Conroe City Council voted to reallocate Capital Improvement Program funds originally slated for the Old Conroe Road expansion project to other infrastructure needs during a May 8 meeting. Council members Harry Hardman, Marsha Porter, Shana Arthur and David Hairel cited a lack of county participation, rising costs and urgent water system priorities. Council member Howard Wood voted against.
The details
The decision came after the city had already invested approximately $4.7 million in preliminary design and engineering. The project, which spans 5.5 miles, includes only 1.25 miles within Conroe city limits, Hardman said in the May 7 workshop meeting.
The city was authorized for up to $172 million in federal transportation funds through the Houston-Galveston Area Council, Wood said, leaving the city to solely fund the remaining $39 million of the $193.2 million total project, according to agenda documents.
“Currently, right now, the city is on the full hook for the project. We don’t have any partners,” Norman McGuire, assistant city administrator and public works director, said.
Diving in deeper
Hardman said the city had received verbal commitments from Montgomery County to help fund the project, but nothing materialized.
“We sent them an invoice for $2 million—they refused to pay,” Hardman said.
County officials declined to comment on the status of Old Conroe Road at this time.
The Old Conroe Road widening proposal dates back to 2015, when it was initially proposed as a project to the H-GAC. An interlocal agreement was signed by Montgomery County and city of Conroe officials in 2018 to share the cost of design for the project.
Under the agreement, the county agreed to pay no more than $1.9 million towards the design of Old Conroe Road. The agreement also specified that the county would not be responsible for any additional design or construction following the preliminary design phase.
Porter said the city is changing priorities, and paying for a portion of the road that is in Conroe limits should not be the city’s focus.
“It would be hard to go into bond debt, knowing we need 12 water wells, and ask the citizens to kick in another $40 million—making it $50 million—for a 1.2-mile road,” Porter said.
Hardman pointed to the county’s recent $480 million bond package.
“They didn’t include 10% of that to cover this, even though they’re going to be the major beneficiaries,” Hardman said.
He also raised concerns about arbitrage, a method by which bond funds can be reclaimed by investors if the funding is not used within a specified time frame.
“These are the oldest bonds we have today,” Hardman said. “They are subject to arbitrage.”
Wood urged the council to defer the vote, and said that abandoning the project could mean losing millions in federal funds.
“Old Conroe Road will be a solid mobility addition to our rapid growth. I’m glad my efforts assisted in securing $172 million in federal transportation funds that would have gone elsewhere,” Wood said in a statement to Community Impact. “Though, I don’t agree with my colleagues stopping the opportunity and placing a negative light on Conroe, I’m glad the county may step up as this is a bigger benefit for the overall area.”
