CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Even though Ingleside has a population of less than 10,000 residents, the town is experiencing heavy traffic.
It's all part of the growing pains happening in the area due to the boom in industry.
Similar to school rush traffic, it may take residents longer to get from one side of town to the other. It's also a testament to the growth that is being seen in San Patricio County.
Ingleside resident Rey Tamez told 3NEWS that once 5 p.m. roles around, traffic begins to pile up on Main Street. A majority of the traffic coming from the direction of the Kiewit facility.
"It piles up from this stop light to almost up to the police station," said Tamez.
"During a shift change, a large amount of vehicles are coming through. It backs up going into the Portland and Gregory area," said Ingleside City Manager Brenton Lewis.
While bumper to bumper traffic is normally viewed as a bad thing, Lewis told 3NEWS that the industry boom is a win for the local economy and businesses.
"We like to see the people in town stop at the local eateries, when I'm out between 5-6, you can see the traffic, because our industries are expanding, we have a good thing going on," he said.
Lewis said there is word that Kiewit is looking to fill hundreds of more future jobs.
Portland City Manager Randy Wright told 3NEWS that they've also seen their share of people moving in following the industry.
"We have solid growth for the last 15-20 years. Grew 30 percent from 2010 to 2020 in population, the largest growth in the Coastal Bend," he said.
Wright adds that it's the type of growth they've been planning for as the city brings 3,000 more homes online, to make sure that the space is keeping up with the expansion.
"It will be overtime, some developers want to move quicker, others are phased approaches, over the next five years, and we will continue to see further home site developments," he said.
Something that will help with the traffic flow along Highway 181 in Portland is the Texas Department of Transportation's current ramp reversal and lane expansion projects.
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