Hardy Toll Road Extension To Conroe?

[lockmat]

Anyone have inside knowledge of the possibilities of this? I cannot find anything on HCTRA's proposed projects page.

https://www.hctra.or...t_construction/

However, this company did surveys for it:

http://gmont.com/har...d-extension.htm

Spring to Conroe

Corridor analysis and route design for approximately 17 miles of new tollway facilities. Alternative Corridors Analysis Report.

Description:

• Corridor analysis and route design for approximately 17 miles of new tollway facilities.
• Alternative Corridors Analysis Report.
• Preliminary Schematic Alignment.
• Presentation to Public Officials.

It would have to go very wide/east of the spring neighborhoods near Rayford, but it might be doable with limited eminent domain.

edit, found this: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl//4510665.html

•An extension of the Hardy Toll Road into Montgomery County is being studied.

[JLWM8609]

Anyone have inside knowledge of the possibilities of this? I cannot find anything on HCTRA's proposed projects page.

https://www.hctra.or...t_construction/

I don't think the Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA) would have much on their website about a project taking place in Montgomery County.

[TheNiche]

Anyone have inside knowledge of the possibilities of this?

An extension of the Hardy Toll Road was studied by HCTRA, however as I suspected, they couldn't justify it by projected revenues; the Hardy as it is has always been a poor performer. Similar fates have befallen the Fairmont Toll Road and the proposed bridge between Galveston and Port Bolivar. And yes, HCTRA can build and operate projects that have a justifiable secondary impact on increasing mobility in Harris County OR if a project can net an increase in revenues along HCTRA's other tolled facilities.

[rsb320]

If I remember correctly, it was originally planned to Conroe, but Montgomery Co. would not pitch in. I think had they, the route would have been more profitable. Now, we have the possibility of more, endless construction.

[TheNiche]

If I remember correctly, it was originally planned to Conroe, but Montgomery Co. would not pitch in. I think had they, the route would have been more profitable. Now, we have the possibility of more, endless construction.

So, rather than have more construction, we are faced with more construction. Huh?

[Trae]

More construction now, instead of planning ahead and doing it before. Right?

[lockmat]

Yeah, I'm sure some people would use it, but I think most would be from The Woodlands anyway, so going to Conroe for sure wouldn't have as great an impact.

I wonder if the study considered it's effectiveness 20-30 years from now? If so, I wish they'd start securing right-of-way right now.

Niche, do you think that study is somewhere out there on the net?

[20thStDad]

I agree that if you are crazy enough to commute from Conroe distances you should be charged an extra toll.

[TheNiche]

Yeah, I'm sure some people would use it, but I think most would be from The Woodlands anyway, so going to Conroe for sure wouldn't have as great an impact.

Developers that I've talked to that are active in the Lake Conroe market for single-family homes report that a surprising percentage of households (between 45% and 60%) have someone commuting to central Houston.

My own analysis of zip codes 77318 and 77356 based upon LEHD data revealed--not surprisingly--that most commuters from the Lake Conroe area work in or near Conroe, The Woodlands, Greenspoint, Downtown Houston, Uptown, IAH, Huntsville, Magnolia, Westchase, the Texas Medical Center, Spring, or Tomball...in that order. However, I must admit that the share of commuters that work south of the North Beltway was impressive. Taking household size into account and that these developers are dealing with nice new homes at fairly high price points, the developers may not have exaggerated very much (but don't get me wrong, they always exaggerate).

Niche, do you think that study is somewhere out there on the net?

No. Unlike METRO, HCTRA does not seek state or federal funding and therefore is not required to be as "transparent".

[JLWM8609]

If I remember correctly, it was originally planned to Conroe, but Montgomery Co. would not pitch in. I think had they, the route would have been more profitable. Now, we have the possibility of more, endless construction.

They didn't plan it to go all the way to Conroe. In the early 80s they studied two termination points at I-45, one at the current location, the other near Tamina Rd. We all know which termination point they chose. Since they didn't go with the other option, the pathway it was to take has been built upon. A northern extension to Conroe would choose a different path than the proposed early 80s path.

I agree that if you are crazy enough to commute from Conroe distances you should be charged an extra toll.

Long commutes aside, it would also serve as a way to bypass I-45 when there's an accident blocking all lanes or something like that. I've had to use the Hardy for such a purpose when taking I-45 out of town once and there was an accident causing big delays somewhere between BW8 and 1960.

[Materene]

In 82 I was driving from Conroe to River Oaks Chrysler Plymouth daily, the back highway into Porter I would get on 59 and the drive was great. Only slow downs was coming out of Houston on Friday evenings especially if there was a slight rain. The fog was a killer coming from Conroe to Porter no pun intened I passed one head on there in Porter caused by some A hole that passed me earlier driving like an idiot in fog so thick you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. He was in a pickup truck and hit a poor man driving a Pinto! it was still so bad when I came thru the police were trying to direct cars to the shoulder without getting killed themselves, the A hole that did the killing wasn't injured, I remember driving very slowly past the Pinto on my side and could see very clearly the poor guy still sitting in the Pinto face down on the steering wheel. I wanted to stop and tell the policeman about the idiot that killed him but it was so unsafe if anyone tried stopping they would be the next unfortunate one. Traffic is so bad now I couldn't imagine driving that distance again every day.