Construction work at Geneva Drive and Rayford starts Monday
As another leg of the Rayford Road project gets underway, county construction crews are preparing to install storm culverts along Geneva Drive in the Spring Hills subdivision that could possibly cause road closures.
Montgomery County officials are installing the storm culverts to alleviate possible future flooding at Rayford Road, which is undergoing construction of its own, said Matt Beasley, chief of staff for Precinct 3 County Commissioner James Noack.
Beasley said the construction slated to begin Wednesday, Nov. 29, was delayed due to soil concerns and will instead begin Monday, Dec. 4.
“The soil is very sandy, so because of that it’s harder to get the box culverts into the ground. We have to maintain the integrity of where we are digging,” he said. “This happens just in some places and not throughout. Other places were in clay, and that’s
much easier work.”
A stretch of road on Geneva Drive between Rayford Road to Spring Hills Drive could be closed to through traffic starting Monday, Dec. 4, and possibly until early 2018, he said, adding that this was the “worst-case scenario.”
“It may be much shorter and we may not have to close it all,” Beasley said. “We just have to get in the field. It may be a month, or it could be a week or two weeks or a few days.”
The installation of storm sewers along Geneva Drive could possibly cause the portion of road to be closed to through traffic. It will not affect private driveways and properties along Geneva Drive. The road will be temporarily reopened to through traffic during the holidays from Dec. 23 to Jan. 1.
Drivers are asked to use Lazy Lane during the Geneva Drive road closure.
The addition of storm sewers in the area is part of a larger project—the widening of Rayford Road from four to six lanes—which began in April 2017 and is expected to be completed by mid or late 2019. Plans for the project began as far back 2013, according to information from the county.
The box culverts will help decrease surface runoff from impervious cover at Rayford Road from the asphalt, he said.
“That water needs some where to go,” he said. “That water is now going to be collected at Rayford and Geneva and is going to go underground through that box pipe and then into Spring Creek.”
The installation of the culverts is not intended to alleviate flooding in the low-lying neighborhood of Spring Hills, which sits just north of Spring Creek, he added, noting that the neighborhood has ditches of its own.
Beasley said the commissioner’s office sent out a letter to homeowners in the area last week informing them of the construction. Officials also let the Conroe Independent School District know, so bus routes could be adjusted, he added.
The entire Rayford Road project is expected to cost $46 million, about $14 million less than the original estimate, according to previous reports.
—Michelle Iracheta covers the Conroe Independent School District and the cities of Oak Ridge North and Shenandoah for The Woodlands Villager. Contact her by email at michelle.iracheta@ chron.com or at her desk at 713.362.4408. You can follow her on Twitter: @cephira