This fall, Fort Bend County voters will be presented with a new mobility bond worth approximately $218.6 million in road projects. The bond package includes 63 projects across the county’s four precincts, including 12 projects in Precinct 3.

Fort Bend County is prepared to cover nearly 56.2 percent of the proposed project costs but expects to partner with developers, including the Texas Department of Transportation and cities to fund another $169.6 million. The grand total of project costs is about $388.1 million, according to county documents.

Proposed projects in the Katy and Fulshear areas include new roads, road extensions and drainage improvements, among other construction. Area officials said those projects, which include Cane Island Parkway’s extension to FM 1463, are needed to mitigate traffic congestion.

“That one is really going to help our citizens because the traffic can go right up the [road] and straight up to I-10,” Katy City Administrator Byron Hebert said. “I would hope people would support it and work with the county.”

However, with mobility projects come long timelines and the potential for delays. Some construction from the county’s $184.9 million 2013 mobility bond is stalled because of right of way acquisitions and other obstacles.

“If those landowners are on board or willing to work with the county and only a couple of parcels [are needed], it can move quicker,” assistant county engineer Stacy Slawinski said.

Precinct 3 projects

The 2017 mobility bond package’s 12 proposed projects for Precinct 3—which includes incorporated and unincorporated areas of Katy—are largely designed to mitigate traffic, Precinct 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers said.

“We continue to try to already connect the roads that are already built,” Meyers said. “We’re just improving the road throughout my precinct to help the congestion.”

These projects include two-lane frontage roads along the Grand Parkway from Westheimer Parkway to just north of Cinco Ranch Boulevard and from FM 1093 to just north of Fry Road. Meyers said these proposed 2017 bond projects were crucial for the Katy area.

He and Hebert both said they were confident the new bond would win voter approval.

“It takes us five to 10 years to build a road, unfortunately,” Meyers said. “In most instances, most of the residents recognize we have a mobility problem out here, and the only way to fix that is to build more roads.”

Hebert said the city of Katy is not partnering with the county on any 2017 bond projects, but it did work with the county to develop new segments of Gaston Road.

“We took that over and made it our project,” Hebert said. “When Gaston Road meets the city line, then we’ll bring that to Spring Green Boulevard.”

Past projects delayed

The county is not anticipating a property tax rate will be needed to pay for the 2017 mobility bond package, but Meyers said the county can delay projects—if needed—to maintain rates.

Commissioners and partnering cities can also relinquish funding for approved projects if they determine the work is no longer needed or if a project needs to be redesigned. However, some projects approved in the 2013 mobility bond have still not started because of delays related to ROW acquisitions, utilities, weather and other factors, Slawinski said.

“After ROW [are granted], private utilities need to be relocated,” he said. “We’ve seen that on Gaston Road [in Precinct 3], for example.”

The city of Fulshear is still working to acquire ROW for the county’s Huggins Road and Texas Heritage Parkway projects. The county has also struggled to secure all ROWs for its Spring Green Boulevard roundabout and extension project, Slawinski said.

The 2017 bond package has mostly new projects for Precinct 3, but one was carried over from the 2013 bond: the construction of two-lane Brandt Lane with shoulders between Skinner and Mason roads in the Richmond area. That project length was extended in the 2017 proposal.

Meyers said the Brandt Lane project has frustrated the county, and attempts to negotiate with the landowner were unsuccessful. Now, the county is pursuing eminent domain litigation to obtain a ROW to build the road, Meyers said.

Working with landowners

When the county wants to build a road through private land, it must offer landowners compensation for the ROW. But if the landowner is dissatisfied with the initial offer they may seek help negotiating what they consider a fair exchange.

Houston condemnation attorney Charles McFarland said government entities in the area are becoming more circumspect, and Houston attorney Alaina Benford said landowners are growing more cognizant of the eminent domain process.

“Ultimately, it means more expense and more burden on the landowner,” McFarland said. “They have to take more time and more money to get the compensation to which they’re entitled.”

However, the state’s “quick-taking” statute in the Texas Property Code allows the entity seeking a ROW to take possession of the property even before the ROW is formally acquired if certain requirements are met, said Benford, who is experienced in condemnation and eminent domain cases.

“From a negotiation standpoint—before proceeding to condemnation [litigation]­­—it certainly is in the interest in all parties to negotiate an agreement,” she said.

Land costs rising

Despite having one fewer project than the 2013 mobility bond, this year’s proposed package is about $35.7 million more expensive. One reason is land is getting more costly in Fort Bend County as developers build along major thoroughfares and the area’s population continues to grow.

Such strains are illustrated by the county’s Westpark Tollway and FM 1093 widening project, for which the Commissioners Court voted July 18 to request an additional $40 million from TxDOT. About $63.9 million was budgeted for the project, which was not part of the 2013 mobility bond.

Meyers said the increase was largely due to rising land costs along the route between the Grand Parkway and Fulshear.

“We estimated the land would cost about $2.50-$5 per foot, but now it’s costing up to $10-$15 per foot,” he said. “The problem we’re having is the developers and landowners are running out there and buying property as if the road were there.”

Westpark Tollway will be extended to James Lane while FM 1093 will have frontage roads on either side. The project began in February 2016 and is slated to be complete in February 2018.

Assessed land market values for the municipal utility districts surrounding Westpark Tollway and FM 1093 between the Grand Parkway and FM 1463 increased by about 57 percent between 2013 and 2017, according to Fort Bend Central Appraisal District reports. Those lands were valued at $926.5 million in 2017, compared to $588.6 million in 2013.

McFarland represents multiple landowners along that section.

“What the county is experiencing is life in the big city,” he said. “When you transition from a rural county to a much more urban and suburban county, land prices go up.”