Photo courtesy Highway 36A Coalition

The Prairie Parkway would provide a connection from I-10 to Hwy. 290 in Prairie View.

With Segment E of the Grand Parkway—connecting I-10 to Hwy. 290—officially open to traffic—an advocacy group in Waller County is considering the next big mobility project for the area.

David Tinney, chairman of the Prairie Parkway Advocacy Group, said Waller County needs more north and south corridors. The newest segment of the Grand Parkway is too far south to fully address the issue for people in Waller, Hempstead and Prairie View, he said.

"The remainder of Waller County is two-lane county roads, which can be dangerous," he said. "This is where the growth is going to happen next, and we need to look into bringing some of these north-south relationships together."

PPAG, which formed through the Waller County Economic Development Partnership, is working with county commissioners and other interest groups to study the possibility of the Prairie Parkway.

"[In 2013] we met with all of the Waller County commissioners and tried to get an understanding of their communities and what their needs are," Tinney said. "Instead of us trying to sell them, we ask them to tell us what we need to advocate for."

The parkway would run from the Brookshire-Pattison area at I-10 north to the Prairie View area near Hwy. 290. Little has been determined about where exactly the parkway will run in between, Tinney said. The entire project would be located in Waller County.

The corridor would open up opportunities in terms of economic development, Tinney said.

"You get economic development with companies that can move goods and services and create jobs," he said. "More jobs leads to an increase in residential activity, which will increase the tax base."

One challenge to the Prairie Parkway comes from groups interested in protecting natural resources, Tinney said. For example, the parkway would have to work around the Katy Prairie Conservancy, which is looking to expand and plays an important role in flood mitigation by preserving grasslands.

However, the largest challenge for moving the parkway forward is funding. Details on when the project might get approved or when construction might be complete are still up in the air, Tinney said.

PPAG is also working with the Highway 36A Coalition, an advocacy group supporting the construction of Hwy. 36A from Freeport to Waller. The Prairie Parkway would be the northernmost piece of Hwy. 36A.

Hwy. 36A could serve as another route for goods coming into and leaving Houston ports, advocates say. It could also serve as an evacuation route during hurricanes, giving people another way to leave the coast without having to go through the heavily trafficked city of Houston.

"[The Prairie Parkway] has become part of a big regional project that is on everybody's radar screen," Tinney said. "Representatives from Waller, Fort Bend and Brazoria counties are trying to raise the attention on this project to the point where we might get some help statewide and maybe some federal dollars."

In the meantime, Tinney said PPAG will continue to advocate for the project by raising awareness and getting more people on board.

"We are out advocating and trying to get people to understand the needs of what we're trying to do, not five years from now, but maybe 10–20 years from now," Tinney said. "This is a marathon, not a sprint by any stretch of the imagination."