Montgomery County commissioners have approved a $42,500 contract with Amani Engineering for a traffic study to evaluate the effect of a proposed Woodlands Parkway extension on the existing Woodlands Parkway.

While there are no plans immediate plans to extend Woodlands Parkway, the Montgomery County Commissioners Court approved the study to determine if an extension of the roadway would improve mobility in the area, Precinct 2 Commissioner Craig Doyal said.

"If we could open up Woodlands Parkway it would open up an alternative route for people on the western side of The Woodlands to go west [to Hwy. 249], instead of trying to go down Woodlands Parkway where congestion is incredible," Doyal said. "It would be an alternative route to move traffic, and it would open up that segment of Montgomery County for development through there."

The county has already purchased right-of-way land between FM 2978 and Hwy. 249 in in preparation for a possible extension of Woodlands Parkway, Doyal said.

Precinct 3 commissioner James Noack said he supports conducting the study, but has concerns regarding the effect additional traffic may have on mobility along sections of Woodlands Parkway west of Kuykendahl Road, where the thoroughfare drops from six lanes to four, and the rest of The Woodlands area.

"There is very real concerns about the effect of traffic in the community when you connect a neighborhood street like Woodlands Parkway from [Hwy.] 249 all the way to I-45," Noack said. "You have the potential of turning Woodlands Parkway into a freeway and cutting our neighborhood in two."

Still, Noack said he supports conducting the study in order to explore all options to improve mobility throughout the south Montgomery County area.

"All alternatives need to be studied and looked at because the area in which we all live in south Montgomery County is highly congested; it is highly populated," Noack said. "Just because one person doesn't like it doesn't mean you scrap the whole thing, but you may come up with an idea on how to build it to minimize impact on the community."