With direct access to major highways, multi-class rail, commercial air and the Port of Houston, the Brazos Valley’s unique geography and connectivity enables an inland gateway to North America’s major consumer markets.
Being at the center of the “Texas Triangle,” the Brazos Valley can tout strong connectivity to four of the nation’s largest and most important metropolitan areas. That connectivity has grown stronger with the competition of a major road project.
The final days of October brought the opening of the second and final segment of the extension of State Highway 249. In its entirety, the road also known as the Aggie Expressway now runs from near Grimes County’s City of Navasota, which is just south of Brazos County, to the Aldine community on the northside of Houston.
Whether for business or pleasure, drivers in and around the Cities of Bryan and College Station can now reach the fourth-largest city in the United States faster by taking the interstate-quality State Highway 6 south to Navasota, then SH 249 via a quick trip on SH 105. This also means faster access to Bush Intercontinental and Hobby Airports for flight options beyond those offered by the Brazos Valley’s Easterwood Airport, owned by The Texas A&M University System.
The SH 249 Extension Project created approximately 26 miles of new roadway between the Navasota area and Pinehurst in Montgomery County. It began in late 2017, with the first, 15-mile segment of it opening in March 2021.
The Texas Department of Transportation’s stated mission for the extension was to “provide a safe, reliable, cost-effective, and aesthetically pleasing corridor for the public by linking suburban communities with major roadways and improving mobility and safety.” Accommodating population and economic development growth was a goal of the project, as was decreasing congestion and increasing access.
Five of the nation’s 13 largest cities – Houston to the southeast, Dallas and Fort Worth to the north, San Antonio and Austin to the southwest – are within a three-hour radius of the Brazos Valley, offering a uniquely robust reach to customers, labor and companies.
(Project map by TxDOT)