Several Brazos County residents told the Commissioners Court on Jan. 21 that the county should halt work on the proposed East Loop road project, cancel the contract with the county consultant and commission an independent study of traffic and road needs.

Chris Barnes, a Brazos County resident of 40 years, told the court the project is flawed because, in his view, it "is proposing a solution and then using studies after the fact to justify that solution." Barnes said he attended a Dec. 3 meeting with county consultant John Polster of ITS and representatives from Quiddity and that Judge Peters and Commissioner Condellera also attended. "His company basically makes a sales pitch to counties, convincing them that he has a solution to their problem, whether they actually have a problem or not," Barnes said, adding that he found similar, almost identical presentations given to other counties.

Barnes and other speakers said Polster and the consultant team advocate building concentric loops around cities and then commissioning studies to support that predetermined approach. "Projects should be derived from studies, not the other way around," Barnes said, and he formally asked the court to "cancel that contract with ITS, Inquiddity, and instead begin a process of commissioning an independent study of road and traffic needs within the county areas."

Kathy Beange, a resident who addressed the court about a separate agenda item concerning a parking garage lease-back, also asked that the court schedule a public hearing on the East Loop proposal that includes outside agencies she said would be affected, naming the Brazos River Authority and "Varus Utilities" (as spoken). Beange asked for a financial pro forma for the parking garage transaction, which she said was approved last week to revert to county ownership, and for a public process on water impacts tied to the East Loop.

Kyle Greenwood, a resident of Precinct 2 who said he previously requested a 90-day extension to the East Loop comment period, said Quiddity unveiled a new alignment at the Dec. 3 meeting referred to as "alignment 7c." Greenwood described the alignment as cutting across private pastures and asked that that new alignment be made public before the close of the comment period, which he stated as Feb. 19. "I remain in opposition to the entire East Loop proposal," Greenwood said.

Speakers pressed two principal requests: that the Commissioners Court cancel its contract with the consultant firm and commission an independent, open study of current and future traffic needs; and that any new alignments be released publicly before the comment period ends so residents can review and comment. No formal action on the East Loop contract or study was recorded in the meeting minutes for this session.

Why it matters: The East Loop project would alter land use and could affect water resources and property across multiple precincts. Residents at the meeting framed the issue as a governance question about whether the county should adopt a consultant-driven solution or commission independent analysis to establish need and alternatives first.

Context and next steps: Speakers referenced an earlier extension to the comment period and requested additional public hearings involving outside agencies. The transcript records requests that the court make the new alignment public and that the county explicitly consider a no-build option and water-impacts analysis. The court did not record a decision on those requests at the Jan. 21 session.

Ending: The East Loop topic drew multiple, detailed public comments and formal requests for further hearings and study. Commissioners did not announce a vote or contract cancellation during the meeting; next procedural steps were not specified on the record.