Construction on Grand Pines Drive—a proposed three-lane road from Nichols Sawmill to Sanders Cemetery roads in the Magnolia area—may begin this year after nearly three years of delays, Montgomery County Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley said at the Feb. 28 Greater Magnolia Parkway Chamber of Commerce luncheon.

The Grand Pines Drive project, which will cost about $6.7 million, is funded by the 2015 Montgomery County road bond.

The Corps asked the county in spring 2018 to compensate the construction impact for an additional 0.8 acres of wetlands before construction could begin, Community Impact Newspaper previously reported. The concern among the Corps was that the wetlands were located in jurisdictional territory—meaning the area is in federal control rather than county control—and the county would be required to comply with whatever the Corps determined to compensate the impact of construction, Community Impact Newspaper previously reported.

The Corps agreed the land was not in jurisdictional territory, Riley said at the luncheon, but they still had 21 days to review this decision.

Riley said there has been no update from the Corps at this time and declined to comment further.