The Northpark Drive overpass project will expand the road from four to six lanes between Hwy. 59 and Russell Palmer Road and add an overpass over the Union Pacific Corp. railroad at Loop 494. Designs for the $52 million project are nearing final approval, and the project will likely break ground in late 2021, LHRA officials said.
The bond will close on June 29 and immediately be accessible by the authority to fund the road project, said Kristin Blomquist with Masterson Advisors LLC at the June 10 LHRA board of directors meeting. Blomquist said the effective interest rate on the authority's bond is 2.57% for a 28-year debt.
LHRA board Chair Stan Sarman said he was happy to hear the bond sale went so well. He said the authority will first use the bond to pay off a $22 million loan from BBVA bank.
"Then, the remaining funds in our account—which is going to be somewhere around $45 million—will be available for our project costs," he said. "So that's the important thing, that we have to keep moving forward here."
The board of directors also briefly discussed updates from the 87th Texas Legislature, which ended May 31. While a bill that would have created the Lake Houston Dredging and Maintenance District did not pass, $50 million was earmarked in the state's budget to the city of Houston to fund future dredging efforts in Lake Houston, city of Houston officials said at the meeting.
House Bill 2525 was proposed by Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Houston, and had a Senate companion bill, Senate Bill 1892, that was authored by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe. The Lake Houston Dredging and Maintenance District would have overseen and funded future dredging in Lake Houston.
The $50 million will be allocated to the city of Houston through the Texas Water Development for the upcoming fiscal year 2021-22, according to Dustin Hodges, north sector manager for Houston Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin's office. The funding will allow for accumulated silt and sediment to be removed from the West and East forks of the San Jacinto River, with particular attention to the many channels, coves and inlets around Lake Houston.
