Houston faces large road striping backlog in 2023
Roads without adequate striping to identify lanes are raising concerns about safety for several members of Houston City Council. Public data from the city of Houston showed more than 300 calls to the city’s 311 line to address striping dating back to March 2020.
However, Erin Jones, interim communications director with the Houston Public Works Department, disputed the use of the word “backlog” to describe the situation. She said some proposed pavement projects may not have met a “service level agreement”—a time frame that has been agreed upon among the mayor, City Council and the city departments on how long they have to fulfill those requests.
“So it may be considered a backlog in some areas and then others they just may not have met the service level agreement,” she said.
At-Large Council Member Sallie Alcorn, who has been looking into the issue, said she received a statement from the public works department, a copy of which was provided to Community Impact.
“The traffic markings requests that cannot be performed in-house ... are performed by a contract (outside contractors), and the contract is not currently active due to legal issues. [Transportation and Drainage Operations] is working diligently to resolve this situation and expects to resume the pavement marking program soon,” the statement read.
At a Nov. 9 meeting where the issue was discussed, Mayor Sylvester Turner said it was the first he had heard of the issue.
Jones said public works had over 700 requests for pavement markings in March 2020; 2,476 have since been completed. Data shows six of those striping requests are located in Kingwood and northeast Houston.
Northpark Drive overpass construction to begin in spring 2023
Construction on the long-awaited Northpark Drive overpass project is expected to begin this spring, according to officials with the Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority, also known as Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 10.
As previously reported by Community Impact, LHRA board members approved a contract for the project with Harper Brothers Construction at their Dec. 8 board meeting.
Upon completion, the project will expand Northpark Drive from four to six lanes between Hwy. 59 and Russell Palmer Road and add an overpass over the Union Pacific railroad and Loop 494. The project is expected to take roughly 30 months to complete once construction begins.
The city of Houston has contributed roughly $9.5 million toward the $52 million project with TIRZ 10 picking up the remainder of the bill.
Loop 494 expansion
Construction is set to wrap up in the second quarter of 2023 on a project to expand Loop 494 between a half-mile north of Kingwood Drive and north of Sorters McClellan Road. The project will expand the road segment from two to four lanes with a raised turf median, center turn lanes at intersections and sidewalks.
Timeline: July 15, 2019-second quarter 2023
Cost: $17.56 million
Funding sources: 80% federal, 20% state
FM 1960 widening
Work is expected to continue through 2025 on two projects to widen FM 1960 from four to six lanes.
Segment A runs from Business FM 1960 to Twigsworth Lane, while Segment B continues from Twigsworth Lane to the San Jacinto River bridge. Segment B will also include the construction of an overpass at the intersection on FM 1960 and West Lake Houston Parkway.
Timeline: late 2021-2025
Cost: $58.2 million (Segment A), $70 million (Segment B)
Funding source: Texas Department of Transportation
