Montgomery County’s new thoroughfare plan to be completed summer 2021

Since Feb. 6, Montgomery County Commissioners have been working to give their 2016 thoroughfare plan a $125,000 update that will provide a comprehensive list of transportation needs for each precinct.

The updated plan was originally slated to be completed by end of this year, but progress has been delayed due to COVID-19, officials said, and talks of updating the plan had largely fizzled out at Commissioners Court meetings.

But at the Oct. 13 court meeting, a representative from Brown & Gay Engineers, the company conducting the plan, delivered a brief update on the status of the plan in which they projected summer 2021 as the completion date.

“We are going to go ahead and get started now that we have formally kicked off the project to y’all,” said Megan Siercks, senior project manager at BGE. “Your county is growing. ... Things are changing, things are evolving, and with that, this plan needs to evolve.”

BGE will begin collecting data and holding stakeholder meetings, Siercks said. Siercks said county participation is crucial, and she asked each commissioner to create a stakeholder group of 10-15 individuals as well as to propose times for potential meetings.

“With that information, we’ll start taking a stab at revising things,” she said.

Siercks said in addition to stakeholder meetings, she is aiming for two public meetings—one in Precinct 1 and one in Precinct 3—because Precincts 2 and 4 are already conducting their own thoroughfare studies. However, additional meetings could be held if desired. These meetings will likely be in person but could be held virtually due to the pandemic.

BGE will also work with the Texas Department of Transportation and the Houston-Galveston Area Council. Siercks stressed the timeliness of the plan completion will largely depend on commissioners participation in creating the stakeholder groups and setting the dates for the various meetings.