When buying a home you expect certain ongoing expenses, like the mortgage, property taxes, and possibly fees to a terrible HOA. One cost most homeowners don’t have is a toll just to drive in and out of the neighborhood. That’s exactly the situation that residents of Creekland Village near Cypress, Texas, have found themselves in, reports KHOU.
The only way in and out of the neighborhood is State Highway 99, also known as the Grand Parkway, a tolled partial beltway around much of the ever-expanding greater Houston area. Neighborhoods like Creekland Village are part of that expansion, having just opened in 2023 according to the Houston Chronicle. It’s located along Segment E of the Grand Parkway, which opened to traffic ten years earlier in 2013, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. Texas has an obsession with seemingly endless frontage roads, but none exist in the Creekland Village area, leaving the toll road as the only way in or out.
It would be easy to blame this on the residents who bought their homes there. There is an argument that they should have done their research and known what they were getting into. On the other hand, residents claim that the development company never mentioned the toll situation before they bought their homes.
‘If you drive a car, I’ll tax the street’
The Century Communities website offering homes for sale in Creekland Village makes no mention of tolls, or even the Grand Parkway:
Nestled in one of the Houston area’s fastest-growing corridors—near U.S. 290—Creekland Village at Bridgeland offers an easy commute to regional employment and entertainment hotspots.
While the community is just two miles south of the toll-free U.S. 290, there is no way to access it without taking the Grand Parkway toll road. Early residents say that tolls weren’t being charged at first, only for residents to later be charged 56 cents every time they enter or exit their neighborhood. It may not be the most expensive highway to drive on, but it adds up fast.
Residents have been complaining to the various businesses and government entities involved, hoping for some relief from the constant tolls. Each seems to be pointing fingers at the other, with little getting resolved in the process. Texas DOT told KHOU that the neighborhood was built after the tolled Grand Highway was in place as the only access point, and that it’s up to third parties to build frontage roads. The Precinct 4 County Commissioner says it is working with the developer to address concerns. Howard Hughes Holdings, Inc., gave KHOU the following statement:
“They acknowledge the input shared by residents and are working collaboratively with state and local partners to address concerns. These efforts will continue in coordination with community stakeholders,” the statement said.
It seems to me that one easy solution would be to waive, or at least significantly reduce, tolls for Texas toll tags registered to addresses in Creekland Village to get in and out of their neighborhood. But that would remove the captive audience for toll revenue, which Texas DOT must have known would be the case when the neighborhood was built. It’s possible that this arrangement is not a bug, but a feature.
