Texas State Highway 249

State Highway 249
Route information
Maintained by TxDOT
Length:	26.643 mi (42.878 km)
Existed:	1988 – present
Major junctions
South end:	I-45 at Houston
	Sam Houston Tollway / Beltway 8
North end:	FM 149 / FM 1774
Location
Counties:	Harris, Montgomery
Highway system
Highways in Texas Interstate • US • TX (Loops – Spurs – Rec – FM) ← SH 248 SH 250 →

State Highway 249, SH 249, the Tomball Parkway, or West Mount Houston Road is a generally north–south highway in Southeast Texas. The current northern terminus of the highway is in Pinehurst at the intersection of FM 1774 and FM 149. The Southern terminus is in North Houston at Interstate 45.

Route description and Local Names

The section of Texas State Highway 249 north of its junction with Beltway 8 is referred to by area residents as the Tomball Parkway because it leads to and is the main road through Tomball, Texas. Along the east-west section between I-45 and West Montgomery, it is called West Mount Houston Road. West Mount Houston Road, however, actually extends east past the intersection of SH 249 at I-45, and extends west past W. Montgomery, when SH 249 curves to the northwest.

Points of interest

• Sam Houston Race park (Actually on Sam Houston Tollway, but near SH 249)
• Willowbrook Mall at FM 1960
• Hewlett Packard Computer US Headquarters at Louetta Rd.
• Lone Star College University Park at Louetta Rd.
• Lone Star College-Tomball at Zion Road in Tomball

History

Originally a part of FM 149, the highway was given the designation of SH 249 in 1988. The highway's importance grew after Compaq Computer Corporation moved its headquarters close to the intersection of SH 249 and Louetta Rd. In 2003, a portion of SH 249 in Tomball was renamed BS 249-B from Hicks Road to Holderreith Road. This is due to a bypass that bypasses Tomball on the west side of the city.

Previously, SH 249 was designated between 1936 and 1938 from then-SH 73 (now Interstate 10) near San Felipe north to the Brazos River. The route was redesignated in 1940 as Texas Spur 99. The route is now part of Farm to Market Road 1458.

Future

Current plans call for the highway to extend to the Bryan – College Station area. Upon completion, the highway will be named "Aggie Expressway", after Texas A&M University in College Station. Lack of funding, however, has hampered the extension of SH 249. Texas House Bill 2255, passed in May 2011, has authorized the Texas Department of Transportation to seek private partnerships for the development of SH 249 into Montgomery County, and several other projects including segments of SH 99 which would connect SH 249 to other major freeways in the Houston area. New stretches of SH 249 would be constructed as tollways.

Plans currently call for a bypass of Magnolia, Texas on its eastern side because of the large traffic load every October when it holds the annual Renaissance fair.; instead it would run close to or through Plantersville, Texas.

Popular culture

The Eli Young Band references "highway 249" in their song 'Always the Love Songs'. Several of the band grew up in Tomball, right off Texas State Highway 249.

Junction list

County	Location	Mile	Destinations	Notes
Harris	Houston		I-45
			South end of freeway
			Sam Houston Tollway east	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; also a direct ramp from the tollway east to SH 249 north
			Beltway 8 (Frontage Road) / Sam Houston Tollway
			Greens Road, Gessner Road
			FM 1960 / Gessner Road
			Grant Road, Schroeder Road, Perry Road
			Cypresswood Drive	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
			Chasewood Park Drive, Compaq Center Drive, Perry Road, Cypresswood Drive
			Louetta Road, Jones Road
			Spring Cypress Road
			North end of freeway
	Tomball		FM 2920 – Waller
Montgomery	Pinehurst		FM 149 north / FM 1774 north – Montgomery, Magnolia
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi