The FM 2978 corridor is expected to receive some long-anticipated mobility improvements in late 2015 or early 2016.
With the approval of Proposition 1 on the Nov. 4 ballot, the Houston-Galveston Area Council received $278.7 million to help fund 14 Greater Houston area roadway improvement projects, including the widening of FM 2978 in Montgomery County.
"Growth in the Greater Tomball-Magnolia-The Woodlands area is producing significant congestion, and additional Prop. 1 funds will ensure there is no gap in the widening of the FM 2978 corridor from two to four lanes," H-GAC Program Manager David Wurdlow said.
The two-lane FM 2978 widening project from Conroe-Huffsmith Road to Dry Creek will be constructed with $4.4 million in Prop. 1 funds, Wurdlow said. Directly north of the Prop. 1-funded project, the H-GAC Transportation Policy Council identified $12.5 million in 2013 for another FM 2978 two-lane widening project from FM 1488 to south of Dry Creek, he said.
The northern segment will not be funded through Prop 1. The project will instead receive 80 percent of its funding through the federal Surface Transportation Program funds, and the Texas Department of Transportation will provide a 20 percent funding match, Wurdlow said.
TxDOT Public Information Officer Danny Perez said both FM 2978 projects are scheduled to go out for bid this fall pending environmental approval. Construction could begin on the two segments shortly afterward in winter 2015 or early 2016, he said.
"It was chosen by the [H-GAC] Metropolitan Planning Organization to allow for the construction of the whole corridor since the section north of [the Prop. 1 project] from FM 1488 to south of Dry Creek was funded," Perez said.
Through Prop. 1, voters granted a state constitutional amendment to authorize the redirection of a portion of severance taxes levied on oil and gas toward improving transportation. In December then Gov. Rick Perry and the Legislative Budget Board approved a request by TxDOT to distribute $1.74 billion from the State Highway Fund.
H-GAC worked closely with TxDOT's Houston and Beaumont districts to identify the list of 14 Prop. 1 priority projects for 2015 in Harris, Montgomery, Fort Bend, Galveston, Brazoria and Chambers counties, Wurdlow said.
"The FM 2978 corridor has been on TxDOT's, H-GAC's and Montgomery County's priority list for some time, so we are excited that Prop. 1 will allow us to complete the project," he said.
The FM 2978 corridor is expected to receive some long-anticipated mobility improvements in late 2015 or early 2016.
With the approval of Proposition 1 on the Nov. 4 ballot, the Houston-Galveston Area Council received $278.7 million to help fund 14 Greater Houston area roadway improvement projects, including the widening of FM 2978 in Montgomery County.
"Growth in the Greater Tomball-Magnolia-The Woodlands area is producing significant congestion, and additional Prop. 1 funds will ensure there is no gap in the widening of the FM 2978 corridor from two to four lanes," H-GAC Program Manager David Wurdlow said.
The two-lane FM 2978 widening project from Conroe-Huffsmith Road to Dry Creek will be constructed with $4.4 million in Prop. 1 funds, Wurdlow said. Directly north of the Prop. 1-funded project, the H-GAC Transportation Policy Council identified $12.5 million in 2013 for another FM 2978 two-lane widening project from FM 1488 to south of Dry Creek, he said.
The northern segment will not be funded through Prop 1. The project will instead receive 80 percent of its funding through the federal Surface Transportation Program funds, and the Texas Department of Transportation will provide a 20 percent funding match, Wurdlow said.
TxDOT Public Information Officer Danny Perez said both FM 2978 projects are scheduled to go out for bid this fall pending environmental approval. Construction could begin on the two segments shortly afterward in winter 2015 or early 2016, he said.
"It was chosen by the [H-GAC] Metropolitan Planning Organization to allow for the construction of the whole corridor since the section north of [the Prop. 1 project] from FM 1488 to south of Dry Creek was funded," Perez said.
Through Prop. 1, voters granted a state constitutional amendment to authorize the redirection of a portion of severance taxes levied on oil and gas toward improving transportation. In December then Gov. Rick Perry and the Legislative Budget Board approved a request by TxDOT to distribute $1.74 billion from the State Highway Fund.
H-GAC worked closely with TxDOT's Houston and Beaumont districts to identify the list of 14 Prop. 1 priority projects for 2015 in Harris, Montgomery, Fort Bend, Galveston, Brazoria and Chambers counties, Wurdlow said.
"The FM 2978 corridor has been on TxDOT's, H-GAC's and Montgomery County's priority list for some time, so we are excited that Prop. 1 will allow us to complete the project," he said.
