Ask the managing editor



Who builds and maintains roads in unincorporated areas?


Driving around the Katy area, you may notice some roads stop abruptly and start again just as suddenly on the other side of a development or open field. Roads inside Katy city limits are maintained by the city, but the city of Katy is actually a small part of what the post office defines as “Katy.”


Areas outside the city limits are unincorporated and maintained by county entities and private developers. In most cases, developers build and maintain all the roads within their communities, and there may be a partnership between the developer and the county to build roads between developments.


However, in many of the areas between developments, it falls on the county to build and maintain roads. This is why county mobility bonds are sometimes needed to piece together roads between developments. As a new year ramps up, we will be following transportation and mobility bond proposals as they happen.