Construction will begin this fall on an overpass that will allow drivers to travel on Lake Woodlands Drive without having to endure traffic congestion in the heavily traveled area near Grogan’s Mill Road. The overpass, designed by the Woodlands Road Utility District, will stretch from Lake Front Circle to just west of Six Pines Drive.

The overpass is designed to aid commuters who are not interested in pulling off to shop at the retail outlets, said Mike Bass, member of the WRUD and The Woodlands Township board of directors.

“The destination is not to get to Town Center,” Bass said. “The destination is to get home. When you have Town Center sitting along I-45, you want to allow people to get home or to work in the morning as quick as possible without having to deal with congestion.”

Bruce Tough, chairman of the township board of directors, said the overpass will improve mobility for the traffic traveling east and west on Lake Woodlands Drive.

“Grade separations are the best way to increase mobility and traffic flow,” Tough said. “So [the overpass is for] people who are coming to I-45 and want to go home and not stop at all of the intersections.”

Robert Heineman, vice president of planning for The Woodlands Development Company, said he suggested that 2 miles of a protected bike lane on the south side of Lake Woodlands Drive be added to the overpass project.

“We provided the township two costs—one was if you did the [bike] pathway with the overpass—and if you did it separately, it would be more expensive,” he said. “The WRUD went far enough to estimate what the costs would be to do the pathway just in case the township wanted to do it.”

The cost to add the bike lanes—$1.4 million—proved prohibitive and stemmed from the utilities, such as light poles, that needed to be moved, Heineman said.

“We weren’t ready to bite that off,” Bass said.

The 2-mile bike lane addition on Lake Woodlands Drive is being considered as part of the Bike and Pedestrian Master Plan, which is undergoing a proposal process by Jones Carter, a Texas engineering firm.

The Lake Woodlands overpass project will take about one year to complete. The cost of the four-lane overpass has yet to be determined, Heineman said.