Kuykendahl Road keeping residents guessing
By Catherine Dominguez Houston Community Newspapers With the opening of Kuykendahl Road through to FM 1488 just days away, community leaders in the Village of Alden Bridge say residents still are concerned about the effects the new road could have on their neighborhoods and area schools.
“The concern people have is the traffic flow around Mitchell Intermediate and to what extent that would pose any hazard,” said Steve Leakey, vice president of the Alden Bridge Village Association.
The small stretch of Kuykendahl Road now connects from North Villa Oaks Drive to FM 1488. The road will give residents in Alden Bridge direct access to FM 1488 and to the new H-E-B grocery store scheduled to open this fall. The Woodlands Road Utility District funded the $500,000 extension, while H-E-B is footing the bill for the traffic signals in the area. Cindy Garza, a spokeswoman with H-E-B, declined to release the costs of the traffic signal.
Garza said the new 104,000-square-foot store is scheduled to open in the fall. She said the store will be a traditional H-E-B but will feature both the Central Market brands and the H-E-B brand products.
“That section was done primarily because of the traffic that will be generated by that H-E-B,” said Mike Page, general counsel with The Woodlands RUD. “People have to be able to clear that intersection or it will create some major problems.”
As for the increased traffic, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Lt. Dan Norris said the patrol district in The Woodlands would monitor the area with the road opening.
“The Sheriff’s Office continues to work well with other police agencies (in The Woodlands), including Conroe Independent School District police,” he said. “If there is a need to readjust, I’m sure they will.”
While residents are anxious about increased traffic around the school, they also are concerned about the proposed construction of Kuykendahl Road between Alden Bridge Drive and Crown Ridge Drive.
“That is the one remaining piece of Kuykendahl left to be constructed,” said Steve Leakey, vice president of the Alden Bridge Village Association. “Whenever The Woodlands opens up a new avenue or expands a new street that opens entrances and exits (to The Woodlands), that is always a concern.”
Page said because of budget cutbacks on both the state and federal levels, the Kuykendahl project from Alden Bridge Drive to Crown Ridge Drive probably will not make the cut.
“It doesn’t mean it won’t be built; it just means the local share will have to be increased, perhaps even 100 percent,” Page said. “The good news is that might expedite it because there will be less government process to go through.”
Precinct 2 Commissioner Craig Doyle said the construction of Kuykendahl between Alden Bridge Drive and Crown Ridge Drive was originally a project between the county, The Woodlands RUD, The Woodlands Development Company and the Texas Department of Transportation. He said that without TxDOT, the project will now fall with local agencies.
“We have not discussed the topic at all,” Doyle said. “At this point, I don’t have an answer.”
Doyle also explained that the county does not typically build roads. He said it usually maintains the roads after they are built. But, he said in this case the county may partner to complete Kuykendahl in the future.
“Quite frankly, I’m in no hurry to (construct the road). I don’t have the money to do it.”
That schedule may be good news for residents of Alden Bridge that are also in no hurry to see the road complete.
“Most people where the road would be don’t want it built because it would be right behind their homes,” Leakey said. “This is obviously not scientific, but I am not hearing a lot of demand from people to get that stretch built.”
