The project expands the road from two to four lanes and adds a raised turf median and center turn lanes at intersections and sidewalks. The $15.1 million project broke ground in July 2019 and was originally set to be completed in the second quarter of 2021.
In January, TxDOT public information officer Emily Black said the completion date had been pushed to the third quarter of this year. Additionally, the cost of the TxDOT-funded project was also slightly increased—from $14.3 million to the current $15.1 million—because TxDOT had to redesign a portion of the project to work around utility issues and reduce the effects on traffic.
In a June 15 email, Black said the completion date has been delayed again to the second quarter of 2022 due to weather issues and challenges relocating a water line, gas line and telecommunication lines.
"We also have to tunnel a drainage tunnel under Kingwood [Drive] in order not to impact traffic," she said. "This work is critical and due to safety reasons, very hard to complete with all the rain we’ve had. It was also affected by numerous utilities at the intersection of Kingwood [Drive] and Loop 494. Once this work is complete we can switch traffic and work on the other side of the roadway."
