Lone Star College System officials announced the purchase of land at FM 1486 and FM 1774 in January 2019 for the proposed LSC-Magnolia Center, but the location of the proposed center is now uncertain following a Texas Department of Transportation decision to construct a relief route cutting through the property, LSC-Montgomery President Rebecca Riley said in a mid-February interview. The Magnolia Center will be a satellite of LSC-Montgomery, Community Impact Newspaper previously reported.
“We did purchase that land, and we own it. The situation that has occurred, however, is that after the purchase of the land ... the new route for that relief route cuts right through the land. It kind of bisects it,” Riley said.
TxDOT’s proposed Magnolia relief route would create a new road from the ongoing Hwy. 249 extension east of the city of Magnolia to existing FM 1488 lanes west of the city, Public Information Officer Emily Black said, with a construction award date of January 2029. However, she said TxDOT has not begun land acquisition, and no conversations have taken place with LSCS to her knowledge.
“At this point, the decision to be made is whether to remain at that site and acquire land so that we can spread out to the west or the south, or to purchase land in another location and just start all over again,” Riley said.
