Harrisburg Homes requested the city amend the city’s comprehensive plan and not extend Medical Complex Drive for a 0.9-mile segment between east of Hufsmith-Kohrville Road and south of Mahaffey Road, as it would cut through a development and, specifically, a house, according to Harrisburg Homes Homebuilder Shawn Speer.
“What we’re not trying to do is not necessarily get an abandonment of this roadway. We’re trying to get a better understanding of what will be accepted by [the] city of Tomball,” Speer said.
Speer said he wanted to know if completing the Medical Complex Drive extension was still needed because Harrisburg Homes is trying to make the area where the segment would be a new destination place for Tomball with homes for families, shops and restaurants so residents do not have to go as far for those activities. If the extension continues, Harrisburg Homes will not be able to do that, the firm claimed.
Community Development Director Nathan Dietrich presented maps to the council to show where the 0.9-mile segment would be, and the projected segment would have the center of the road going through the front of a house. However, Dietrich said the road could be adjusted farther south, if needed, but there are other factors, such as the golf course, to consider as well.
Dietrich said the city's planning and zoning commission met about the request and voted unanimously to deny the case as a recommendation for what council should do. The commission was concerned how the city can make it easier to get across the city without the Medical Complex Drive extension being complete and whether the traffic patterns have changed enough to justify removing this segment, Dietrich said.
Dietrich said another reason this proposed change was brought before council was because the extension was downgraded from a three-lane road on each side of a divider to a two-lane road on the western side, therefore bringing into question whether Medical Complex Drive is a true bypass and if the relief of traffic is still needed.
The city of Tomball wrapped up an extension of Medical Complex Drive from the intersection of South Persimmon Street and Agg Road to Hufsmith-Kohrville Road earlier this year, Community Impact Newspaper previously reported.
Council Member Mark Stoll said he was not in favor of giving up on the thoroughfare plan.
“Many cities wish they could have a bypass; unfortunately they are located on highways, and they can’t just because of the way they’re built and constructed. Tomball does have an option for the future,” Stoll said.
