Photo by Andrew Richardson

Negotiations to move forward with plans to create tolled main lanes on Hwy. 249 are underway.

A potential memorandum of understanding between Harris and Montgomery counties regarding the Hwy. 249 project was put on hold for two weeks Dec. 4, giving Harris County commissioners more time to review the possible funding mechanism.

The memorandum of understanding would help move the project that spans both counties forward at a faster rate with an investment from Harris County, but would also return the county's money with interest shortly after Montgomery County receives its bond funds.

"This is not the final agreement in this manner, but it sets the footprint," said Harris County Commissioner Jack Cagle. "It doesn't do us any good to build a road to a border that doesn't have something on the other side to match it."

Phase one of the project involves installing toll lanes on the portion of the roadway in Harris County from Spring Cypress Road to FM 2920 in Tomball, while phase two would extend from FM 2920 to FM 1774 in Magnolia. The cost estimate for both phases combined is about $335 million, according to Harris County. Work on phase one is expected to begin in 2013.

Precinct 3 Commissioner Steve Radack asked the court to hold the item, asking Art Storey, director of public infrastructure for the county, if there had been any formal negotiations regarding the memorandum.

Formal negotiations—but not actions—between both counties have taken place, Storey said, and the project has been approved by Harris County Commissioners Court as an essential early item on the county's capital improvement program.

"If we don't have an understanding of the way forward, it doesn't kill the project, it just changes the way we move forward," Storey said. "We're just testing our understanding of the way forward."

Harris County took a similar approach in 2002 when the Fort Bend Parkway was constructed. Harris County loaned $15 million to Fort Bend County to help move the project forward at a faster rate, an approach that Cagle said should be seen as precedent for the potential Hwy. 249 memorandum.

"The purpose of the funds is not so much that those other counties can't afford it, but it just takes them a longer time to raise those funds," Cagle said. "Because of our size, we have those available and can expedite the process instead of waiting a long time for them to come through."

The next commissioners court meeting will be at 10 a.m. Dec. 18.