Crews are widening FM 1488 at Joseph Road in Waller County, shown Monday, Aug. 8, 2022, in Magnolia. A $202 million project would widen the last 20-mile segment of FM 1488 that is one lane in each direction from Montgomery County to Hempstead and convert it to a four-lane divided highway through Waller County.John Amsler’s ancestors crossed the Brazos and settled in Waller County more than a century ago. When he was born, fewer than 1,400 people lived in Hempstead.
Along FM 1488, daily traffic varies from about 5,600 vehicles per day near Montgomery County to about half that in central Waller County near Fields Store, where grazing cattle and goats are a more common sight than homes. Where FM 1488 already has been widened and developed on the other side of the county line toward Magnolia, more than 10,000 cars cross the road daily, and 16,000 use it in Magnolia.
The project also removes five 90-degree curves in the road, which pose a problem for the higher speeds and higher traffic volumes TxDOT officials expect in the future. Of the 231 crashes along FM 1488 from 2017 to 2021, 50 occurred at the curves or nearby as drivers struggled to stay in their lanes.
“It’s being done to satisfy developers in Montgomery County, just pushing out from Magnolia,” Lisa Seger said.Whether the road is being widened to handle the development or the development comes because TxDOT widened the road, the effect on Fields Store and surrounding places is going to be the same, she said: More homes, more traffic and more sprawl at a moment when climate change is affecting communities in Texas and beyond and people need to reduce their solo driving, not add to it.
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