The half-mile extension of Montgomery Road will open up today at 10 a.m., granting easier access to Sam Houston State University from Interstate 45.”It will be another route for students who commute from The Woodlands or Conroe,” said Ken Foulch, traffic safety officer for the Huntsville Police Department.The extension begins where Montgomery Road formally ended, at its intersection with Sam Houston Avenue (Texas Highway 75) next to A-1 Liquor and E-Z Pawn. The three-way signalized intersection there will now be a four-way.Montgomery Road will now end with its intersection at Bowers Boulevard, across from the stadium parking lot. A new three-way stop will be in place when the city uncovers the stop signs and opens the road at 10 a.m. this morning.Police officers will be on sight to see that the new intersection is running smoothly, said Foulch.”The stop signs are a temporary condition,” said Foulch. The intersection will be controlled by traffic lights sometime in March. According to Tom Weger, the division head for planning and development for the City of Huntsville, the new extension is going over what was known as Willow Street, a road put in by Papermoon and University Club apartment complexes in the area, but was never actually verified as a city street. “(The extension plan) has been on the transportation master plan since ’84,” said Weger, “then got picked up again in ’95.” Construction began around November 2000, he said.The price?”It’s right at a million,” said Weger, “but we have not finalized the contract.”Weger said the reasons for the extension were as fire protection for the residents living in the apartments, as well as a much easier route to SHSU. The road also allows for easier access to the football games, as Montgomery Road now ends at the footstep of Bowers Stadium.
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