Government
BY JESSICA SHORTEN
County, township seek regional mobility funds Several proposed projects for regional mobility are set for discussion by the Houston-Galveston Area Council’s Transportation Policy Council on Jan. 24. The details The TPC held its final meeting of 2024 on Dec. 20, where council members approved an amend- ment to the Fiscal Year 2025 Unified Planning Work Program, which would include seeking mobility studies for Montgomery County precincts 1 and 4. These studies will be funded by transpor- tation planning funds from H-GAC. H-GAC Senior Transportation Planner Jim Dick- inson also presented a series of proposed amend- ments to the 2025-28 Transportation Improvement Plan on Dec. 20, which included purchasing new buses for The Woodlands Township’s commuter bus program The Woodlands Express. Those will be purchased with H-GAC’s left over funds from previous fiscal years. The amendments also included several regional projects from the city of Conroe to widen Old Conroe Road in 2029 and improve public transit programs. Old Conroe Road widening would be funded Oak Ridge North approves $15K grant Oak Ridge North City Council members approved a resolution Dec. 16 to spend $15,000 from the city’s Economic Develop- ment Corporation to pay for gas line improve- ments for one of the city’s local businesses. What you need to know
The Woodlands Township extends lobbying contract The Woodlands Township board of directors voted to extend a contract with Williams Public Affairs to the end of 2025 and approved a new contract with the firm Schwartz, Page and Harding to provide lobbying services for the township ahead of the 2025 legislative session. What you need to know Board members voted 6-1, with Shelley Sekula-Gibbs dissenting, to extend the con- tract with Williams Public Affairs through Dec. 31. The board also voted in another 6-1 deci- sion to contract the services of Schwartz, Page and Harding for drafting potential legislation. Another viewpoint Sekula-Gibbs voted against the hiring of both firms due to concerns over a lack of a clear set of priorities for the legislative session.
Proposed projects
The Woodlands: • $25M to purchase new commuter buses
Regional projects: • $17.2M for Old Conroe Road widening and bridge construction • $4.5M for low emission buses
SOURCE: HOUSTON-GALVESTON AREA COUNCIL/COMMUNITY IMPACT
through Surface Transportation Block Grant funds, while low emission buses could be funded through federal transit funds, according to discussion at the meeting. “These are draft amendments, and they are subject to [continued] review and revision, but otherwise, we would anticipate bringing them back next month for your approval,” Dickinson said. What’s next? The next meeting of the H-GAC TPC is sched- uled for Jan. 24 at 9:30 a.m., where board mem- bers will vote to approve or change the list of draft amendments for final approval.
Shenandoah passes resolution against road widening Shenandoah City Council members approved a resolution Dec. 11 against the Houston-Galveston Area Council’s proposed widening of Grogans Mill Road from four to six lanes, from Woodlands Parkway to Research Forest Drive. The breakdown 45 LAKE WOODLANDS DR. GROGANS MILL RD.
The Woodlands
Council members voted 4-1, with council mem- ber Ron Raymaker opposed, to pass the resolution during a City Council meeting Dec. 11. It requested that the H-GAC remove the project from its 2025- 2028 Transportation Improvement Plan. The resolution also requests that The Wood- lands Township and Montgomery County work with the city for a solution to traffic congestion problems in the area. How we got here Township board member Shelley Sekula-Gibbs spoke to the Shenandoah City Council on Nov. 13, where she requested the city pass a resolution
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City Council members reviewed a grant request from Intec. Under the grant, Intec sought $15,000 to fund installation of a natural gas generator.
against the widening of Grogans Mill. “We want to protect our residents from being like [FM] 1960 so I’m here tonight to ask you to do what our board failed to do, which it which is pass a resolution in a future meeting where you discuss and decide if this is in your best interest,” Sekula-Gibbs said. The township previously deferred action against sending a similar resolution to H-GAC regarding Grogans Mill on Oct. 22, citing a lack of details regarding the need.
“It makes that piece of property more desirable, because it’ll already have a generator for the event of power outage.” ALEX JONES, COUNCIL MEMBER
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THE WOODLANDS EDITION
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