Extending Jones-Butler to George Bush was first proposed in 1997 when Melrose Apartments was being developed. The Melrose TIF was established at that time to give Melrose some financial assistance on the J-B section between Holleman and Luther, primarily due to the fact that Treehouse Village hadn't built J-B and/or should have at least shared in the cost. Also, Treehouse Village had not improved its share of Luther Drive when it was built in 1984.
When the J-B extension to George Bush was proposed in 1997, based on what I heard Ray Bowen killed the deal because he didn't want "another Wellborn Road going through campus". I think we all now realize how important it is to get some north/south access to the west campus.
By the way those of you interested in Jones-Butler Road are going to be disappointed when it dead-ends into the future 2818 frontage road and only allows you to go west on 2818. This will happen when the 2818 overpass at the railroad is under construction. For that matter, J-B may be blocked off in the next month or so similar to the way Luther Drive @ 2818 is now. IMO the 2818 overpass needs to be extended past Jones-Butler to make it a true north / south thoroughfare and perhaps ramps need to be added to allow traffic on J-B to go both directions on 2818. Money is the issue and given the tight transportation funding problems right now I can accept the fact that it might not happen. That said, it still needs to happen due to our already lacking north / south traffic infrastructure.
As for retail development on Jones-Butler I just don't see it happening if the scenario in the above paragraph plays out. It's a shame, too...because when all of the land in the triangle formed by George Bush, 2818 and Wellborn Rd. is built out to the zoned densities, I think there will be approximately 8,500 residents within that triangle. Look for some of this retail demand to be handled by the retail center at SW Parkway / Wellborn, and perhaps a future retail center on Wellborn north of Holleman on a 4 acre site where the Twin City Mission second hand store is. There is also neighborhood development potential on the new Woodlands of College Station site as well as the corner across from it on 2818.