The Woodlands Township board of directors has spoken out against several road projects included in the Montgomery County Thoroughfare Plan and the South County Mobility Study. Directors unanimously approved a resolution during a Feb. 24 board meeting stating objections to five proposed projects and asking for them to be removed from the plan. The projects include the Woodlands Parkway extension from FM 2978 to Hwy. 249; a Branch Crossing Drive extension north of Research Forest to FM 1488; the extension of Gosling Road north of Hwy. 242 to the city of Conroe; the extension of Grogan’s Mill north of Vision Park to Hwy. 242; and the expansion of Grogan’s Mill south of Woodlands Parkway within the township. “It’s one thing to bring people into the community to get here to shop and work, but it’s another to provide a thoroughfare where they just go through the community,” Director Mike Bass said. Montgomery County Commissioners Court approved the county’s thoroughfare plan during its Jan. 26 meeting after a presentation from the Houston-Galveston Area Council. A representative from H-GAC was invited to the township’s Feb. 24 meeting to make a similar presentation but was not in attendance. The six-mile Woodlands Parkway extension from FM 2978 to Hwy. 249 was included in last May’s county road bond package, which more than 80 percent of Woodlands residents who turned out to the polls voted against. The bond measure failed after receiving only 43 percent voter approval countywide. The extension was not included in the November county road bond, which passed with 63 percent voter approval. Bass said the township’s issue with the Grogan’s Mill project in the south county study involves a proposed direct flyover at I-45 into Sawdust Road, an expansion of Grogan’s Mill Road to six lanes and the creation of an underpass at Woodlands Parkway. He added the intersection would look similar to FM 1960 at I-45. “Because of the problems on I-45, H-GAC has created these north/south thoroughfares—Grogan’s Mill and Gosling—instead of dealing with the problem,” Bass said. Alden Bridge resident Bill Bass spoke during the Feb. 24 meeting against the proposed Grogan’s Mill, Gosling and Branch Crossing extensions. “This isn’t about deterring people from getting to The Woodlands, but rather about them using roads that were meant to handle large amounts of traffic to get them to our great community without adding risk to residents,” he said. “By extending these roads, residents of The Woodlands will be exposed to increased traffic in sections of the community that already experience significant congestion.”