The Woodlands Edition - November 2019

REGIONAL

Full stories online at communityimpact.com

Abridged stories from our other editions

COMMUNITY Groups push for new Conroe performing arts center

TRANSPORTATION

The Harris andMontgomery county toll road authorities are working with the Texas Department of Transportation to extend the tolled portion of Hwy. 249 fromFM2920 in Tomball to Hwy. 105 in Navasota. Project segments through Tomball and Magnolia are estimated to open by spring 2021, officials said.

BUILDING HWY. 249

Grand Central Park. Construction could cost between million- million or per square foot on the low end. Meanwhile, local performing arts groups said Conroe—which is home to the -seat Crighton Theatre, the - seat Owen Theatre and several outdoor performance venues—lacks enough venues to meet their growing needs. “Conroe does not have a space to accommodate a larger audience, except [for the] Conroe High School [theater],” said Annette Spikes, a Conroe Sym- phony Orchestra board member. Craig Stephen, who represented the Montgomery County Choral Society during the feasibility study, said a proactive approach is needed. “I think we almost need to have an ‘If we build it, they will come’ approach,” he said. FULL STORY BY EVAVIGH

BUSINESS FEATURE CONROE Performing arts organiza- tions in Conroe are looking to the city to help address what they said is a lack of local venues. Following ongoing discussions last year about needing to assess the feasibility of building a new perform- ing arts center, the Conroe City Council members received details Sept. on what the project might entail and cost. Gareld Public/Private President Greg Gareld presented results of a feasibility study at the Sept. Conroe City Council workshop, based on feed- back from local arts groups. The report identied the possible cost, location, size and scope of the project. The study looked at three possible locations and suggests the most prof- itable venue option would be a facility with a ,-seat main performance hall, an ,-square-foot multipur- pose room and on-site storage space at Manna Bread fromHeaven TOMBALL Manna Bread from Heaven owner Christin Shumway began sell- ing homemade loaves of bread on her porch in , eventually developing a list of about regular customers over the course of months. Her hobby of making bread turned into a side job while she was a stay-at-home mom, she said. “I got a bread rack, a mailbox for people to put in the envelopes of money, punch cards and got a little system going,” she said. Aer the demand for her bread out- grew what she could provide from her porch, Shumway opened a storefront in November . “Our family hit a major crisis, and I found myself having to take care of my six kids on my own,” she said. “But people came out of the wood- work without even knowing what was going on and just started being there on the day that I needed it, just like the bread from heaven, oering to help me open Manna.” She and her sta make a variety of breads, pastries, soups and kolaches from scratch using Shumway’s recipes. Manna also oers gluten-free and keto breads and pastries. Shumway said she began making bread as a child.

roads in each direction, according to HCTRA information. With main lanes close to opening, crews still must pave the northbound lanes, which is slated to be complete in late October or early November; nish improvements to the detention basin north of Lone Star College-Tom- ball; and establish vegetation in the project area, Kainer said. Part of TxDOT’s extension will also be tolled from FM in Magnolia to FM in Todd Mission, according to TxDOT information, with a nontolled segment extending Hwy. from Todd Mission to Hwy. in Navasota. The . million tolled section, Segment , is slated to open in spring , and Segment will open from FM to Hwy. in spring , according to TxDOT information. TxDOT ocials said residents will see bridges over FMs , and constructed in the next few months and should expect daily lane closures in those areas as a result. Pav- ing of the main lanes in the Magnolia Scope: six-lane tollway spanning 1.7 miles with three-lane frontage roads Cost: $130 million Funding agency: Harris County Toll Road Authority 1 OPENINGMID-DECEMBER 2019 Scope: four-lane tollway spanning 3.46 miles with existing frontage roads Cost: $63 million Funding agency: Montgomery County Toll Road Authority 2 OPENING FEBRUARY 2020 Scope: four-lane tollway spanning 14 miles with intermittent frontage roads Cost: $347.9 million Funding agency: Texas Department of Transportation 3 OPENING SPRING 2021 Scope: two-lane, nontolled highway spanning 10 miles with no frontage roads Cost: under review by TxDOT Funding agency: TxDOT 4 OPENING SPRING 2023

149

1774

249

149

MAGNOLIA

1488

HARDIN STORE RD.

SPRING CREEK

2920

SOURCES:HARRISANDMONTGOMERYCOUNTYTOLLROADAUTHORITIES,TEXASDEPARTMENTOFTRANSPORTATION/ COMMUNITY IMPACTNEWSPAPER

Hwy. 249 toll lanes will open mid-December

TOMBALL New toll Hwy. lanes in Tomball are slated to open in mid-De- cember, said Matt Kainer, the assistant director of maintenance and construc- tion engineering for the Harris County Toll Road Authority. The opening of the tollway’s main lanes just north of Spring Creek is anticipated to follow a few months later, Montgomery County Precinct Commissioner Charlie Riley said. “We’re doing everything we can to get to the February [opening date],” said Riley, a member of the Montgomery County Toll Road Author- ity, which is made up of Montgomery County commissioners. Further, Texas Department of Transportation ocials anticipate the extension of Hwy. through the city of Magnolia to open in spring . The three agencies are extending Hwy. from FM in Tomball to Hwy. in Navasota to improve regional mobility, ocials said. The HCTRA segment from FM to Spring Creek totals million, Kainer said. The project includes a six- lane tollway with three-lane frontage

Shumway said she may franchise Manna to give people “real bread.” “Our bread has a very unique taste and unique avor because we do everything by touch, not by machine or frozen or anything like that,” she said. “People are longing for real bread, like grandma made it—the way it should be.” FULL STORY BY KARAMCINTYRE

WINDSOR POINTE DR.

249

24441 Hwy. 249, Tomball 346-808-7134 www.mannabakeries.com Hours: Mon. 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Tue.-Fri. 8 a.m.-7 p.m., Sat. 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m., closed Sun.

area will begin this fall. FULL STORY BY ANNA LOTZ

The Woodlands edition • November 2019