Commissioner: Montgomery County Precinct 3 road bond funds near end with final projects wrapping in 2021

Montgomery County Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack said Nov. 17 all of the precinct’s planned road bond projects will be completed within about a year now that county commissioners have awarded a $3.57 million bid to widen Kuykendahl Road between Lake Woodlands and Research Forest drives.

Noack gave a presentation at the Nov. 17 Montgomery County Commissioners Court meeting detailing the work that has been done since a $280 million road bond was passed by voters in 2015. Precinct 3 received $84 million for projects as part of that bond.

He said five projects were prioritized, but several additional projects were added on after several of those projects came in under budget.

Projects included widening Rayford Road, which was budgeted for $60 million but came in at around $53 million, Noack said. Widening Woodlands Parkway cost $7.2 million, but it had been projected at $6 million more, he said. Another project, at The Woodlands Parkway/Robinson Road and I-45, came in at $3.1 million after it was redesigned as a diamond interchange. Among the projects added to the schedule were a project to widen Birnham Woods Drive and one to widen Elan Boulevard, both of which were completed last year.

Remaining work includes expanding Gosling Road Bridge; that will be a collaboration with Harris County. Precinct 3 is paying about $4 million, half of which will come from road bond funds, he said. That will begin in the first quarter of 2021, he said.

The project awarded Nov. 17 will also begin in 2021, he said.

“I look forward to us starting to put together the next round of funding because we’re going to need it,” Noack said. “About a year from now, everything will be completed.”

The total cost of all the projects came to $82.83 million, he said, and the funds put toward the Gosling Road bridge project will consume the remainder.

With the county now considering a major thoroughfare study, Noack said it will be needed soon to address additional mobility needs in the region.