Katy City Council approved agreements for a transportation project in the city at its special May 11 meeting.
Council approved two agreements related to the Texas Heritage Parkway, a new 6.4-mile, four-lane road between I-10 and the Westpark Tollway on the west side of the Grand Parkway.
The multimillion-dollar project—which is funded via a public-private partnership—received approval from the Fort Bend County Commissioners Court and Fulshear City Council in March, and it also needed approval from Katy City Council before it could move forward, said attorney Rich Muller, who is representing the landowners involved in the project, at the Fulshear meeting held March 24.
At the May 11 Katy City Council meeting, Muller said his goal is to issue a notice to proceed to three construction contracts that have already bid and awarded for sections of the parkway between Kingsland Boulevard and FM 1093 by the end of this week after Waller County and the Texas Heritage Parkway Improvement District hold their own meetings.
However, the section of the project between Kingsland Boulevard and I-10 still needs approval from the Texas Department of Transportation, he said. This approval is expected to come in the next 60 days. Then the section will be placed for bidding and letting.
With these milestones, the schedule for the parkway is to open in 14 months, Muller said. In April, Gary Gehbauer—an engineer with BGE Inc. who is involved with the project—said construction is expected to begin in May.
The design plans for the Texas Heritage Parkway involve building a 6.4-mile, 200-foot-wide thoroughfare with two lanes in either direction and a median. Additionally, this new north-south road will have a total of 10 roundabouts from I-10 at Pederson Road to McKinnon Road just south of FM 1093 near downtown Fulshear.
Previous Community Impact Newspaper reporting states half of the $48.8 million project will be funded by landowners, while the other half will be funded by Fort Bend County, the city of Fulshear and the city of Katy.
According to the local agreement approved May 11 by Katy City Council, the total project cost is expected to be more than $55 million. Katy’s funding portion is about $6 million or less plus interest, per the agreement.
At the May 11 meeting, Council and city administration clarified the city of Katy’s portion of the project will be paid for through the funding it receives from the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County.
