Big Plans

New $205 million theme park near Houston plans to bring roller coasters and cow milking together

It has been years since California-based developer Monty Galland made the commitment to open a 100-acre, Texas-centric theme park to the Houston area. Tomball was initially the target area (and April 2010 the target date), but the concept has dragged on a couple of years and moved down a couple of county roads, to a no-man's land between Splendora and New Caney.

The Tomball Potpourri first reported, Galland met with the East Montgomery County Improvement District (EMCID) on Feb. 14, promising that Grand Texas Theme Park would bring "new job creation, money back into the county and surrounding school districts and entertainment" to the area.

Earlier theme park plans also called for "rope courses and zip lines that'll go through the woods and catch and release fishing, a giant maze, and obstacles courses."

"This is a theme park based on Texas history and culture," Galland told the EMCID, saying there would be roller coasters, carousel and horseback riding, tractor driving, crop planting, cow milking, museum browsing and zoo animal petting.

The development is anticipated to cost upwards of $205 million, a total that includes four dining establishments, a 200- to 400-room hotel as well as two limited service hotels, a reception hall, a chapel, a water park, a theme park, a paintball arena and an amphitheater that will host live music spanning genres from ragtime to Zydeco.

And this only accounts for the theme park and not the larger entertainment district, which will apparently "be anchored by four primary elements which are the theme park, Big Rivers Water Park, the Pine Grove amphitheater, which has an 8,000 person capacity and a baseball stadium."

According to KTRK Ch. 13, earlier theme park plans also called for "rope courses and zip lines that'll go through the woods and catch and release fishing, a giant maze, and obstacles courses."

Galland expects to close on a parcel of land near FM 242 and U.S. 59 by the end of April, when work will begin — at long last! — for an expected March 2015 completion date.

A rendering of the new park that will have both roller coasters and cow milking.

Grand Texas Theme Park Facebook

A rendering of the new park that will have both roller coasters and cow milking.

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share the road

Texas is one of the least cyclist-friendly states in the nation

Photo by Danist Soh on Unsplash

If you've ridden your bicycle in Houston, you already know how true this is.

In what will come as no surprise to cyclists around Houston, the state of Texas is not a good place for bicycle riding. According to a new report of the "Most Cycling-Friendly States in the U.S.," Texas comes in at No. 47 — meaning that only three other states are worse.

The report, from Philadelphia personal injury law firm KaplunMarx, examines all 50 states based on six metrics: Air quality index, the number of cyclist deaths per one million residents, bike routes per square mile, local government actions supporting cycling, federal funding for cycling projects, and bicycle laws.

Texas musters a mere 31 points out of 100 for its "cycling friendly score."

The most cycling friendly state in the U.S.: Minnesota, which earned 84 points to claim the title.

According to the report's findings, there have been 15 local government actions per capita in Texas that integrate pedestrians and cyclists in transportation projects. Texas' has a 41 air quality index value, and there are approximately 1.2 bike routes per 1,000 square miles in the state.

On cyclist deaths, Texas does a little better, with three cyclist deaths per one million residents in Texas — about nine percent lower than the national average.

According to KaplunMarx founding partner Ted Kaplun, there is an average of 857 cyclist fatalities in the U.S. every year. He adds that every measure or community effort to improve cyclist-friendliness is beneficial for all Americans.

"It's crucial for all states to continually assess and enhance their cycling provisions, learning from both high-ranking peers and their own experiences," he says.

Top-ranking Minnesota has only one cyclist death per one million state residents. It also has about 27.2 bike routes per 1,000 square miles.

After Minnesota, the remaining top five best states for cyclists are Massachusetts (No. 2), Rhode Island (No. 3), Washington (No. 4), and Iowa (No. 5).

At the bottom of the list are Nevada (No. 48), Arizona (No. 49), and Utah (No. 50) — all of which performed far worse than Texas to be declared the three least cycling-friendly states.

The entire country still has areas for improvement when it comes to creating a safer environment for cyclists, regardless of where each state landed on the list, according to Kaplun.

"With over 53 million Americans riding bicycles regularly, the importance of cycling-friendly infrastructure and safety measures cannot be overstated," said Kaplun in the report. "This isn't just about rankings – it's about enhancing the quality of life, promoting sustainable transportation, and most crucially, saving lives."

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