$81M Greenhouse Road underpass set for 2026 construction

“Drivers will now have an underpass to get from north of 290 to south of 290, and this is especially important to allow emergency vehicles to bypass trains coming through the area and avoid delay,” Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey said.

The Greenhouse Road connection will travel under the Union Pacific railroad crossing to the Hwy. 290 underpass with a number of factors, including:

• $81M estimated cost
• 5 agencies covering project cost
• 10ft wide hike and bike lanes
• 6 lane roadway

The impact

According to the Towne Lake development’s master plan–which is overseen by development firm Caldwell Companies–there are still just over 85 acres of land along Hwy. 290 and the proposed Greenhouse Road extension marked for commercial and mixed-use development.

“It is just hugely important. It shortens the emergency services response times between the north side of Hwy. 290 and the south side of Hwy. 290 and it’s provides just an unbelievable traffic relief between Barker Cypress and Fry Road, which have been at just terrible level of service levels for many, many, many years now,” Caldwell Companies President Peter Barnhart said.

According to Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey’s office, several other projects are set to happen around the construction of Greenhouse Road in order to help with traffic flow such as reconfiguring the underpass at Baker Cypress Road and Hwy. 290.

"[I have] just thankfulness for all the MUD 500 board directors who have spent countless hours of their time helping us to chase this dream of getting this connection into the north and it will really help us to ultimately unlock what we call the center of Cy-Fair," Barnhart said.

When it comes to addressing transportation issues in the Cypress area, the biggest challenge is not having a city to advocate on a more local behalf of residents and businesses, Cy-Fair Chamber of Commerce President Leslie Martone said.

“There’s so many things and so many factors at play, and without a city that manages it and does all of the coordination we’re lost,” Martone said during the Nov. 6 meeting. “So it’s really up to us to do that as a chamber, to be passionate about that; and I think that’s why it’s important to continue to have these conversations and hold people accountable.”

Martone expressed gratitude for the project finally having more definitive timelines and funding.

In their words

• “This project will transform the way traffic travels around the US 290 corridor in Cypress," Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey said.
• “Any time we can alleviate traffic off of Barker Cypress [Road] and Fry Road, it is a good thing," Cy-Fair Chamber of Commerce President Leslie Martone said.

Multiple officials said they anticipate the most intensive portion of construction will be constructing a tunnel-like underpass structure beneath the Union Pacific railroad which runs parallel to Hwy. 290.

“The project will entail going under the railroad and any time that has to happen there will be a lot of steps to get to the finish line,” Martone said.

The other major factor will be the reconstruction to widen the Hwy. 290 overpass at Skinner Road, which will potentially cause additional traffic delays. Additionally, work to widen the Grand Parkway from Hwy. 249 to Hwy. 290 will also likely intersect with the timeline for the Greenhouse Road work, Eric Heppen, director of engineering at Harris County Precinct 3, said.