TxDOT Meeting in Katy on I-10 Project
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) will conduct an in-person hearing on the proposed improvements along I-10 from Mason Road to FM 359. The hearing will be next Thursday, June 30 from 5:00 – 7:30 p.m. in the Katy High School cafeteria. I encourage you to attend or to learn about the proposed construction on line.
You are invited to attend the hearing, where you can see TxDOT’s presentation of the proposed project, review hard copies of the project materials, and ask questions of the project team. You can also leave written comments. (If you choose to leave written comments, I also encourage you to email them to me at mike.schofield@house.texas.gov so I can be aware of your concerns.).
The project would reconstruct I-10 along the 13-mile stretch between FM 359 and Mason Road, adding two managed lanes (which may be toll lanes or HOV lanes) and two general purpose lanes from FM 359 east to US 90/Katy Mills Boulevard, and and re-stripe the road from Katy Mills to Mason Road to make two new managed lanes. The project will also extend the frontage road from Pederson Road to US 90/Katy Mills Boulevard. There will be some new right of way required, which would include acquiring new property in Waller and Fort Bend counties. TxDOT states that no residential property will be affected. NO new property will be acquired in Harris County. There is no plan to widen the highway or access road in Harris County, only re-striping.
If you are unable to attend in person, t TxDOT’s video presentation of the project will be available online from 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 28 through 11:59 p.m. Friday, July 15. You will be able to view the presentation during that time by visiting TxDOT’s website (www.txdot.gov) and typing “I-10 from FM 359” in the search bar. Anyone who does not have internet access can call (713) 802-5137 during regular business hours (8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday) to ask questions about the project and access project development materials.
Whether you attend the in-person hearing or not, you can make verbal comments by leaving a voicemail message at (713) 487-8821 during the comment period, June 28 to July 18. You can also leave written comments during the comment period by email (to HOU-PIOwebmail@txdot.gov) or by mail (to TxDOT Houston District Office, Advanced Project Development Director, P.O. Box 1386, Houston TX 77251-1386).
While TxDOT expects this project to provide better traffic flow on I-10 in the Katy area once it is completed, we should expect serious disruption along the I-10 corridor from Mason Road west to FM 359 in Waller County while the work is being done. If you drove through the project west of Katy toward Sealy over the last couple of years, you know what I mean. That’s why I encourage you to learn about the proposed project and hear for yourself what is being proposed.
FM 529 Widening Project
In addition to the I-10 project, TxDOT plans a major widening of FM 529 in Harris and Waller Counties. The in-person hearing was held in 2020, when I was not in office, and the comment period is about to close on June 25. So, if you have any concerns that you have not yet voiced, you will want to do so before Saturday.
To see the presentation or to make comments, go to https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/get-involved/about/hearings-meetings/houston/060920.html. If you do not have internet access, you may call (713) 802-5260 to ask questions about the project and access project materials from now until June 25.
This project would widen FM 529 from the Grand Parkway to FM 362(in Waller County). It would include widening the existing FM 529 from a two-lane roadway to a six-lane roadway, with a raised median, between SH 99 and Katy Hockley Cut Off Road, and this would also include a 10-foot shared-use path on both sides of the roadway. The rural section would include widening FM 529 to a four-lane roadway, with a raised median between Katy Hockley Cut Off Road and FM 362. Sidewalks are proposed within the rural section on both sides of the roadway.
Widening FM 529 from two lanes to six is a very major change. If you live near 529, you will want to make sure you understand the scope of the project and how it will affect you. Be sure your voice is heard.
Katy Christian Ministries Grand Opening
Rep. Schofield and Ms. Deysi Crespo, executive director of Katy Christian Ministries, at the Grand Opening event earlier this month. It was my honor to attend and speak with District 132 constituents and members of the ministry.
I had the honor of speaking last Friday at the opening of Katy Christian Ministries’ new headquarters on Porter Road. Katy Christian Ministries is our area’s foremost social services agency, providing our neighbors with counseling, a food bank, aid for victims of domestic violence and more in their hour of need.
It was great to see so many members of the community come out to support KCM and its mission, and to celebrate the completion of a long-awaited new home.
Ms. Deysi Crespo and the staff and volunteers at KCM are a big part of the backbone of our community and deserve our thanks for all that they do for our neighbors.
House District 132
Every ten years, the Legislature is required to redistrict the boundaries of all of Texas’s 150 House of Representative districts, to try to even out their populations as much as possible, so your vote counts the same as anyone else’s in the election.
Districts in areas that experienced heavy growth during the past decade will have to shrink in order to have the same population as every other district, while other districts will have to get bigger. If you’ve seen Katy and Cypress recently, you have a pretty good idea that we are growing faster than most other areas. But you may be surprised to learn that of the 150 Texas House districts, two of the four fastest-growing in the entire state are right here in the Katy area.
Each district should have grown from 167,000 ten years ago to 194,300. District 28 in Fort Bend County (represented by Gary Gates) was the biggest in the entire state, and our district, District 132, is the fourth. Rather than growing to 194,000 people, our district had over 282,000, so we were going to lose about 90,000 people in redistricting. As a result, District 132 will no longer have the area from Barker Cypress Rd to Mason Rd, from I-10 north to FM 529 in some areas and as far north as West Rd in others.
The new districts will be in place for the November election (you have already nominated candidates based on the new district lines) and will officially take effect when the legislature convenes again next January. I have very mixed feelings about our redistricting. While it is important to get down to a more manageable size so I can better keep in contact with everyone and represent you better, I have really enjoyed representing the entire area and, if you send me back to the legislature next session, will really miss serving a great many people. District 132 even gained some new people in Green Trails and Kelliwood behind the Barker Reservoir and in Canyon Lake and Copper Lake in the northern part of the district. I look forward to continuing to serve all of you, whether you are in the new district or not.
Contact Mike
I am your State Representative, but I am also your neighbor. If there is anything I can do to help you, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.
If you’d like to get in contact with our office, please feel free to go onto my webpage and click the “Email” button to fill out the form. The page can be found here: https://house.texas.gov/members/member-page/?district=132
You can also call our Capitol office at 512-463-0528 or our Katy district office at 281-492-0684. Our district office is located in the new Houston Community College building at 22910 Colonial Parkway, Suite 1001, Katy TX 77493.
Thank you and God Bless Texas,
