Officials from the Texas Department of Transportation traveled to Waller County to bring county officials up to date on progress on the proposed expansion of Highway 36A, which would create a north-south corridor from Freeport to central Texas, providing greater connectivity for the county and relieving road congestion, while also providing increased opportunities for hurricane route evacuation.

Sue Theiss, who serves as TxDOT’s director for advanced project development for TxDOT’s Houston District, presented the update on February 18 at commissioners court in Hempstead.

Theiss said that the project is needed because of the phenomenal growth in Waller and Fort Bend Counties and a lack of a direct north-south corridor in TxDOT’s study area. The expansion of operations at Port Freeport, which is widening and deepening its channels in order to serve larger container ships, has created more traffic as more trucks are carrying goods north to the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The proposed roadway project has been broken down into two segments: the southern segment to be built first at a cost of about $2.5 billion, going from FM 1994 south of Needville to I-10, and the northern segment from I-10 to US 290/State Highway 6 at a cost of $2.0 billion. The south project also includes all the direct connects to Interstate 10, Theiss said. The four-lane “facility” would not have service roads, but TxDOT will lay in alignments for construction of future frontage roads. TxDOT does not build service roads, she said.

Theiss detailed the process for the project, which includes a published notice of intent, public scoping meetings, a draft environmental impact statement (EIS), a public hearing, a final EIS and then a final decision. The final decision is expected in 2029, she said, with project “letting” in 2037 if funding is found for the currently-unfunded projects. The odds of having both segments of the project funded simultaneously are low, Theiss said. Construction of the roadway would take two to three years once funding is approved.

Theiss said that TxDOT is working with Waller County, which has its own thoroughfare plan, to look at all possible route concepts, which will be shown to the public during the public scoping meetings which will likely happen in 2026.

County Judge Trey Duhon expressed concern that constructing the southern portion first would create problems for Waller County, as north-bound trucks would travel the completed corridor up to Interstate 10 but then have to travel through the county on older farm-to-market roads and through the current bottleneck in Brookshire where FM 359 and FM 362 converge. Of particular concern is that one of the farm-to-market roads has sharp 90-degree turns and is now avoided by many truckers for that reason, forcing truck traffic onto the other farm-to-market road. Duhon asked for as much public engagement as possible as the project moves forward, so that Waller County citizens could provide their feedback.

Precinct 3 County Commissioner Kendric Jones asked how the north end of the project could be sped up, stating that there are four separate developers who want to build in Waller County and who will be submitting applications in the next 30 days. Theiss replied that the idea behind the phasing the two segments included not confusing the public with separate hearings going on at the same time. Once the projects are started, “it is just a matter of following the process,” she said. Theiss also said that she thought that the north segment would “go faster” than the south portion.

Precinct 4 County Commissioner Justin Beckendorff said that he wanted to set a pathway for the road before houses were built where it might go, and to that end, the county had signed an agreement with TxDOT. The agreement allows the county to work with developers to set aside an area where there will be no houses, so that homeowners are not surprised by the future development of the roadway, he said. A better way to get north and south is needed, Beckendorff said, especially in times of hurricane evacuation – noting that mass evacuations from Houston during Hurricane Rita in 2019 turned Waller County into a “parking lot.” “This is not just a Waller County issue – this is a regional issue,” Beckendorff said. Beckendorff also said that having a major north-south corridor makes a difference in the kind of businesses that would be attracted to come to Waller County, with a major thoroughfare drawing the desirable large manufacturers versus a smaller corridor serving smaller distribution warehouses.

Judge Duhon also asked about the future of US 290 at the time the 36A project would be completed. Theiss said that TxDOT staff was working on widening US 290 past the county line.

TxDOT Commissioner Stephen Alvis said that the project – now declared a “corridor of interest” for TxDOT -- will be needed long before 2037 and that there will be more pressure to fund the construction, which could involve either public-private partnerships or toll roads. “TxDOT is an economic development engine for you, the citizens and taxpayers of Texas,” he said, adding that he wanted to make this project a priority for the Houston district of TxDOT. Consensus helps speed the project along, he said.

Theiss also presented a safety update for the county, detailing “crash hot spots” from 2022 to 2024 including several farm-to-market roads, Highway 290 and State Highway 6. She said that, over the past three years, there have been 28 fatalities, 157 serious injuries, 368 minor injuries, 341 possible injuries and 2100 non-injury crashes, for a total of 3118 accidents. Fatalities have happened on FM 359 (5), Interstate 10 (4), State Highway 6 (4), FM 2855 (3), US 290 (2) and FM 1488 (2), with nine fatalities along smaller roads.

To learn more about TxDOT’s 36A project and to see a map of the study area, go to www.txdot.gov/projects/projects-studies/houston/36a.html.