Waller County commissioners table proposed change to Major Thoroughfare Plan after hours of public comment

WALLER COUNTY, Texas — After more than two hours of public commentary, the Waller County Commissioners Court voted to table a proposed amendment to the county Major Thoroughfare Plan that would have shifted a long‑range alignment through portions of Old Joseph Road and surrounding properties.

Judge Duhan and commissioners moved item 49 up the agenda to hear a packed public-comment list. Commissioner Smith opened discussion by stressing that the change would amend an existing mapped corridor rather than immediately build a road, condemn property or begin acquisition, and that the plan is a long-range planning tool used to preserve future right-of-way as development occurs.

Why it matters: Landowners and neighbors said the red alignment (option C) would cut through century-old family farms and a small church that has served the area since 1888. Speakers described the potential for displaced homes, divided pastures, impacts to cemetery plots and increased flood and drainage risk if a raised roadway were later engineered through the floodplain. Several commenters said they…