County Judge Craig Doyal said the recently concluded series of public meetings on the county’s proposed update of its Thoroughfare Plan was a success, with nearly 200 Montgomery County residents attending the meetings and and providing input on the plan.
“Our thoroughfare plan, which has been in place for the last 30 years, was recently updated in cooperation with the Houston Galveston Area Council, and is designed to help guide our road development for the next 50 years. For that, we needed the public’s help to review those plans and offer their comments,” Judge Doyal said.
“Fortunately, Montgomery County showed it takes mobility seriously, with good attendance at most of the meetings, Judge Doyal said.
Carlene Mullins, Senior Transportation Planner with H-GAC, said the attendance was higher at the Montgomery County meetings than for many other public meetings H-GAC has conducted for other studies in the region.
“We thought it was a really good turnout,” she said. “About 200 people attended in total between the four meetings and thus far we have received 78 comments. The meetings in Shenandoah and Magnolia were most highly attended.” Public meetings also were held in Conroe and New Caney.
For those who missed the meetings, H-GAC will continue taking comments on the plan through Dec. 4, Mullins said. Comments can be submitted at montgomerycountymobility.com The final Thoroughfare Plan map is planned to be presented to county commissioners by the end of the year, she said.
On the Web site, Mullins said, “They can view the map, the handouts and the presentation boards that were at the public meetings.”
As for the meetings themselves, public comments were strong on a couple of projects in particular, a proposed extension of Old Conroe Road, and a proposed extension of Tamina/Honea-Egypt.
“A lot of people commented on the Old Conroe Road extension – they wanted it yesterday,” Mullins said.
However, there was significant opposition to the Tamina/Honea-Egypt extension because of the disruption it would cause to existing neighborhoods; planners took those comments into consideration and will remove the extension from the proposed plan, Mullins said.
The Thoroughfare Plan was updated in partnership with the Houston Galveston Area Council. Judge Doyal has served as past Chairman of the H-GAC Board of Directors and the county representative to the Transportation Policy Council
The county has been working with H-GAC for over 30 years on its Thoroughfare Plan, which was first created in 1979, and was updated in 1985, 1998, and 2012. This effort is a comprehensive revision and update of those plans. The county contributed $50,000 toward the work; the city of Conroe and the Texas Department of Transportation also are participating.
In addition, the county recently partnered with H-GAC on a south Montgomery County Mobility study to analyze priorities for this fast-growing area.
The thoroughfare study analyzed available data on travel activity in the county, congestion, accident data, and county growth trends to begin developing a picture of the county’s transportation needs. The study team also met with various community groups to further refine that information and gather comments to guide its work.
The proposed Plan is a long-range transportation planning tool that will guide the development of Montgomery County for decades to come by identifying needed roadways and preserving future right-of-way. The proposed plan intends to improve roadway capacity and connectivity throughout the county.
For more information, visit montgomerycountymobility.com.
