Originally planned for completion in December, complications with the expansion of Woodlands Parkway from Grogan's Mill Road to East Panther Creek Drive have the project months behind schedule.

Deidrea Samuels, public information officer for the Texas Department of Transportation, said the project was estimated to be about 30 percent complete as of August.

Samuels said there was a delay because of utility relocations, although the contractor—Menade Inc.—has also fallen behind the initial time frame for the construction of the expansion.

Samuels said the contractor can be charged $785 per day for delays beyond the allocated contract time.

The nearly mile-long stretch of Woodlands Parkway under construction will be expanded from four lanes to six lanes. Samuels said the most recent schedule submitted by the contractor estimates a completion in April 2014.

Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack said he is concerned by the project's delayed timetable because of the narrow lanes and traffic congestion since construction began. Noack said construction has exacerbated traffic around McCullough Junior High and motorists back up all the way to Timberloch Drive at peak hours.

"We understand the frustration," Noack said. "Unfortunately it's not a county project, but we're applying as much pressure as we can to get this project completed as quickly as possible."

Noack said the narrow lanes have prevented larger trucks and school buses from being able to use the thoroughfare while it is under construction.