Montgomery County has approved plans for a two-lane expansion of Rayford Road, and of a bridge to bypass the Union Pacific railroad tracks that intersect Rayford Road. However, funding for the two projects still has not been secured.

County officials approved a contract with the engineering firm Klotz and Associates of Houston Oct. 6. The contract is for engineering of the Rayford Road expansion from four to six lanes from the Union Pacific railroad tracks to Riley Fuzzel Road, and the bridge addition, according to a statement from Montgomery County Precinct 3.

The expansion is part of a myriad of mobility improvement projects that county commissioners are considering for a possible May 2015 road bond election, Precinct 3 commissioner James Noack said. The projects stem from the Houston-Galveston Area Council South County Mobility Study announced in September.

The $40 million to $60 million Rayford Road expansion is a priority for south Montgomery County, Noack said, but the decision to fund the project will be left to voters. Completion of the project could take up to two years following, should a road bond pass.

With thousands of homes and several commercial tracts under development in the Rayford Road area east of I-45, combined with the demand of the ExxonMobil campus and the Grand Parkway, Noack said the expansion is a critical mobility need in south Montgomery County.

"Rayford Road is a high growth area with some of the worst levels of service when it comes to current driving conditions," Noack said. "We don't have much of an option as far as building new roads in that area. The only way to get more capacity is to expand Rayford Road."

While Noack said that no official date or bond amount has been approved by the county commissioner's court, he estimates Precinct 3 needs overall may total between $100 million to $150 million in road improvement projects.

"This bond issue is very important to the community," Noack said. "We certainly need to improve and enhance mobility throughout the county, and this certainly would be a big step in doing that."

In order for the road bond to pass, Noack said the county has to prioritize projects and inform taxpayers about the reasoning behind the mobility improvements.

"I believe we have to have a county-wide prioritized list of projects," Noack said. "The bond can't just be divided equally, it has to be focused on where the greatest needs are. We as commissioners need to be able to say, these are the projects that we are going to undertake, this is the benefit of the project, this is the cost of the project, this is the effect it would have on the tax payer, and give them all of the information that they need to make an educated decision on whether they want to support the bond or not. Ultimately it is up to the voter."