Montgomery County Residents Voice Support For 249 Tollway

CONROE, TX — Magnolia and Tomball residents rallied in support of the 249 Toll project during a meeting of the Montgomery County Commissioners Court Tuesday.

Comments were made during a presentation from Texas Transportation Commissioner Victor Vandergriff, who said the project will not be built “in our lifetimes” unless it is tolled.

“The residents who actually have to drive to work, school or stores in that area are making it clear we need this project now – not decades from now,” County Judge Craig Doyal said. “The only way to move this project forward now is through tolling.”

Vandergriff stressed that the project would not move forward unless it was funded through tolls, since the state otherwise did not have the funds to commit to the project.

“If you don’t do this, it goes back into the hopper of one of thousands of projects throughout the state of Texas, and there it will sit, for perhaps our lifetimes,” Vandergriff said.

The tollroad, dubbed the Aggie Expressway when it was envisioned in the 1960s, began construction in Harris County, in 2013, a year after the formation of the 249 partnership consisting of community leaders in Tomball, Magnolia and Navasota.

The first segment of the toll road opened in 2015 between Spring-Cypress Road to Holderrieth Road in Tomball.

The second phase in Harris County is underway that will connect with the initial phase in Montgomery County at Spring Creek to FM 1774 in Pinehurst, with both of those segments projected to be completed by 2019.

Once the tollroad is completed, possibly by 2022 in Montgomery County, the tollway will not only be a valuable transportation option, but a driver for economic development, which residents in Tomball have experienced with 249 and the Grand Parkway.

“I think it’s an economic development generator,” Vandergriff said. “When you build them and the traffic is there and the opportunity is there, business will come, and economic vitality will come.”

Doyal agreed, citing the completion of the Grand Parkway in east Montgomery County as an example. .

“Get on the Grand Parkway and drive from 59 to I-10 - That commercial development is what offsets the burden on residential taxpayers. It is what pays the bills,” he said.

Numerous residents and officials spoke in support of the project, including Precinct 5 Constable Chief Deputy Chris Jones and Magnolia Fire Chief Gary Vincent, both of whom said the road is necessary for safety purposes, since existing roadways are inadequate for the traffic.

Among other points raised at the meeting:

• The project will cost taxpayers nothing; it will be funded by revenue bonds, purchased by investors. Revenue bonds are funded by investors, and investors assume all liability and risk, not taxpayers; unlike general obligation bonds, for which taxpayers are liable.
• There is no funding to build the project now, when it is needed, apart from tolls.
• Those who don’t wish to use the toll project will still have access to free frontage roads
• Pass-through traffic from other counties will help pay for the road

“There are 138,000 people in the Magnolia area who have no other option to get to Houston; I think if we ignore that we are not paying attention to the constituents of this court,” Doyal said.

Image: Bryan Kirk/Patch Staff

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