Hwy. 105 will soon undergo an improvement project to add a raised median along the corridor from I-45 to Frazier Street, limiting left-turn lanes for transit safety purposes.

Construction entails installation of the median and 5-foot wide sidewalks on each side of the roadway as well as pedestrian lighting, benches and landscaping throughout the length of the project. The initiative would also add sidewalks around the retention ponds at the southeast intersection of Hwy. 105 and I-45.

The city started the initiative to mitigate traffic safety concerns along the corridor by installing the raised median to scale back left-hand turns along the roadway, said Thomas Woolley, Conroe assistant director of projects and transportation.

“[The city] hired a consultant to study the corridor from I-45 to Hwy. 75 and found that there are a lot of accidents because of the continuous left-turn lane,” Woolley said. “They found out that this corridor would be safer if it had a raised island.”

The existing median is an open left-hand turn lane, but the new median would limit left turns at the Cable Street intersection and the existing turn at the Madeley Street intersection. Designated U-turn breaks between the two intersections were added to design plans June 8 in response to a public comment meeting  May 19—where several business owners expressed concern about possible adverse effects on business.

“I am for the improvements on [Hwy.] 105, but I just think the proposed plan to block most of the turns that you can make on [Hwy.] 105 is ridiculous,” Donut Wheel owner Brian Lee said at the public meeting. “For the public it might not seem like a lot, but for the local businesses it is going to hurt.”

Project design is expected to be complete by January, and contracts could go out for bid in August 2016. Construction could start soon after the bidding process and is expected to take 10 to 15 months to complete.

The project costs $5.4 million and leverages city and federal funds, Woolley said.