GRIMES COUNTY RESIDENTS WAITING FINAL TOLL ROAD PLANS

  

 Grimes County residents are waiting to see where the final plans for the Texas 249 toll road connecting Houston to Waco will be built.

The toll road would start out as a two-way road and eventually go to a four land divided highway, and citizens are concerned of the impact it would have on landowners wanting to sell their property, with the unknown factor of whether the toll road would be built on the land they are trying to sell.

Proponents of the road believe that building the road would be good for the city because it would be another way to move people and goods between Houston and the Navasota area.

The proposed road had received support from the city of Navasota in September when a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) was signed with the Texas Department of Transportation agreeing to work together to bring the road into Navasota.

Navasota residents voiced concerns that the toll road would not give businesses an incentive to build near the toll road because potential customers would not want to exit the toll road if they had to pay to re-enter the toll road, and also that because there would be no frontage road, that emergency vehicles would take longer to arrive at an emergency.

The next public hearing is expected to take place in the spring, once the environmental impact study is completed. Public comments can be made before then by contacting Chad Bohne at chad.bohne@txdot.gov or 979-778-9727.