Work at Woodlands Parkway and Grogans Mill Road is expected to wrap in April. (Vanessa Holt/Community Impact)
The project to improve the intersection at the Woodlands Parkway and Grogans Mill Road is nearing completion, and a separate project for a sculpture commemorating the “First Fifty” years of The Woodlands Township is completed, according to discussion at the Jan. 22 board of directors meeting.
What's happening?
Landscape architecture firm LANDology provided updates on the projects at the meeting. LANDology is performing work to landscape, regrade and address erosion and aesthetics at the intersection, and it is projected to be complete in April, according to the presentation at the meeting.
Board Chair Brad Bailey said he has received many inquiries from residents on the progress of the project.
Jonathan McMillian, founder and principal of LANDology, said as of late January, issues such as erosion and drainage have been addressed, and 1.2 acres of the lawn area have been reclaimed as forest.
"We're reclaiming it to become more of ... the standard of what The Woodlands Township intersections are, typically," McMillian said.
The backstory
There are two elements to the project, the first of which is funded by The Woodlands Road Utility District No. 1, mainly through commercial property taxes. This takes place on 8 acres, costs $4.5 million and includes:
Erosion remediation
Stone planter walls
423 additional trees
New ornamental plantings
Enhanced lighting
An aerial rendering shows the intersection improvements. (Rendering courtesy LANDology)
"This is a significant intersection for The Woodlands in that it is the primary gateway from the residential villages into the Town Center, so ... while we are repairing and beautifying it, we saw that opportunity as a great stage for visitors that come in," McMillian said.
The separate project to add the sculpture costs $1 million and is funded by The Woodlands Township, Howard Hughes and the Town Center Owners Association. The 25-ton sculpture was designed by LANDology and carried out by a separate contractor. The idea behind the project is to celebrate diversity along with the community's attachment to the land and its natural environment, according to information from LANDology. The weathering steel material naturally ages with time, and markings on the piece show the passage of time from 1974-2024. Features include:
5-foot width
50-foot diameter
Made of weathering steel
Represents The Woodlands' villages with eight silver- and gold-toned trees
Embodies concepts of people, belonging, time and native forest
Includes 50th anniversary logo
A rendering of the sculpture shows where it is positioned along the road. (Rendering courtesy LANDology)
What's next
Board members said they wanted the township to communicate information about the final project to residents in greater detail so they can see what it will look like when it is completed.
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