growing west becomes more possible,” says Mullins. City officials expect areas where Toll 49 crosses major highways like Highway 64, Highway 31, and Highway 110 will attract houses, businesses, and retail. “It’ll create more investment by the private sector, it’ll create more jobs, it’ll create a new tax base,” says Mullins. With Tyler still expanding the most south, Garrett says, “I think 10 or 20 years from now, the map of Tyler is going to look significantly different.”