The Rayford Road corridor, which extends from I-45 along Rayford Road east to Riley Fuzzel Road and the Grand Parkway, is in the midst of an expansion of both residential and commercial amenities.

New developments over the past year have not only given long-time residents of the Rayford area new business and education options, but they have also spurred population growth through the thousands of new homes being  created in several ongoing neighborhoods.

According to the U.S Census Bureau, the population in the 77386 ZIP code, which includes the Rayford Road area, in 2015 was estimated at 45,501 people up from 36,478.

However, along with the increased development, transportation concerns have become more apparent in recent years.

Susan Bobek, a certified luxury home marketing specialist for Bobek Realty Group, said although the recent development is good for attracting more people to the area, traffic concerns put a dent in home sales.

“Increased mobility will increase demand,” said Bobek, who has experience selling homes along the Rayford Road corridor. “For example, the price point at Imperial Oaks is more affordable than homes in The Woodlands, but people don’t want to live there right now because of traffic.”

Transportation initiatives 

The Rayford corridor was identified as one of the heaviest-traveled roads in Precinct 3 through the South Montgomery County Mobility Study. According to the Houston-Galveston Area Council’s study, completed in 2015, there were 879 recorded accidents on Rayford from 2007-13.

Precinct 3 Project Manager Evan Besong said Commissioner James Noack and Precinct 3 officials have worked with the Texas Department of Transportation and local engineers to move forward with Rayford Road safety and mobility projects.

“Since 2013, our office has worked with [TxDOT] and local civil engineers to increase capacity by adding new lanes and to improve safety through access management,” Besong said.

The most recent project was completed in mid-November and consisted of  a $462,510 acceleration lane funded by Precinct 3. The lane allows motorists traveling west on Rayford Road to turn onto the I-45 northbound frontage road and merge onto the feeder road without stopping and merging onto the main lanes of the feeder.

Precinct 3 has also set aside $60 million to widen Rayford from four lanes to six lanes from Richard Road to The Grand Parkway, Besong said. The project will provide a six-lane overpass over the Union Pacific Corp. railroad tracks  and is expected to commence soon.

“We have completed 95 percent of the needed right of way property acquisitions and expect to award the engineering contract in February,” he said. “We anticipate this project to begin in the next few months and be complete after 18 months.”

Eric Garrington, a resident of Legends Ranch and member of the neighborhood’s property owners association, located off Canyon Ranch Drive, said although construction can be difficult to bear, the end result will be worth it.

“It’s always tough with construction, but it’s temporary,” Garrington said. “The Grand Parkway has also really been a game-changer. The two main construction projects to look out for is the widening of Birnham Woods and the widening of Rayford. First it will be painful, but in the long term it is well-served.”

Improvements to Birnham Woods Drive are slated to begin in February, Montgomery County Precinct 3 officials announced in early January. The $1.2 million project will be built in two phases. Construction on Phase 1 will begin in early February and is expected to be complete by mid-March. The project will widen Birnham Woods from two lanes to four between Fuller Bluff Drive and the Grand Parkway.

Real estate development

Real estate options along the Rayford Road corridor have increased in the past year because of ongoing construction within newer developments, such as Harmony and Woodson’s Reserve.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the total estimated number of housing units in the 77386 ZIP code in 2015 was 14,925, which was a 15 percent increase from 2011.

An estimated 2,300 homes are set to be complete at build-out in the Harmony development, located on Rayford past the Grand Parkway. Meanwhile, Woodson’s Reserve, located off the Grand Parkway near Benders Landing Boulevard, will have an estimated total of 1,050 homes at build-out. Bobek said 97 homes have been sold since August between the two communities, and 59 homes combined are active on the market.

“In my opinion, new communities and their builders offer a lot of incentives,” Bobek said.

Bobek said with more amenities in the Rayford area and better mobility, home sales are expected to grow.

“No one wanted to be in Bender’s Landing seven years  ago since there were no amenities,” Bobek said.

Bobek said the upcoming Grand Oaks High School, a new CISD school which is set to open in August 2018 at 4800 Riley Fuzzel Road, will also act as a factor in bringing families to the area.

Aside from the new Grand Oaks High School, Bradley Elementary School is also set to open in the same area this August at 4200 Falls Lake Bend, along with a future Conroe ISD intermediate school nearby in August 2018.

Business growth

The new homes and population growth have brought along a slew of new businesses to the Rayford and Grand Parkway area over the past year.

Big-box businesses, such as H-E-B, which opened at the entrance of the Harmony development in June 2015, and a Wal-Mart Supercenter, which opened in May at 2901 Riley Fuzzel Road, have become popular resources for the local community. A new Kroger  is also slated to open in the summer at the northeast corner of the Riley Fuzzel and Birnham Woods intersection.

The growth has attracted a number of small, locally owned businesses as well.

Momentum Coffee, a new local business in the area, opened in December at 3555 Rayford Road and has since been met with success, owner Alan Leibowitz said.

“The local community has embraced local businesses,” Leibowitz said. “This whole strip center here has become popping.”

Crust Pizza Co. Manager Arturo Rebollar said there were no retail options in the area just a few years ago.

“There was nothing here years ago, but now there are a lot of new houses and schools,” he said. “People want to come here. We were pretty busy when we first opened. Now that this area is growing, it’s more steady since there are plenty of more options here now.”

Aside from new eateries in the area, a variety of businesses have opened to meet residents’ needs, including dentist’s offices, grocery stores and a pediatric center.

Lara Jacobs, office manager of Spring Oaks Dental, located at 3559 Rayford Road, said the shopping center the dentist’s office is located in has filled up in the past three months.

“We’ve been here about six months, and a lot of patients are coming in from the neighborhoods,” Jacobs said.

Garrington said he and other residents in Legends Ranch see the benefits to the growing community.

“We don’t have to go all the way to the freeway anymore,” Garrington said  “The [growth] was inevitable; there’s a huge population that is underserved. It’s done a lot for the community here.”