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Residents and conservation group oppose Bridgeland road realignment and removal of collector
Summary
At a July 25 public hearing, LJA Engineering proposed realigning Tuckerton Road and removing a nearby minor collector in Bridgeland; landowners and the Coastal Prairie Conservancy objected, citing property impacts, drainage concerns and potential harm to federally funded conservation lands.
Katie Harris of LJA Engineering told the Houston Planning Commission that the Bridgeland applicant seeks two changes to the Major Thoroughfare and Freeway Plan: a southern realignment of the Tuckerton major thoroughfare to tie into Katy Hockley Road and the deletion of an unnamed minor collector that lies in a proposed overflow/detention area for Cypress Creek. Harris said the realignment helps meet radius and tangent requirements under Chapter 42 and will improve connectivity for the broader project area.
"The request to realign it comes from our wants to actually tie into Katie Hockley Road," Katie Harris said. She added the road extends beyond the project boundary so the design can meet geometric standards and that the collector removal is driven by updated drainage studies following Hurricane Harvey.
Several property owners and representatives urged the commission to deny or defer the amendment. Tonia Perdue, speaking on behalf of her parents, said the proposed alignment would "run straight through their property and take out everything that they own," noting the change would widen the right-of-way from an existing 50‑foot paper width to a corridor that would require acquisition and loss of homes.
"We completely oppose because it would run straight through their property and take out everything that they own," Perdue said.
Jared Meares, a property owner who read a statement from a relative, said investors bought nearby parcels knowing there was a risk of a future road; Meares said long‑term residents should not bear the cost of new alignments.
The Coastal Prairie Conservancy raised a distinct concern about the proposal's effect on protected open space. Alyssa Donovan, vice president and general counsel of the Coastal Prairie Conservancy, said the proposed realignment would affect lands purchased with federal funds and private philanthropy and asked the commission to avoid routing a major thoroughfare through preserve parcels.
"Coastal Prairie Conservancy is the 100% owner of the land immediately to the north of the very western realignment," Donovan said. "A road that impacts at least partially the southern portion of that preserve, we believe should not be approved."
Eve Blakemore, an engineer for Woodmere Development, said the realignment could affect conveyance channels, detention ponds and lot layouts for the developer's property and requested deferral so the applicant and affected landowners could work toward a compromise.
Staff said there would be no vote at the July 25 hearing; Brandon Mosley, a transportation planner with the Planning & Development Department, told the commission the next steps are an application update on Aug. 22 and a recommendation hearing on Sept. 19.
The commission did not act on the amendment at the public hearing; proponents and opponents were asked to coordinate with staff before the September recommendation hearing.
