The Montgomery County Major Thoroughfare Plan, last updated in 2016 and originally scheduled for revision in 2020, was pushed back to the summer of 2021 as a result of COVID-19-related delays. However, officials said before that gets off the ground, the county’s four precincts will need to hold a series of community meetings this spring.
According to Brown and Gay Engineers, the company updating the thoroughfare plan through a $125,000 contract with the county, the update to the 2016 plan will include an analysis of major roadways, east-west and north-south connectivity, and highway accessibility.
Projects may be submitted for consideration through the Houston-Galveston Area Council, which will solicit items for its Transportation Improvement Program in September—a financial plan of projects approved to receive federal funding over the next four years.
Megan Siercks, senior project manager at BGE, said at an Oct. 13 Commissioners Court meeting that stakeholder meetings would need to be held in each precinct with 10-15 members from each community, followed by additional community meetings in early 2021.
Precinct 2 is also developing its own mobility plan with the H-GAC, which will continue to take shape this year and is the first look at mobility in Precinct 2 since Hwy. 249’s construction, Commissioner Charlie Riley said.
Harris County
Harris County officials are planning to finalize the Countywide Transportation Plan this year, which will serve as a guide for future transportation projects, programs, policies and advocacy for unincorporated Harris County—which includes portions of the Tomball area—through 2040.
The plan will address all parts of the county’s transportation system—including capital, operating and maintenance activities for all transportation modes. It comprises three separate components: the multimodal thoroughfare plan to assess current and future transportation needs, Vision Zero to decrease traffic fatalities and injuries, and the equity in transportation plan.
Surveys for each of these plans can be completed at www.eng.hctx.net.
