In League City’s 2018 Master Mobility Plan, which the city updates every five years, it was projected that in 15-20 years, traffic on the road would reach 15,000 cars per day, a much heavier traffic flow than the two-lane road could accommodate.
“Anytime you have a lot of traffic on a two-lane roadway, it is wise to start looking at four-lane dividers,” Executive Director of Capital Projects Ron Bavarian said. “I think when it’s finished up, it can handle the future traffic. It will be definitely helpful for the through traffic as well as the local traffic.”
The city completed preliminary environmental studies to determine the best type of road for the project.
“We could have gone to a four-lane undivided roadway, and it would have survived,” Bavarian said. “But a four-lane divided roadway with medians actually looks nicer, and it’s a much safer roadway facility.”
Once completed, the road will provide an 8-foot pedestrian sidewalk, as well as drainage mitigation required for increased runoff.
In addition to providing better mobility for drivers and foot traffic, Bavarian also said the project greatly improves drainage.
“We also went from open ditch drainage facility to underground, which is much more reliable,” Bavarian said.
This project will also include approximately 5,000 feet of 12-inch waterline from the North Service Area booster station to West NASA Road. Drivers are able to use the two completed lanes, but once the project is completed, drivers will be able to use all four lanes, Bavarian said. The original timeline for the project, which began in 2019, expected construction to begin in 2021 and wrap up in 2022. However, Project Manager Jaimie Dino said due to necessary relocations of existing utility poles along Grissom Road and weather delays, construction was moved to finish in 2023.
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“It was mostly due to the [construction crew] needing to extend their contract due to existing utility conflicts,” Dino said.
Funding for the project comes primarily from a $9.3 million general obligation bond. In addition to the GO bond, the city will also pull funding from city reinvestments and utility funds, which will cover the waterline and sewer replacement portion of the project.
