The Aggie Expressway Sparks Debate In Montgomery County Commissioners Court

CONROE, TX — Community and civic leaders from throughout Montgomery County were in commissioners court Tuesday to express support for the Texas 249 Tollway, and while the court as a whole tends to agree that the extension is necessary, how the road should be paid for and whether or not it should be tolled are sticking points in mostly rural Montgomery County.

On one hand the Texas Department of Transportation wants to fund the project, and make the road a permanent tollway, an all too common practice, while some county leaders favor the county paying for the project with revenue bonds and tolling that portion temporarily until the project is paid in full. (Want to get daily updates about traffic news and other events going on in your area? Sign up for the free Houston Patch morning newsletter.)

Those were among the tollroad issues discussed with the court voting 3-2 to support the Montgomery County Toll Road Authority, building the 3.6-mile section of the highway between the Spring Creek Bridge north of Tomball and Pinehurst at FM 149 and FM 1774 in Southwest Montgomery County, according to a Conroe Courier report.

Commissioners James Noack and Jim Clark, who support the road being funding and built by TxDOT, voted against the measure.

“I fully believe Texas 249 would greatly benefit all of Montgomery County," Noack said. "I firmly believe it should be built by TxDOT. There is no reason for Montgomery County to build, fund and maintain this toll project."

The 249 Tollway, known for years at the Texas Department of Transportation as the Aggie Expressway, was envisioned in the 1960s as a north-south corridor between the northwest Houston area and College Station.

The efforts to bring the Aggie Expressway to life were spearheaded in 2011 by Harris County Commissioner Jack Cagle and then-Montgomery County Commissioner Craig Doyal, which led to the creation of the 249 Partnership in 2012 — a consortium of representatives from Tomball in Harris County, Magnolia in Montgomery County, and Navasota in Grimes County.

Harris County’s portion of the 249 project was funded and constructed by the Harris County Toll Road Authority, which also built and manages the Sam Houston Tollway, Houston’s second loop.

Construction of the first segment of the project began in 2013 between Spring-Cypress Road in Spring, and FM 2920 in Tomball — a span of about six miles — and was completed in early 2015.

The second segment from FM 2920 to the Harris County line at Spring Creek — a three mile stretch — got underway in March and is projected to be completed in early 2019, the same time as phase one of the Montgomery County project.

Leaders in Magnolia are excited about seeing the 249 project started and completed and anticipate a tremendous amount of growth, similar to what Tomball has seen in recent years, as a result.

“I am pleased to have such strong support from the Magnolia area community, where this project will be situated,” Doyal said. “I am fighting to make certain southwest Montgomery County is not shut out of the transportation solutions and economic opportunities The Woodlands and other parts of our county have already enjoyed.”

Image: Bryan Kirk, Patch Staff

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