With the first toll roads under construction in Montgomery County and more potential toll roads being considered to handle area congestion and growth, the Montgomery County Toll Road Authority will lead the county's future transportation growth.

The Montgomery County Toll Road Authority was established three years ago during the development of the county's first toll roads. It is led by Montgomery County Judge Alan Sadler and the county's four commissioners—Mike Meador from precinct 1, Craig Doyal from precinct 2, James Noack from precinct 3 and Ed Rinehart from precinct 4.

Montgomery County's explosive population growth during the past decade has caused congested roadways throughout the region. Expanding current roads and building new roadways is essential as the area continues to grow, Montgomery County officials said. However, because of the $4 billion shortfall in the Texas Department of Transportation budget, any new roads built in the county will almost exclusively have to be toll roads, Doyal said.

"TxDOT doesn't have enough funding to maintain their existing roadways," Doyal said. "There is simply not enough dollars to build new roads without generating new revenue from toll facilities."

As legislators continue to discuss transportation funding in the second special session, TxDOT is waiting to see if it will receive an increase in funding beyond the additional $400 million set aside for the 2014–15 biennium so far.

Government offices that handle road maintenance and construction in Harris and Montgomery counties have partnered with TxDOT on funding transportation projects in the past, but many have become more self-sufficient over time. TxDOT, county precinct commissioner's offices, cities and toll road authorities are among the entities that take on local road projects in Harris and Montgomery counties.

There has been some talk about possibly appointing a five-member board to oversee the MCTRA instead of the commissioners once the toll roads are operating and generating revenue. Although the MCTRA does not yet have regular planned meetings, the agency meets as needed to discuss where toll roads should be built in the county.

"It's important to determine where they'd be the most cost effective," Doyal said. "There's a great deal of consideration given to the viability of the toll road before construction."

User tax

Charlie Riley, manager of precinct operations at the Montgomery County Precinct 2 office and currently running for commissioner of Precinct 2, said, while not ideal, building toll roads to improve mobility is necessary.

"I am not crazy about toll roads, but I do know it's the way of the future," Riley said. "It's the way we have to operate. There's a lot of people opposed, but it's a user tax. If you don't want to pay the tax, don't use it."

Technically, he said, there's not a free road in the United States.

"We've all paid taxes to build roads," Riley said. "And we pay taxes to keep them maintained. Tolls are not that big of a stretch."

Planned toll roads

Construction began in May on the $34 million flyover at Hwy. 242 and I-45 and is expected to be complete in November 2014.

"It will allow northbound traffic on 1-45 to directly access 242 without having to exit the freeway and go through a traffic signal," Doyal said. "The flyover will help so there's no disruption of that traffic flow. And southbound on I-45, it will move all that traffic out under the bridge and relieve much of the congestion that's there."

Commissioners on the MCTRA and several other area officials have identified additional projects and problem areas to be studied by the Houston-Galveston Area Council's transportation study for the area. The study, which should be completed by spring of 2014, will examine transportation concerns across south Montgomery County.

"We do need to plan," Noack said. "I'm not a big believer that toll roads are the right way to go or the only way to go. They're a possibility."

County Judge Sadler suggested studying the feasibility of toll roads, particularly one connecting the proposed Grand Parkway to Hwy 242, which could expand further north to Hwy. 105. Another potential toll road could stretch northwest into Montgomery County. Sadler said he believes toll roads could provide funding for transportation projects which will be difficult to obtain from bond referendums, tax increases and TxDOT.

Plans to turn Hwy. 249 into a toll road have entered the final design stage with construction slated to begin in the fall. Phase 1 of the project will implement the future Tomball Tollway.

Mobility

Toll roads will help with mobility as the region continues to grow, fueled by energy companies in the area such as Baker Hughes, Noble Energy and soon ExxonMobil, Doyal said.

"We desperately need to build these roads," Doyal said. "With Exxon moving in, we are already starting to see more development and more people moving here. If we don't do something, we will be at grid-lock."

In Harris County, the toll road authority already helps with road maintenance and county projects. And toll revenues have helped speed up project approvals for the county's Public Infrastructure Department.

"It will be a long time before [MCTRA] generates enough revenue that can be spun off to be used for any other road projects," Doyal said. "[When that happens], those dollars would be spent specifically on other road projects to meet mobility needs in the county."

Additional reporting by Shawn Arrajj and Matt Stephens