As local business and civic leaders put the final touches on the new 249 Partnership coalition, Harris County officials are already talking about one of their key issues - the expansion of SH 249 northward.

The Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA) has received approval from the Harris County Commissioners Court to begin investigating whether it would make sense to build a toll road from Spring-Cypress Road north, to where it meets FM 1774 in Montgomery County.

“Talk about a possible toll road has been out there for quite some time, but the growth of that area and its traffic congestion has brought it to the forefront again,” HCTRA spokesman Eric Hanson said.

HCTRA officials said that the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDot) determined in 2010 that over 64,000 vehicles travel each day along that 10-mile stretch of road. The investigation into a possible expansion is just that, according to Hanson and not necessarily the beginning of a definite project.

“It’s very early in the process and a lot of things need to happen (before the project gets a green light),” Hanson said. “We will now enter discussion with TxDot and Montgomery County and then look at traffic flows and go from there.”

John Fishero, chairman of the newly formed 249 Partnership, said he sees the new organization playing some role in the process and that it’s seriously overdue.

“It’s about time,” Fishero said. “The traffic and the growth here demands that something be done. Whoever decides to do it will have their own plans, but they always seek public input and I can see us fulfilling a role in that.”

Fishero also talked about how morning traffic reports often talk about the long drive times on other freeways within the Houston metro area, for stretches of road three times longer than the completed freeway portion of SH 249.

“It’s only a 6-mile stretch (from Spring-Cypress Road to Beltway 8) and a lot of the time you hear that it takes 30 minutes or longer to navigate that stretch,” he said. “They aren’t even taking into account how long it takes to navigate the unfinished and stop-and-go portions that pass through Tomball.”

Fishero said that whichever entity decides to take on the project needs to look at numerous things.

“Ultimately 249 also needs to be an evacuation route during a situation to avoid the jams on 290 and 45,” he said.

Hanson said that the SH 249 study has no affect on other plans, like the SH 290 discussions and that the current stretch of completed freeway on SH 249 will always have free access. He also wanted to stress that any feeder roads next to the possible toll road will also remain free access.

“The freeway that’s there now from Spring-Cypress southward will never be a toll road,” Hanson said.

The feasibility investigation is a large first step in the process, officials say. HCTRA hopes to have its findings completed with a year and return with a recommendation to the commissioners.

Photo by Caleb Harris

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