Gosling Bridge dedicated, opens as project nears finish

THE WOODLANDS, TX – Montgomery County Precinct 3 and Harris County Precinct 3 hosted a bridge dedication recently as lanes were opened on the new Gosling Road bridge over Spring Creek for southbound motorists.

The dedication and ribbon-cutting was to honor Calvin T. Ladner, P.E., former president of LJA Engineering, which designed the bridge. Ladner, whose first project as an engineer with a small firm in 1982 was to work on a “new” master-planned community called The Woodlands, passed away in August of 2020.

The dedication plaque reads: “The Gosling Memorial Bridge was dedicated to Calvin T. Ladner, who led LJA Engineering in designing much of the infrastructure of The Woodlands, and took a vested interest in the community contributing to its success.”

Project update: With the completion of the new bridge, it was necessary to switch southbound traffic to the new lanes in order for the contractors to complete construction work involving the removal of the previous transition points at the north and south ends of the project; restripe the existing lanes/bridge for northbound traffic and complete the intersection at Gosling Road and Creekside Forest Drive.

Motorists should still expect traffic shifts and temporary lane closures until the final work is completed in the near future.

The scope of the project was to widen Gosling Road to a full four-lane boulevard between Gatewood Reserve Lane on the north side of the project in Montgomery County and Creekside Forest Drive in Harris County. It creates two 12-foot lanes in each direction.

The widening included the construction of the new 1,817-foot bridge crossing over Spring Creek for the two new southbound lanes. The existing bridge lanes become the two northbound lanes. The sidewalk and existing 8-foot shoulder along the northbound side will remain. The new southbound bridge has a safety shoulder for motorists to access in case of vehicle breakdown.

Northbound Gosling Road at the intersection with Creekside Forest Drive is being restriped to allow two through lanes of traffic and a left-turn lane.

The additional detention was constructed on the north side of the project and will drain into Spring Creek.

It is a joint effort between Montgomery County and Harris County, with Montgomery County Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack’s office funding $4 million of the $8.2 million project. The project falls within the boundaries of The Woodlands Township on both sides of the county line.

The construction project started in early December 2021 and is contracted for 429 calendar days.

Additionally, for intersection improvements, contractor Teamwork is scheduled to start construction in the coming weeks on a right-turn lane from northbound Kuykendahl Road turning onto eastbound Research Forest Drive and an extension of the left-turn lane from northbound Kuykendahl Road turning onto westbound Research Forest Drive.

The project was pushed back from a mid-December start due to inclement weather conditions.