Engineering, design work to begin on Grand Parkway frontage road upgrades

Engineering and design services for redesigned eastbound frontage roads along the Grand Parkway in Montgomery County Precinct 3 were authorized by Montgomery County commissioners on May 13 over a year after being proposed.

How we got here

Traffic flow improvements to the Grand Parkway frontage roads between Rayford Road and Birnham Woods Drive were initially proposed in December 2023 by former commissioner James Noack.

Under an agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation, the project will be funded through accumulated toll road revenues—otherwise known as pass-through toll funds—alongside 12 other projects countywide which were eyed for funding. However, Precinct 3 Commissioner Ritch Wheeler said the project was removed from the county's list with TxDOT before he took office.

"From the end of September, we started working on getting this project approved; by the end of March, it got voted on and approved," Wheeler said during a town hall event on April 16. "In six months we went from that project not happening to being fully funded by TxDOT now so Montgomery County is not paying for it."

What's next?

The contract approved by commissioners on May 13 authorizes $747,565 for engineering firm WSB, Inc. to perform engineering and design work to create a project scope for traffic improvements to the eastbound frontage lanes of the Grand Parkway between Rayford Road and Birnham Woods Drive.

According to documentation from WSB Vice President David Balmos, the company expected to have their work completed by Nov. 30 for the construction phase to move forward.