MCTP calls road bonds a patchwork that will lead to gridlock

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas - The Montgomery County Tea Party (MCTP) recognizes that the population of Montgomery County is expected to increase to more than a million people in the next 20 years, making investment in our infrastructure absolutely critical. We also realize how difficult it is to retrofit transportation facilities into developed communities. If Montgomery County is going to retain its rich reputation as a desirable place to live, it is imperative that we develop a vision that will accommodate the development that will take place over the coming decades. If we continue the patchwork development patterns, we will soon find our entire county in gridlock. MCTP believes that any bond proposal must include the development of a coherent, long-term, county-wide transportation plan to handle the coming growth while simultaneously addressing the most critical transportation issues facing the county today.

The plan should be:


Developed based on public consensus instead of hand-picked committees;

Coordinated with the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) plans;

Focused on improving mobility rather than maintenance activities or promoting faster development;

Made readily available on the county's website with descriptions of each project in adequate detail, including maps, to understand what is proposed;

Designed to leverage finances from H-GAC and TxDOT to bring more of our tax money home;

Regularly updated; and

Followed once it is developed.

The current bond proposal fails on all of these measures. Specifically, the bond proposal fails to:


Produce a long-range plan for a coherent, county-wide transportation network;

Provide a transparent project selection process;

Address our most pressing transportation problems by diverting bond money to routine maintenance;

Adequately advertise what the proposed projects are;

Follow the current H-GAC long-term plan;

Align with the South Montgomery County Mobility Study;

Leverage outside funds; and

Provide a transparent financial assessment of the proposed projects and funding.

Instead, the current bond proposal only continues the patchwork development patterns that will make it even more difficult to develop a coherent regional transportation system in the future. In many cases, these patchwork projects appear to benefit a few special interests rather than the population at large.

For these reasons, MCTP recommends that Montgomery County residents vote "No" on the May 9 road bond proposal. We further recommend that county residents contact their commissioners to encourage them to work with county residents to develop a responsible proposal for the fall election season.

Early voting starts on April 27. In order to get both sides of the story, Montgomery County residents are strongly encouraged to attend the Montgomery County Road Bond Forum hosted by the Montgomery County Eagle Forum on April 2 at 6:30 pm at The Church Project, 295 Sawdust Road; Spring, TX 77380.