Public comment period to close Sept. 15 on FM 529 widening project

The Texas Department of Transportation will soon close the public comment period on a road project seeking to widen sections of FM 529.

The agency will hold the public comment period from Aug. 30-Sept. 15, allowing the public to review and provide comments on the proposed project, which is designed to improve mobility and safety along a 12-mile stretch on FM 529 from the Grand Parkway to FM 362, according to TxDOT project documents.

The project includes an urban and rural roadway configuration “to match the needs of the surrounding communities,” TxDOT said in project documents.

The urban configuration—from the Grand Parkway to Katy Hockley Cut Off Road—would widen FM 529 from two to six lanes divided by an 18-foot-wide raised median with openings and 12-foot-wide outside shoulders and an open ditch drainage system to convey stormwater within a proposed right of way of 180 feet.

From Katy Hockley Cut Off Road to FM 362, the rural configuration would widen FM 529 from two to four lanes divided by a similarly sized raised median and outside shoulders.

The proposed project comes as TxDOT projects traffic volume will grow almost six times the existing volume on FM 529 between the Grand Parkway and Katy Hockley Cut Off Road.

TxDOT will next develop a schematic for the project, request project environmental clearance this winter, then acquire right of way and begin construction, though the agency has not provided a timeline for that process. The project is anticipated to cost $123 million, funded through state and federal dollars.

Through Sept. 15, TxDOT is encouraging residents to provide comments via phone, at 832-409-2567, email at [email protected] or by mail at the TxDOT Houston District address at P.O. Box 1386.