Tomball City Council members unanimously approved a motion June 16 to recommend the continuation of a mobility and access study along FM 2920 between Walnut and Pine Streets. The study also includes a revamp of the city's central Four Corners intersection.
The city has contributed $600,000 to carry out the FM 2920 access management study, which was first approved in 2009. City Engineer Lori Lakatos said the downtown sidewalks are in a state of disrepair with various cracks, tripping hazards, slopes, obstructions, a lack of accessible ramps and inadequate draining.
"I believe it's time to go forward with this because it's going to happen sooner or later," Mayor Gretchen Fagan said. "The reason our sidewalks look like they do is because six years ago we said, 'well [the Texas Department of Transportation] is going to come fix it, so we can't spend $600,000 to take care of our sidewalks.'"
The project's $22 million total cost is expected to be funded 80 percent by the Houston-Galveston Area Council and 20 percent by TxDOT, City Manager George Shackelford said. City officials are still working with TxDOT to assess if the department will finance any extra charges in conjunction with the project.
Recent cost estimates determined city officials did not originally budget enough money to cover proposed improvements to the downtown sidewalks and the Four Corners intersection, Shackelford said.
Lakatos said raised medians and left turn channelization lanes are proposed for FM 2920 between Hwy. 249 and Buvinghausen Road as well as between Pine Street and the railroad tracks. A raised triangle is planned at Alma Street and FM 2920 to realign the road with Buvinghausen and aid traffic control with perpendicular access, she said.
Councilman Derek Townsend Sr. said his biggest fear with implementing raised medians is losing on-street downtown parking, which could harm local businesses.
"Not that I'm a naysayer typically, but has anybody driven [FM] 1960 recently?" Townsend said. "What they are trying to implement in downtown Tomball is what they've got on [FM] 1960. That's ludicrous in my estimation. We're going to destroy the ambiance of downtown Tomball if we do this."
Fagan said the addition of more parking lots are planned on Elm and Fannin Streets to make up for a reduction of spaces on Main Street and FM 2920.
As part of the Four Corners refurbishment, the right curve in front of the Tomball welcome sign will likely be replaced with a right turn lane in addition to other aesthetic and access improvements, Fagan said.
"Right now we have some control and leverage that we can try to compromise between the pros and cons of the businesses downtown in parking and then also building what we want to see 10 years from now," Councilwoman Lori Quinn said.
Council members voted to recommend basic improvements to sidewalks, medians and left turn channelization be completed by the city alone for an estimated $2.7 million before extra funding for the entire project is received from H-GAC and TxDOT, Lakatos said.
Fagan said the city is expected to receive approval from H-GAC and TxDOT by the end of the year regarding what parts of the overall project may receive funding in 2016-2017.
