Montgomery County to take over funding I-45 connector

Montgomery County will completely take over funding of the construction of a connector between I-45 and SH 242 from the Texas Department of Transportation, according to an update from the metropolitan planning organization Houston-Galveston Area Council at its May 18 meeting.

The county’s director of emergency management, Jason Millsaps, confirmed to Community Impact Newspaper that the funding will come out of the budgets of Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley and Precinct 4 Commissioner James Metts. Both Riley and Metts have previously worked on the project’s design.

The new direct-connect flyover road is being designed to carry northbound travelers on I-45 onto eastbound Hwy. 242 with no traffic interruptions, as previously reported by Community Impact Newspaper. The road will join existing flyovers connecting northbound I-45 to westbound Hwy. 242 and westbound Hwy. 242 to southbound I-45. The project was previously announced by Riley and Metts last spring.

Riley previously noted the new road will open as a nontolled road.

The H-GAC has scheduled the project to receive $14.9 million in local funding from Montgomery County for fiscal year 2023 in its 2021-24 transportation improvement plan.

The funding agreement between the county and TxDOT was approved at a Sept. 14 Commissioners Court meeting with Riley and Metts voting in support. The estimated budget in that agreement was previously reported at $14.6 million from the county’s side.

“It’s moving forward; engineers have got it almost completely designed,” Riley said at the Sept. 14 meeting.

Ben Thompson contributed to this report.