Grand Parkway garners mixed reviews
Some still see traffic headaches along Riley Fuzzel, Rayford roads
Along Riley Fuzzel Road, where — just a few months ago — sat a mess of orange cones and construction vehicles, now runs a freshly-paved, elevated beltway that connects Interstate 45, just south of The Woodlands, to U.S. 59 near Kingwood.
The newest portion of Houston’s third loop, the Grand Parkway, opened at the end of March.
For months, the residents of the booming southeast part of Montgomery County lived around the traffic woes brought by the roadway’s construction. Officials hope that its completion will not only relieve some of those woes on Riley Fuzzel Road, but will shorten commutes and take traffic off of other strained local roads.
Last August, Grand Parkway construction prompted Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack to release a letter that he sent to the chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission, Tryon Lewis, demanding that more effort be put into alleviating the mobility issues along Riley Fuzzel Road, calling it “a hazardous situation” and “like nothing I have ever witnessed.” Noack referenced vehicle collisions, emergency vehicles being bogged down in traffic and negative effects on property values among his concerns. His office also stated that it had received hundreds of complaints from motorists at the time.
Noack was unavailable for comment on the opening of the Grand Parkway, but a spokesman said that the situation had greatly improved in the Riley Fuzzel area in the past several
months.
Still, many residents there are unhappy with the current state of traffic.
“It’s been heinous,” said Stephanie Toedter, who lives near where the new parkway intersects with Rayford Road. “I can’t get anywhere. It takes 40 minutes just to take my daughter to dance class.”
Toedter said she doesn’t think the convenience the Grand Parkway might offer outweighs the strain it’s put on the community, particularly because it is a toll road.
“It’s too expensive,” she said. “I don’t feel like it’s going to help too much. People say they’re going to boycott it. They’re making (traffic) worse by building this road.”
The 12.5-mile segment of the toll road is one of three that, together, took $1.1 billion and three years to connect Texas 249, northwest of Houston, to U.S. 59 in the northeast. The massive project, 30 years in the making, has drawn both praise and criticism, and those mixed reviews are reflected in those who live and work along Riley Fuzzel Road.
Jestin Clark, who lives and works in the area, said he’s excited to see the development that comes with the Grand Parkway.
“There will be a lot of new businesses, property values will go up,” Clark said. “It’ll bring more jobs … places to eat and shop.”
And sure enough, just within the area surrounding where the Grand Parkway intersects Rayford Road and Birnham Woods Drive, a new Wal-Mart and strip center have popped up, following a trend of development appearing along the parkway stretch.
His coworker, Milton Gibson, however, doesn’t see the Grand Parkway as a welcome addition.
Gibson, who lives near Humble and drives about 15 minutes to get to his office on Riley Fuzzel Road, said that the traffic caused by the Grand Parkway construction has brought more harm than good.
“It’s been a pain,” he said, “It’s still a pain.”
“It’s a nuisance now, but it will be done,” Clark countered.
But Gibson was not as enthused as Clark about the development the parkway will bring.
“It’s going to be all strip malls,” Gibson said. “We’re seeing the decay of what brings people to the area in the first place ... it’s disgusting.”
Gibson said he remembers when Rayford Road — now a traffic-choked artery marked for expansion — was a tree-lined drive. To him, unchecked growth is spoiling the region.
But Clark sees the development as natural.
“My family moved here for those reasons — everything is 10 minutes away,” he said. “(We) moved for the suburbs, not for the trees.”
Another resident of the area, Duane Turner, has already found that the Grand Parkway has made his life easier.
“I’ve used it 12 times already,” he said, just a week after the road opened. “It’s a lot faster.”
But regardless of whether the Grand Parkway will add to or relieve traffic in the area, the southeast region of Montgomery County has already outgrown its infrastructure, transportation planners say.
The widening of Rayford Road — one of the only major east-west corridors on that side of the interstate — was listed as a top mobility priority in the South County Mobility Study conducted by the Houston-Galveston Area Council.
Voters approved a $280 million road bond last November that earmarked $60 million to improve Rayford Road.
The county is currently meeting with property owners who are affected by right-of-way acquisition for the project, which is slated for completion in 2019.