As part of Fort Bend County's proposed $185 million mobility bond, the Burney Road extension project is expected to tie in with University Boulevard at Hwy. 90 and continue north to Stadium Drive if approved by voters Nov. 5. The four-lane concrete boulevard will feature a bridge over Ditch H and the railroad tracks behind Nalco in Precinct 4 and will connect to the southern side of Constellation Field, providing an alternative thoroughfare in the area.

The project is expected to improve access to the baseball field and northern parts of Sugar Land, county engineer Richard Stoleis said. According to the precinct, the new road will relieve traffic in an area that is expected to see a bevy of new development.

"[This project] will help in [several] ways," Precinct 4 commissioner James Patterson said. "The truck traffic out of Nalco will have better access to both Hwy. 90 and Hwy. 6. At this time, Nalco employees coming from the west have to U-turn at Ulrich Street. This would eliminate that."

In addition to helping local companies with mobility, Patterson said that residents living near Voss Road and W. Airport Boulevard would no longer have to cross the angled bridge south of Jess Pirtle Drive to reach Hwy. 90 and other nearby areas.

"Some of the traffic that would be coming that way to reach Hwy. 90 or Hwy. 6 would no longer have the need to come all the way down through the residential area," he said.

According to Fort Bend County, this Precinct 4 mobility bond project would construct the new roadway between Stadium Drive and Hwy. 90 and include the construction of two bridges. The bond allocates about $1.3 million for the project.

A previous expansion of Burney Road to a four-lane boulevard between Voss and Old Richmond roads was completed in early June as a joint project between Fort Bend County and the city of Sugar Land. The city of Sugar Land has plans to improve the landscaping along Burney Road north of Main Street in the near future.