Consulting firm Gannett Fleming Inc. has determined a toll road underpass for the Westpark Tollway extension is feasible, Fulshear City Manager Zach Goodlander said at a Jan. 20 meeting.
Zooming in
The $50,000 study, which was approved by City Council at a May 6 meeting, found an underpass is feasible from an engineering perspective, but will cost $51.8 million in total—about $10 million more than a typical stretch on other sections of road. Potential utility relocations were not included in the analysis, Goodlander said.
The underpass would start east of Syms Street and end west of Lake Hill Farm Way, Goodlander said.
“Aesthetically, it would be very pleasing to all of us in Fulshear to have something under downtown instead of another overpass,” Fulshear Mayor Don McCoy said.
A closer look
Mayor Pro-Tem Susan B. Johnson and At-Large City Council member Jason Knape suggested issuing a memorandum showing council’s support for the underpass at a future meeting.
The city previously expressed “contingent support” for the toll road extension at an Aug. 5 special meeting, reversing a 2016 resolution.
According to agenda documents, the city’s support is contingent on:
- Fort Bend County’s agreement to purchase the city’s water reclamation facility at fair market value and assist in its decommissioning
- Fort Bend County’s agreement to cover unanticipated change order costs for the relocation of the city’s diversion lift station
- The Fort Bend County Toll Road Authority’s engagement with the city in all phases of the design of the tollway extension through the downtown area
“We were requested by the [Fort Bend County] Toll Road Authority to rescind the prior opposition, which only was done with the expectation that something like this would be done, and/or various other design features,” Goodlander said.
The FBCTRA already owns the right of way necessary to extend the tollway to the city of Eagle Lake, although Fulshear’s downtown wastewater treatment plant blocks its future path. The county has expressed a desire for Fulshear to rescind prior opposition, according to agenda documents.
The FBCTRA began development on an additional 4 miles of the tollway in June, bringing its new end to Charger Way in Fulshear. The extension is expected to open to vehicles in August, Lisa Castañeda, deputy operating officer with Mike Stone Associates, which manages the FBCTRA, previously said.
What’s next
While funding for the project has not yet been determined, Goodlander has shared the study with the FBCTRA in hopes of sharing the cost, he said.
