I would guess that for the vast majority of the people who moved to The Woodlands some of the primary reasons were to enjoy a quieter life style the hustle and bustle of Houston could not provide and a better place to raise and educate a family. It is also a certainty people did not move here to encounter horrid traffic problems that make it difficult to get into and leave The Woodlands. Over time, the amenities The Woodland has to offer has caused more and more people to move here, while at the same time overwhelming an infrastructure that is clearly inadequate for the existing population let alone the additional residents and businesses that will be arriving.
Whether you are for or against more growth, steps to solve the infrastructure problems must be implemented soon because traffic on the roadways is only going to get worse as is the parking situation at Town Center. Why has the traffic situation gotten so out of hand in The Woodlands and numerous other areas in Montgomery County? A lack of leadership in various levels of government, a misplaced focus of certain special interest groups, and voter apathy!
It is my understanding that the last successful bond issue for roads in Montgomery County was over ten years ago. How is that possible given the dramatic growth in South County, which affects all of Montgomery County to some degree? A lack of political will has allowed the traffic situation to get out of hand. A bond package for adequate roads should have been a recurring ballot item until it passed—but that approach was not taken and here we sit in ever increasing traffic. Finally, the Commissioners have approved a bond proposal—one that is not large enough and does not allocate enough money to The Woodlands—but at least a step in the right direction.
The response—a divided community in which opponents of the current proposal are willing to try to secure its defeat because of the controversy over the extension of The Woodlands Parkway to Highway 249. Yes, it would have been much better to increase the size of such parkway going East too, but Rome was not built in a day and neither will be all of the necessary road additions. Common sense screams that construction on new roads must start sooner rather than later or the gridlock will become much worse—both coming into and leaving the Woodlands.
If anyone needs a history lesson about the effect of a policy of not building roads to try to keep people out, one only has to look at Austin. A great city that is overwhelmed by traffic with no meaningful plans in place to begin to solve the traffic problem. If you want the gridlock in The Woodlands and the rest of Montgomery County to increase, then oppose the bond issue. If you want to start to improve mobility, then vote for the bond proposal and let your elected officials know the current proposal is only a good start and much more infrastructure is needed to solve the traffic and parking problems.