A new pathway along Kuykendahl
The board passed a resolution extending its budget for crossing guards at Kuykendahl Road and Creekside Green Drive and allocating leftover funds for the construction of a pathway along Kuykendahl at the meeting.
Residents have raised concerns about the area, citing pedestrian safety and children needing to the street to get to Tomball ISD schools in the Creekside park area.
Kristin Thomas, a teacher at Creekside Park Junior High, spoke about a child in her class who witnessed his friend get hit by a car in November.
“As I tried to console him, my heart was breaking for the lasting images his mind would soon not erase. He could not function and wasn’t productive for the remainder of the class. ... I wondered how in the world he got back on his bike the next day and all the days that followed,” Thomas said.
Leftover funding for crossing guards for fiscal year 2021-22 will be used to fund them for FY 2022-23. Chairman Gordy Bunch said that money would likely last through the end of this school year.
“Without the crossing guards, many students in my community would have to be braver than they should have to be," Thomas said. "My students’ bravery should be reserved for standing up to bullies, for making speeches in class, for being bold enough to do the right thing."
Funding leftover from the crossing guard funds will go toward the path, which is projected to cost $443,7000 and will run alongside Kuykendahl for 4,000 feet from Timarron Drive to Creekside Forest Drive.
Hwy. 242 project concerns
The board also discussed the Texas Department of Transportation’s proposed Hwy. 242 widening project.
Director Ann Snyder said all the texts, calls and emails she has received from the public about the project, there have been none in support of it.
TxDOT engineer Matthew Connelly said public comments can have an impact on TxDOT plans for design and the department welcomes comments from residents.
The proposed $38.58 million project would add one travel lane in each direction from FM 1488 to I-45 and construct a new raised median in an attempt to control traffic congestion and improve safety. The project would also add 10-foot shoulders on each side of the highway.
Because The Woodlands is a township and not a city, the board has no jurisdiction over roadways and no authority over the project.
Bunch, Snyder and Director Shelley Sekula-Gibbs will meet with TxDOT, state representatives, senators and county commissioners that oversee south Montgomery County to determine what actions need to be taken to improve traffic in the area while keeping residents’ interests in mind.
Vice Chairman Bruce Rieser raised concerns about drainage issues and how flooding in the area may be exacerbated by this project.
Bunch also vowed that the board would ensure the affected areas would be beautified to adhere to the township’s standards.
“Really what the feedback is—it’s not ‘everything you want to do is bad.’ It’s 'please don’t do things that the people who reside here wholly don’t believe is necessary given their daily commute,'” Bunch said. “There’s really no issues for that last western portion of the project, and we all think that’s just going to make a vacuum of future traffic. If you build it they will come.”
