The existing George Bush Drive / Wellborn Road intersection in College Station, Texas, which has not been improved in more than 20 years, is no longer able to efficiently handle the growing number of travelers. Congestion and long queues develop every week day over several hours during peak travel periods and Texas A&M University class-change times. To make conditions even more problematic, an at-grade Union Pacific Railroad single track main line runs adjacent to Wellborn Road.
With rapid growth in private student housing to the south and southwest of the Texas A&M campus, traffic through this intersection continues to increase. Brazos County is in the top one percent fastest growing of the more than 3,100 counties in the United States, according to the Texas State Demographer (January 2017). And the County’s population is expected to grow from 215,000 to 350,000 by 2040. All of these factors will exacerbate congestion at the already overburdened intersection.
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Bryan District began studying improvements to the intersection in summer 1999. TxDOT contracted with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute to review construction options, make additional recommendations, and to develop and implement additional public and agency engagement efforts.