The Fort Bend Parkway Toll Road extension B project, which will connect Sienna Parkway in Missouri City to Hwy. 6, is on schedule to be completed by early 2014. The $20 million project is expected to allow for increased mobility and development in east Fort Bend County and provide a new thoroughfare for residents.

"From a mobility standpoint, [the project] allows more traffic flow to the area and away from Hwy. 6," Missouri City Councilman Floyd Emery said.

Extension B of the Fort Bend Parkway was put to bid April 2012 and was awarded to James Construction Group. Work on the extension began over the summer. The new section of the toll road is being constructed as a two-lane roadway to coincide with the existing road.

The Fort Bend Parkway will eventually cross the Brazos River and connect with the Grand Parkway in southwest Fort Bend County. A timeline for this portion of the project has not been released, and the Fort Bend Toll Road Authority is in the process of studying the financial feasibility of the extension, said Rich Muller, attorney with the Allen Boone Humphries Robinson law firm and representative of the Fort Bend Parkway extension project.

In coming years, Fort Bend Parkway is expected to continue through the undeveloped stretch of land west of Sienna Parkway. Once completed, this corridor would provide congestion relief along Hwy. 6 and allow for increased mobility and development in east Fort Bend County, said Scott Elmer, assistant city manager of Missouri City.

"By connecting these residents to [the Grand Parkway] through that undeveloped stretch of land, [the project] will open up a whole new area for development," he said.

Extension B of the parkway will implement one toll plaza between Hwy. 6 and Sienna Parkway with a proposed toll cost of $0.40. The Fort Bend Parkway was opened between Beltway 8 and Hwy. 6 in 2004 and consists of one main lane toll plaza with major interchanges at Hwy. 6, Lake Olympia Parkway and FM 2234. Only motorists with an EZ-Tag can access the road.