DALLAS — Fast-growing Montgomery County, Texas, north of Houston will return $280 million of road bonds to the ballot after voters rejected a larger proposal in May 2014.
In a meeting Aug. 24, County Commissioners called for a vote on the issue on Nov. 3. It was the last chance to get the issue on the ballot this year.
"We have been hearing from a number of residents, supporters and municipalities that they need road solutions now, not next year," Judge Craig Doyal said in a statement after the vote.
The bond proposal drops a controversial project known as The Woodlands Parkway extension and Robinson Road widening that may have led to the 2014 proposal's defeat.
The upcoming proposal will provide about $70 million less than the 2014 plan.
"We have proposed to minimize the percentage of large-scale maintenance in future bond issues and focus on mobility," Doyal said.
To avoid conflicts with the conservative Tea Party groups in the County, commissioners tailored the proposal to win the activists support.
Several of the Tea Party groups urged commissioners to get the proposal on the ballot now to obtain matching general revenue funds.
"One thing I hear about Washington over and over is that Washington is broken because people stand and argue with each other at the expense of the citizens of this country," Doyle said. "I want to tell you today, that we listened, we found common ground, and the winners in this issue I believe are the people of Montgomery County."
