As the Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner’s Office prepares to undertake $129.7 million in road projects across the Cypress-Fairbanks area, new developments are seeking to redefine where the center of the area sits.
“I think that’s what’s hard about Cypress is you really can’t nail down where a center would be because there’s all these pockets of activity,” Cy-Fair Chamber of Commerce President Leslie Martone said.
New housing data from the Kinder Institute is also showing a shift as homeowners move to areas in north and south Cypress as areas such as Towne Lake welcome an influx of new businesses.
The big picture
While a number of county and community officials celebrated the groundbreaking of the $76 million project to connect Greenhouse Road to Skinner Road under Hwy. 290 in early May, Harris County Precinct 3 officials outlined $124.4 million in additional road projects across the area.
Eric Heppen, director of engineering for the Precinct 3 commissioner’s office, said the projects taking place through 2030 are geared toward addressing high traffic areas north of Hwy. 290.
“We have been trying to look for some aggressive solutions. We know that the Greenhouse [Road] tunnel will help, [but] we’re trying to figure out what can we do in the interim,” Heppen said.
Three roadways being addressed over the next five years in the Cypress-Fairbanks area include North Eldridge Parkway, Grant Road and Telge Road. However, Heppen said the commissioner’s office is also looking to address growing traffic pains along Fry and Mound roads.
“Before you get to the Fry and Mound Road intersection, it functions very differently," Heppen said. "There’s so much converging traffic from Mound Road, because there’s no other direct connection to 290, that’s where it really backs up,” Heppen said.
While all of the projects aim to improve the overall condition and capacity of the roadways, Heppen said widening Telge to a four-lane divided concrete boulevard would allow for better north and south access in the Cypress area and serve as a border between Harris County Precincts 3 and 4.
“Telge Road is an extremely highly used corridor; it’s one of those great north/south corridors that connect to [the Grand Parkway],” Heppen said.
One more thing
Another major corridor project in the works is the extension of Mason Road to connect the Bridgeland and Dunham Pointe communities south of Hwy. 290. The project will connect Mason Road from Jack Road to North Bridgeland Lake Parkway and include a bridge over Cypress Creek.
While Dunham Pointe developers have nearly completed the construction of Mason Road to the Richfield Ranch property line, Heppen said the remaining portion of the road will be completed in partnership with Richfield Ranch developers.
“We are working with them to ultimately do the full four-lane section between Jack [Road] and North Bridgeland Lake Parkway,” Heppen said. “Ultimately, we’re hoping that will be completed in the next three to four years.”
Heppen said the design study was estimated to cost around $25 million from Harris County funding. However, the full project will have additional costs, which will be shared by other entities, including the Toro District.
While actual construction is set to start several years in the future, Heppen said starting the design study process will allow construction to begin much quicker when funding is available.
“We wanted to start the process now to make sure that we were as early in the game as possible,” Heppen said.
The impact
According to new data from the Kinder Institute for Urban Research, new home development since the early 2000s has continued to shift toward the Bridgeland and Towne Lake areas.
With the development of a multi-billion-dollar training center for the Houston Texans also on the way, Martone said the Cypress area tends to develop “pockets of activity” in place of a traditional town center around developments such as Towne Lake and Bridgeland.
“I think honestly, for our community, as big as it is and as many people, I think that helps the congestion, because if we had to go to all one area, that would be a nightmare,” Martone said. “There’s different parts of Cypress that meet the needs of the different people in Cypress.”
Looking ahead
While the final official boundaries for the Houston Texans’ Toro District have not been finalized, Martone said it may create a new pocket of activity. Projects such as widening and connecting major roadways is more critical now to ensuring mobility across the region.
However, Martone also said having a regional central area is somewhat less critical than ensuring residents have access to grocery stores and other amenities within a reasonable distance.
“I think our community is doing pretty good about getting all the needs met and feeling a sense of community, and I don’t feel a lot of things [are] missing,” Martone said. “I could be wrong in that, but I’m pretty proud of our community.”
