Two road extensions are being planned in Cypress as development picks up at the future Dunham Pointe master-planned community south of Hwy. 290. The projects will be carried out as part of a partnership between Dunham Pointe Development and Harris County, developer Archie Dunham said.

The roads—Mason and Mueschke roads—will be extended south from where they currently end at Hwy. 290, Dunham said. Work on the Mason Road extention could begin as early as December, he said.

“The Mueschke [Road] crossing we would cut sometime three to six months after we get the Mason [Road] crossing [started],” Dunham said.

Both road extensions have been a part of the city of Houston’s Major Thoroughfare Plan for years, which is updated annually with recommendations for future road projects throughout the city and its extraterritorial jurisdiction.

The plan depicts the Mueschke Road intersection with a future Mound Road extension and coming to an end at North Bridgeland Lake Drive. Longterm plans for Mason Road call for crossing over Cypress Creek into the Bridgeland area and continuing south to an eventual connection with South Mason Road near Clay Road in Katy. However, a timeline and funding sources for the full Mason Road extension beyond the Dunham Pointe area have not been identified.

Progress on the road crossings hit some delays related to a Union Pacific Corp. line immediately south of Hwy. 290, but those issues have since been resolved, Dunham said. After nine years of discussion, Union Pacific agreed to allow Harris County to build the crossings at-grade, meaning the roads can cross the railroad at ground level, rather than with an overpass or underpass.

As part of the agreement, Dunham said he is helping to fund renovations and modifications at a variety of other Union Pacific crossings across the county. Those crossings are not related to Dunham Pointe, he said.

Dunham said the Mason and Mueschke road crossings are a critical piece of the future community, which is located on 1,300 acres of land and will have somewhere between 2,500-3,000 homes upon completion. He said he is holding off on negotiating with residential and commercial builders until after the road crossings are started.

“We think the best time for us to show the property and have serious negotiations is in late 2019, when everyone can see for sure we’re ready to pour the concrete and cut the crossing,” he said.

In the meantime, other work is continuing at the Dunham Pointe site, including water well drilling, the installation of wastewater treatment plants and work on lake amenities.