Construction is underway on two key thoroughfares in Conroe—FM 3083 and League Line Road. Once complete, the roadway projects will improve mobility and safety for drivers looking to access area business parks and the Conroe-North Houston Regional Airport. The Texas Department of Transportation broke ground on an overpass on FM 3083 at the intersection with Union Pacific railroad tracks east of Hwy. 75 on July 5. Work on the project is scheduled to be complete in about 25 months, TxDOT spokesperson Deidrea George said. A few miles north of that project, crews will wrap up construction on the 2.5-mile extension on League Line Road from Hwy. 75 past FM 1484 in the fall. “Adequate infrastructure is necessary for future growth in any area of our city, and League Line Road and FM 3083 are two great examples,” said Nancy Mikeska, city of Conroe director of community development. Both projects will help ease congestion caused by thousands of daily travelers who commute to the Conroe Park North industrial park—one of the city’s largest employment hubs. In 2014, FM 3083 saw an average of 17,739 cars per day, according to TxDOT. The League Line Road extension is expected to alleviate some of the strain by accommodating an estimated 8,100 cars per day. FM 3083 is the only existing roadway that provides direct access to Conroe Park North and Deison Technology Park. Easier access to nearby properties will be attractive to businesses, Mikeska said. Companies look at a variety of factors when looking for a home base, accessibility, parking, traffic flow and traffic congestion as well as whether large trucks can easily access the property, she said. “Businesses bring jobs and are the driving force behind our economy,” Mikeska said. “These planned road improvements will answer those questions for pending development and for those yet to come. Conroe is trying to keep our infrastructure improvements ahead of the growth, but when development is ongoing every day, I am not sure it is possible to do that at this time.”

Project details

The League Line Road extension broke ground in March 2015 with a budget total of around $13.4 million. Tommy Woolley, Conroe assistant director of projects and transportation, said the city contributed $7.36 million, and Montgomery County covered the remaining costs. Highway builder Smith and Company, Inc., which was awarded the project contract in 2014, is working on pouring concrete on the Tom Stinson Drive section of the existing road east of Stewarts Creek. Crews will connect the section to the new portions of League Line Road. Work is scheduled to be complete on the extension by the end of September, Woolley said. Once complete, the roadway will feature two 12-foot lanes with shoulders as well as overpasses over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks and Stewarts Creek. “Right now the only way to get to that area is FM 3083,” Woolley said. “In the mornings, lunchtime and 5 p.m., that road backs up past the railroad track sometimes when you are trying to get to I-45. League Line Road will give people a different option. We will have two corridors to handle the traffic.” Plans for the FM 3083 expansion include construction of an overpass over the Union Pacific railroad as well as reconfiguring the current layout from two to four lanes with shoulders, George said. The roadway was expanded from two to four lanes between I-45 and the railroad tracks last fall, and the new section will match the recent construction work. The estimated project cost is $14.8 million with TxDOT funding 80 percent of the project and the city of Conroe funding the remainder. Weather permitting, the project will be complete by summer 2018, George said. “This project is necessary to increase [roadway] capacity and improve mobility around the north side of Conroe,” George said. “It will also improve safety in the area.”

Driving the need

The FM 3083 overpass will complete the roadway’s expansion and address congestion created by the Union Pacific Railroad as more than 20 trains can run across the roadway per day, causing long wait times, said Fred Welch, executive director of the Greater Conroe Economic Development Council. Added lanes will improve both safety and mobility for drivers, officials said. In conjunction with the League Line Road extension, both projects open doors for increased economic development and make the nearby business parks more attractive for new businesses. Welch said League Line Road will play a vital role for the GCEDC and the city. “[League Line Road] will become a vital corridor for trucks going into and out of Conroe Park North and assist the 3,200-plus employees in Conroe Park North in getting back to the freeway without waiting on the stoplights along FM 3083,” he said. Access to the Conroe-North Houston Regional Airport will be important as more international businesses begin to use the new U.S. customs facility—which is expected to open Sept. 12 and bring about $35 million into the local economy every year, Welch said. The projects also improve the city’s chances for commercial development along League Line Road and to attract more international business to the area. City of Conroe Administrator Paul Virgadamo said the League Line Road extension will provide a new area for business growth in the near future. He also said the real estate and business communities are likely keeping an eye on the area in anticipation of the project’s completion in the fall. “We are just really excited about [this project],” Virgadamo said. “It’s something we have wanted for a long time, and it will really be a plus for the business and technology parks and the airport.” The road improvements will affect more than local business growth, however. Mikeska said the traffic congestion affects the safety and convenience of nearby residents. Improved shoulders on both roads and sidewalks will help move traffic as well as improve overall road safety. “These improvements are needed to provide quality services to existing citizens, their homes and their businesses,” she said. “The infrastructure must improve or new growth coming will cause the road to stretch beyond what it was intended to accommodate, and the quality will deteriorate.”