The building boom along the Texas 242 intersection with Interstate 45 has led to major growth for The Woodlands economy. 11,000 jobs have been added in the area over the past five years and thousands more are expected with continued development.

The boom has caused plans to change for developers. An industrial complex with warehousing was originally planned for the east side, but the population increase has led to more opportunities in retail and residential. Homebuilders at the Harper’s Preserve in the East Village have expanded their plans to include an additional 216 single-family homes. Additionally, the $360M 568k SF Texas Children’s Hospital is under construction on the southwest side, which will bring more residents and jobs to the area.

With additional development and residents comes more traffic to one of the area's more congested roads. The Texas Department of Transportation, along with the county, has tried to head that off by funding a $34M connector project. [Chron]