In another sign that the Hwy. 249 expansion into a six-lane toll road between Spring Cypress and FM 1774 is nearing construction, the Montgomery County Toll Road Authority unanimously entered into negotiations with Harris County and the Texas Department of Transportation for the development of the project at its Jan. 23 meeting

The Toll Road Authority is made up of the four Montgomery County Commissioners, including Precinct. 2 Commissioner Craig Doyal, who has been a longtime advocate for the project.

" All this does is open the doors to start talking to [TxDOT and Harris County] to see if we can make this work," Doyal said.

The measure approved by MCTRA allows the group to negotiate with Harris County and TxDOT for construction, maintenance and operations of the proposed toll road.

" We will be negotiating who is going to build it, operate it and how it will be funded," Doyal said.

One of the key components that will be analyzed in the coming months by the Montgomery and Harris County Toll Road authorities will be traffic counts along Hwy. 249 in order to determine if enough toll revenue can be generated in order to make the project financially viable.

State legislation passed in April 2011 has enabled TxDOT to seek private partnerships in order to fund the construction of three major thoroughfares in the greater Houston area, including Hwy. 249. Doyal said he estimates the cost of the expansion of the highway from Spring Cypress to FM 1774 to six lanes to be between $250 million and $300 million.

At least two major hurdles of the project have already been cleared: right-of-way and environmental clearance.

" The right-of-way is already in place, environmental clearance has already been substantially done," Doyal said. "It's a project that lends itself very readily to construction. If the [traffic] numbers bare out that it is financially warranted, then we'll move forward with Harris County and TxDOT."