Monday, December 23, 2024

Montgomery County Commissioner Robert Walker talks growth, infrastructure challenges during State of Precinct 1 event

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During his Sept. 24 State of Precinct 1 event, Montgomery County Commissioner Robert Walker discussed ongoing growth and development challenges facing the area.

“Our growth is going to continue, it’s not going to stop,” Walker said. “[We have] 21,000 new rooftops coming pretty quickly to Precinct 1, if you think about just two vehicles per home, that’s 42,004 vehicles on the road.”

The details

Montgomery County’s population has grown 485% since 2006—from 127,000 residents to 743,154 in 2024—with a population that is expected to more than double by 2040, according to a presentation from the Precinct 1 office.

Precinct 1 is made up of 266,495 acres of land and 163,037 acres of national forest, according to the presentation. Precinct 1 has 13,710 residential acres undergoing development with 20,754 lots. Additionally, 25 plats were approved in 2023 and 26 plats have been approved in 2024, according to the presentation.

“If you got a 50-acre tract and one of these developers comes along and offers you an outrageous amount of money for it—which they do—they will take it and plat it out with an engineering company that cuts it into lots, and sometimes they’ll put 200 lots on 50 acres,” Walker said.

Precinct 1 saw 116,000 residents in 2010 and an estimated 170,000 in 2024, accounting for a 44% increase, Walker said.

Conroe was also America’s fastest-growing city in 2016 with a population increase of 7.8% annually, according to the Houston-Galveston Area Council.

Also of note

Montgomery County voters approved a $280 million road bond in 2015, of which Precinct 1 received $64 million. Commissioners have discussed moving forward with a $450 million bond package for May 2025 that will help fund roadway projects throughout the county.

Precinct 1 also opened a new tax office in Willis to help ease the load at the Conroe office, and a new community center near the Montgomery County Fairgrounds located in Conroe is expected to be complete in fall 2025.

Walker also said Precinct 1 maintains 438 miles of roads and 966 miles of drainage ditches, and road work completed in the year for the precinct includes:

  • 550 roads cleaned from litter, debris
  • 715 work orders completed for right-of-way
  • 750 signage repairs and replacements
  • 800 potholes repaired

Stay tuned

The second State of the Precinct event will take place in Montgomery from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Oct. 1 at 2500 Lone Star Parkway, Montgomery.

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