At the Katy City Council's June 9 regular meeting, the council approved plans to annex territory west of the city limits between Hwy. 90 and I-10. The territory includes a portion of Pederson Road that is badly in need of repairs and improvements, city officials said.

The city's plans call for crews to widen and resurface this portion of Pederson Road. City Engineer David Leyendecker said his office is in the process of designing the improvements.

The portion of Pederson Road the city is in the process of annexing is a two-lane, unpaved asphalt road. Leyendecker said the road will be expanded to four lanes, and the asphalt will be replaced with concrete.

Because the improvements are in the planning and design stage, work will not begin until late spring or early summer of 2015, Leyendecker said.

"I suspect it would start this time next year by the time we get the design done, everything approved, all the financing set up," he said.

Leyendecker estimates it will take eight months to complete the work on Pederson Road once construction is underway. During the construction period, traffic will not be diverted and drivers will still be able to use Pederson Road.

"We will have two lanes open all the time," Leyendecker said.

The annexation is part of a general westward push announced by Mayor Fabol Hughes earlier this year.

Hughes has said previously that several pieces of land in Houston's extraterritorial jurisdiction cannot be adequately serviced by the city of Houston and that Katy would try to annex them.

In late April, the city moved to annex 400 acres to the southwest of the city limits, along I-10.

City officials said the tract will likely become a residential development. Annexing the area gives the city some control over how the area is developed.

The city held public hearings for the Pederson Road annexation July 17 and 18.