Traffic. We all hate it. But we choose to live further away from the things/places we need to get to. You lie in the bed you make, right? Sure, that's a fair argument. But it can also be said that we need better traffic mobility in order to ensure metropolitan cohesiveness and viability. I belong to this latter category. I think that just because I live in Lake Jackson, which is in southern Brazoria County, I should be able to get to I-10 West (Katy Freeway) without having to go north, then west, then north again (288 North to the Beltway 8 West, then Beltway 8 North, then to I-10) before back-tracking west. Or get on SH 36 and go through a bunch of small towns where I have to slow down or stop completely. It's a waste of time and fuel. Especially if I want to visit San Antonio or Austin.

What am I getting to? The Grand Parkway, or Texas Highway 99. This is an as-yet-to-be-completed "Super Loop" around the Houston area on the furthest reaches of urban areas. However, I think it is an immensely important artery: When I went to Sugar Land every day, I would take SH 288 North (a good 4-lane freeway), exit SH 6 (at times a 6-lane highway--NOT A FREEWAY) all the way through Missouri City and Sugar Land to just north of US 90A. The first leg, 288 north, would take me about 25 minutes for a 33-mile trip. The next leg, SH 6, would take about 40 minutes for a 21-mile trip, longer in the afternoons. My point is that if there were a viable option to SH 6, more of a through-fare expressway to Sugar Land and beyond, my trip would take only 45 minutes instead of 65-80 minutes. That's a 25% reduction!

Right now, I often use the Grand Parkway to get through the last leg of the "Beltway Route" to San Antonio/Austin: When I'm on the Beltway, I exit the for the new Westpark Tollway, take it west to the GP, and go north on the GP to I-10. I don't use the southern portion of the GP, however, because that section is not a freeway. Too many curves, stop lights and stop signs. What a shame. While it is a boon for the new subdivisions/developments out there in West Houston/Ft. Bend County, the GP is not so much a through artery as it is a street in a rural area. But there are plans to make a larger artery, and a complete, third loop around the Houston area.

The completed Grand Parkway would be just the artery that is needed. Not only for us Brazoria County residents trying to get north/west, but also for the Fort Bend County folks trying to get south or east, especially out to Galveston to their pricey beach homes. For them, it would allow them to bypass the Sam Houston Tollway (Beltway 8 for the cheapskates), and I-45. For us Brazorians, it would provide faster access to I-10 towards San Antonio/Austin, rather than going up SH 36, a mostly rural, two-lane highway with frequent stops, slow-downs and re-routes in small towns. As it is right now, and the information I have seems to be out-of-date by one year already, the segment of the Grand Parkway that would serve our needs here (Section C), has already been slated for construction, and has finished with environmental studies and such.

Why is this important, you may ask? Well, because our neighbors to the north in Spring, Texas decided that they don't want the Grand Parkway built in their neighborhoods. I can empathize with them, and understand their viewpoints. Check them out here or here. What I find interesting about stopthegrandparkway.com or Save Our Spring or United to Save Our Spring is that they're using arguments that don't make sense. For instance, they say the Grand Parkway Association (the entity in charge of securing Right of Way and funding for the project) sells the Hurricane Evacuation Route as a reason for the Parkway, and then they try to refute it by saying the road would flood anyway, making it useless. What they don't understand is that evacuations are done BEFORE a hurricane, not during or after. Didn't they remember the Rita mess? Another argument they use is the redundancy factor: There's already two outer freeways around Houston, and a quasi-third (the before-mentioned SH 6, coupled with FM 1960--but as I said, they're just 6-lane roads through suburban sprawl with UBER-HIGH traffic volume and signal lights...) loop; isn't that enough? My answer: NO, IT IS NOT ENOUGH! I bet as the well-heeled Spring-ites are sitting in traffic on Spring-Cypress Road or Gosling Road, they're cussing and honking, pissed-off at the 70-minute drive they have from downtown to their 6-bedroom red brick homes. THEY NEED THIS ROAD. They say they're concerned about the GP being within 1000 feet of schools. Hello? Have you seen Cinco Ranch HS in Katy? How about Tomball HS or even your precious Spring HS or Cy-Fair HS? They also cite health. Please. You live in Houston, Texas, for crying out loud. You knew air quality and the lack of fit and trim people here were horrendous before you moved here from back east. Nevermind the fact that you probably don't use proper air filtration in your home for your precious children or you don't buy organic, pesticide-free food for them.

My whole point is: "Think of the bigger picture." No, a re-routing through The Woodlands wouldn't work, since the GP would take too big of a northward swing to be practical. Sorry, Spring, but you're just outta luck. That's the way things go sometimes in this world. Now you know how all those inner-city folk feel when they're displaced by developers or politicians for new condos or sports stadiums. I don't have the least bit of sympathy for you. You can afford it. And if you're so concerned about the resale value of your home, then why did you pay so much for it? I do NOT consider a home an appreciable asset, especially one so far away from a major urban, central business district. Just look at home prices now: they had their first dip in 6 years last month. Sorry.

I would love for those opposed to the GP extensions to post their comments here. I'll try my best to rebut, and maybe we can have a civil discourse here. I won't hold my breath, though.