Push begins to build SH249 toll road in northwest

Related to SH99

Jay Blazek Crossley, Jan 25, 12.

A new toll road may be built as a public private partnership in the near future along State Highway 249 in the northwest corner of the Houston region, according to Community Impact Newspaper:

After years of inactivity, construction to create a six-lane toll road on Hwy. 249 could begin within two years. In October 2010, Hwy. 249 was left off the Houston-Galveston Area Council’s 2035 regional transportation plan, which lists the metropolitan planning organization’s priority projects, in large part because of a lack of state transportation funding.
Hwy. 249 back on track

However, thanks to state legislation passed in April 2011, collaboration between Harris and Montgomery counties and a newly formed coalition, significant steps are being taken to move the project forward.

“There have been several meetings with [Harris County] Commissioner [Jack] Cagle, representatives from Harris County Toll Road Authority and TxDOT, and we’re in the process of beginning negotiations to create a joint effort to construct main lanes from Spring Cypress to FM 1774,” said Craig Doyal, Montgomery Precinct 2 commissioner. “We all want to see the project done.”

The project was removed from the Houston - Galveston Area Council’s 2035 Regional Transportation Plan several years ago and would have to be put back into the plan, according to Community Impact Newspapers:

After the MCTRA is enabled to begin negotiations with HCTRA, the next step would be to complete traffic and revenue studies to ensure the project is financially viable. Doyal said he expects the project of creating main lanes from Spring Cypress to FM 1774 to cost approximately $250 million to $300 million. Toll fees would provide the counties, and any other investors, with return on their investment with potential to fund extensions on to the west, he said.

While existing plans from TxDOT for Hwy. 249 call for constructing six tolled main lanes, funding will dictate how many lanes will be built, according to Doyal. The segment has already been environmentally cleared by the state, but the report will need to be updated.

Once funding is finalized, the project can get back on H-GAC’s transportation improvement plan, which is updated annually.

“It’s a six to seven month process—it has to get back on the formal plan [for the project] to move forward,” Tomball City Manager George Shackelford said.

Fletcher said he expects the project to be funded this year and construction to start within the next two years.

TXDOT website on SH249