The completion of two Texas Department of Transportation projects on FM 1774 between Pinehurst and Magnolia will improve traffic flow and increase mobility and safety on the roadway, local officials said.

“There is a lot of stuff going on in and around Magnolia, and it’s all for the better,” Montgomery County Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley said.

TxDOT is working to widen FM 1774 from two to four lanes with a center turn lane between West Lost Creek Boulevard and FM 149 in Pinehurst. The $18.5 million project is scheduled to wrap up by the fall, according to TxDOT. As of early February, the project was almost halfway complete.

The existing two-lane road saw a 20 percent increase in vehicles near the intersection of FM 1774 and FM 149 from 2012-16. According to TxDOT data, the average daily traffic count grew from 19,200 vehicles in 2012 to 23,115 in 2016.

TxDOT crews are also constructing the FM 1774 railroad overpass stretching from FM 1486 to FM 1488 in Magnolia to provide a smoother and safer route north and south on FM 1774, Riley said.

The overpass will provide drivers with a direct route across FM 1488 and the Union Pacific Railroad. As of early February, the project—slated to finish in the third quarter of 2019—was 58 percent complete, according to TxDOT.

Daily traffic has also ticked up on FM 1774 near FM 1488. In 2016, nearly 20,000 vehicles per day passed through this intersection, up from 16,300 vehicles in 2012, according to TxDOT data.

In addition to improving traffic flow, safety is a primary concern along this corridor, Riley said.

Between 2012 and 2014, there were 165 crashes—one every seven days—at the intersection of FM 1488 near FM 1774, according to a 2017 report compiled by TxDOT.

“It’s one of the most notorious intersections, if not just for the six-way movement you have to do,” Riley said. “Sometimes folks do not realize who is supposed to be going next, even if the lights are green and red. There is just too much activity [there].”

Magnolia ISD schools like Magnolia West High School are located near the intersection of FM 1774 and FM 1488.

“It scares me to death every day when I see school buses crossing [FM] 1488 and [FM] 1774, and you see them crossing down at Buddy Riley [Boulevard] and [FM] 1774. All of that—I do not like any of that,” Riley said. “It is not safe.”

City officials in Magnolia said projects on FM 1774 as well as other nearby road projects are expected to bring new businesses and rooftops to the area.

“As new roadways continue to open up the Magnolia area, the city is poised for the extraordinary growth we have been anticipating,” said Tana Ross, Magnolia economic development coordinator and planning technician.