Drivers passing through four intersections along Sienna Parkway in Missouri City will see some roadwork happen in 2020 amid continued commercial and residential growth in the Sienna Plantation area.
Intersection improvements are proposed at Trammel-Fresno Road, Fort Bend Parkway Toll Road, Watts Plantation Road and Sienna Ranch Road, according to the city. This is necessary to alleviate high traffic volume along the major north and south corridor attributed to the general growth in the Sienna area, city officials said. Sienna Parkway is the main thoroughfare for the Sienna Plantation master-planned community.
“There is a lot of traffic there, so we are looking at improvements, including enhancements to signals and lanes,” said Shashi Kumar, public works director and city engineer, at the June 17 Missouri City City Council meeting.
Sienna developer Johnson Development Co. estimates 50,000 vehicles per day travel past Hwy. 6 and Sienna Parkway. In addition, real estate broker The Weitzman Group, which leases 6210 Sienna Parkway, estimated nearly 19,000 vehicles travel both ways along the road per day.
Pepperoni’s owner Suzi Salti’s location is near Sienna Ranch Road. She said she would like to see Sienna Parkway have three lanes instead of two.
“At 5 p.m. rush hour, it is impossible to get anywhere,” Salti said. “From Hwy. 6, it will take you half an hour to get to my store.”
Since 2004, Sienna Plantation’s population has grown significantly. New subdivisions in the back of the community are actively adding homes, including Heritage Park, where 600 homes are planned over the next few years.
Residential real estate data company Metrostudy showed 560 home starts in Sienna Plantation in the first quarter of 2019, making it the top community in the Houston market. Future growth plans include 5,000 additional homes through 2027, according to demographic firm Population and Survey Analysts data.
City Council authorized City Manager Anthony Snipes to enter into an interlocal agreement with Fort Bend County for the construction of Sienna Parkway intersection improvements. The interlocal agreement states improvement design must start by Dec. 1, and the construction by April 1, 2020.
The total cost of the project is about $5.24 million. Fort Bend County committed $2.02 million.
The city is partnering with the Sienna Plantation Management District, which will front Missouri City’s share of the cost; the interlocal agreement locks those funds in place, Snipes said.
“Last year we talked about mobility projects and the moneys we did not have to bring this to fruition,” he said. “The city has creatively partnered outside the walls of City Hall to make these things happen.”
