WALLER COUNTY, Texas (Covering Katy News) — Waller County's rapid growth is increasing pressure on its largely two-lane road network, and Judge-elect Justin Beckendorff says the proposed Highway 36A is becoming increasingly important as tens of thousands of residential lots move through the development process.
Beckendorff told the Highway 36A Coalition that about 80,000 residential lots are currently in the design and development process in Waller County — roughly as many lots as the county has residents today.
“Right now, we've got about 80,000 lots that aren't built,” Beckendorff said. “There's not a street there, but they're in the design development process.”
If those lots eventually become homes, the population impact could be enormous, he said.
“Think about the volume of traffic that's gonna dump on our roads.”
Beckendorff, currently the Precinct 4 commissioner, will become Waller County judge in January.
Growth is arriving faster than the roads
Beckendorff said Waller County has no four-lane county roads. Outside Interstate 10 and U.S. 290, he said, it also has no four-lane FM roads.
“For a long time, the two-lane roads were good,” Beckendorff said. “We have a huge influx of people, and they're coming very quickly.”
FM 529 provides an example. Beckendorff pointed to five neighborhoods going up along the road and additional traffic signals accompanying that growth.
“It's gonna look like 1960,” he said. “What kind of quality of life is that?”
Brookshire presents another potential bottleneck. Beckendorff cited an earlier study projecting approximately 60,000 vehicles per day on FM 362, with traffic crossing the railroad and moving through historic downtown Brookshire.
“What's that gonna look like?” Beckendorff said. “Nobody wants to see that. Nobody wants to sit in that traffic.”
No Highway 36A route has been selected
Beckendorff said five alternatives remain under consideration for the Waller County portion of Highway 36A. Officials hope to narrow those alternatives, but he emphasized that no route has been selected.
“Nothing's set in stone,” Beckendorff said.
He said Waller County wants a role in determining the route and minimizing the effect on existing property owners.
“We want to make sure that we're not going to put it right through the middle of a family farm that's been in operation for four generations,” Beckendorff said."
Highway 36A is facing significant opposition
The coalition also heard that Highway 36A has encountered substantial public opposition.
Greg Parent of Jacobs, which is working on the Highway 36A South environmental impact statement, said more than 900 comments were received following public meetings in Katy and Rosenberg.
“I would say about 90% of those were people who are against the project,” he said.
That 90% figure applies to 36A South, not the Waller County portion. For 36A North, officials reported receiving more than 700 comments and described the feedback as “not all positive,” but did not provide a percentage for or against the project.
Beckendorff said public-comment processes often draw more responses from people who are unhappy.
“Nobody ever calls me and says, ‘Hey, Commissioner, I just wanna let you know that road's looking really good this week,’” he said.
But, he added, “if we didn't do something or if there is a pothole or something in the ditch, they will call and gripe every time.”
Beckendorff encouraged supporters as well as opponents to participate when TxDOT seeks public input.
Readers can follow the studies, review project maps and alternatives, and find public-involvement information here.
Evacuation and freight add to need for 36A
Beckendorff said Highway 36A is about more than everyday congestion. He pointed to the gridlock during the Hurricane Rita evacuation and said future storms could send large numbers of Houston-area residents north and west through Waller County.
“When there's a hurricane coming down Galveston, nobody's going south,” Beckendorff said. “They're all coming north and west.”
“We live on the Gulf Coast, and we know it's not a question of if, it's when,” he said.
He also expects growing freight traffic to increase pressure on the county's roads as Texas ports expand.
“Where is all that freight gonna go?” Beckendorff said of Port Freeport's expansion. “It's gonna come through Waller County.”
He said better transportation could turn that traffic into an economic-development opportunity rather than simply more congestion.
Paying for it remains a challenge
Even if officials agree on a route, Beckendorff said another major question remains.
“How are you gonna fund it?” he said. “That's gonna be the biggest issue.”
Beckendorff said a project of this scale will require state and federal funding and encouraged residents and business leaders to keep transportation funding before their elected representatives.
With Beckendorff saying roughly 80,000 residential lots are already somewhere in the design and development process, his message was that Waller County needs to prepare its transportation network before those subdivisions, residents and vehicles arrive.