Hwy. 290 Project E[/caption]1. Hwy. 290 Project E
Project E entails widening Hwy. 290 to five mainlanes from North Eldridge Parkway to Hwy. 6 and four mainlanes from Hwy. 6 to Telge Road in Houston. As work continues on westbound mainlanes, crews closed entrance and exit ramps at Huffmeister Road on
May 5. Officials said the closures will last until further notice. A high occupancy vehicle lane separated by a barrier will eventually be installed to replace diamond lanes that were removed earlier this year.
Timeline: August 2013-2018
Cost: $135.4 million
Funding sources: Texas Department of Transportation
2. Bridgeland Creek Parkway extension
The Howard Hughes Corporation is developing a 2.5-mile extension of Bridgeland Creek Parkway, which will extend from Fry Road to the Grand Parkway in
Cypress. Officials said the roadway should open this summer.
Timeline: March 2014-June 2017
Cost: $14 million
Funding sources: The Howard Hughes Corporation
3. Cypress Rosehill Road widening
Construction started in July on a Harris County Precinct 3 project to widen Cypress Rosehill Road from two to four lanes in Cypress. The work being done from Lake Cypress Hill Drive to the Grand Parkway will be ongoing for the next several months. Meanwhile, Precinct 4 is in the design phase of a complementary project to widen the road from two to four lanes between the Grand Parkway and
FM 2920 in Tomball, where it will transition to Decker Prairie Road.
Timeline: July 2016-July 2017
Cost: $9.9 million
Funding sources: Harris County Precinct 3
4. Gessner Road extension
Harris County Precinct 4 is in the study phase of a proposed project to extend Gessner Road from Beltway 8 to West Road as a four-lane concrete pavement section in Houston.
Timeline: TBA
Cost: TBA
Funding sources: Harris County Precinct 4
5. Huffmeister Road extension
Harris County Precinct 4 has proposed extending Huffmeister Road as a four-lane roadway from West Road to Hwy. 6 in Houston. The project is in the design phase, and construction could begin as early as 2018.
Timeline: TBA
Cost: $2.5 million
Funding sources: Harris County Precinct 4
6. Grant Road widening
Construction began Feb. 1 on a Grant Road widening project from Old Kluge to Spring Cypress roads in Cypress. The Harris County Precinct 4 project will widen the road from a two-lane asphalt roadway to a four-lane concrete boulevard. Harris County Precinct 3 is planning its own widening project from Old Kluge Road to Lakewood Forest Drive.
Timeline: February 2017-first quarter 2019
Cost: $7.4 million
Funding sources: Harris County Precinct 4
7. North Eldridge Parkway widening
Harris County Precinct 4 is in the design phase on a project to widen North Eldridge Parkway from two to four lanes between Spring Cypress Road in Cypress and Westlock Drive in Tomball.
Timeline: TBA
Cost: $5.5 million
Funding sources: Harris County Precinct 4
How it works
How does TxDOT prioritize construction?[/caption]How does TxDOT prioritize construction?
Although the Texas Department of Transportation funds construction for highways and other major thoroughfares in the state, TxDOT does not directly prioritize projects.
Rather, the agency allows local jurisdictions to identify their individual needs and prioritize accordingly.
Texas has 25 local authorities called metropolitan planning organizations, or MPOs, which are voluntary associations of local governments—including cities, special districts and counties—as well as community leaders that create transportation policy, forecast mobility needs, administer regional transportation planning, and channel state and federal funding for local and regional projects.
MPOs identify need-based projects by scoring them on a variety of factors, including safety, mobility, environmental quality, economic development, and asset management and operations.
Once a project is scored, the MPO determines the funding sources and shovel-readiness of a project; TxDOT has 12 funding categories for specific projects and activities. If no federal, state or local funding is available and the project is not construction-ready with right of way, environmental clearance, design engineering and other work, then it is shelved.
If the need, funding and readiness of a project are aligned—which can take several years—and it is approved by the MPO, then projects are added to the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, which is a four-year plan with dedicated funding, or TxDOT’s 10-year Unified Transportation Program.
Long-term projects may be added to an MPO’s 20- to 25-year plan.
