There are 36 mobility projects in various stages of completion in Fort Bend County, according to remarks made by Fort Bend County Judge Robert Hebert at the county's Infrastructure Summit held March 6.
The county's two largest projects, the expansion of FM 1093 from Westpark Tollway to FM 1463 and the construction of a proposed parkway from I-10 to FM 1093, are stalled in the development phase, Hebert said.
Phase 1 of the FM 1093 expansion will bring the Westpark Tollway from its endpoint at the Grand Parkway to Spring Green Boulevard. Frontage roads will run alongside the toll road all the way to FM 1463. Phase 2 would continue the expanded frontage road from FM 1463 into Fulshear.
Construction on the expansion was slated to begin this year but was delayed by over a year while the county waited to receive environmental clearance from the Federal Highway Administration for Phase 1 of the project, Hebert said.
"The dumbest thing we ever did was take $40 million from [the Texas Department of Transportation]," Hebert said. "On a quarter of a billion dollar project, that $40 million didn't add that much to the project except for delays. We should be 12–14 months ahead of where we are in construction, but we're getting there."
The project is now expected to go out to bid by late 2015, according to Hebert.
"By 2018 we will be driving on an expanded road," he said.
A second project, formerly referred to as the Fulshear Parkway, calls for the construction of a parkway connecting I-10 and FM 1093. It is also under development, Hebert said.
Landowners near the proposed parkway have agreed to donate some 3,500 acres for the road's construction, and Fort Bend County will soon enter into negotiations with the cities of Katy and Fulshear as well as Waller County to determine how to pay for the remainder of the project, Hebert said.
"We will get 50 percent of the total project paid for by property owners and private developers, but there will be some negotiation going on between Katy, Fulshear and Waller County to determine how to pay for the remaining half," Hebert said.
The project's other remaining hurdle is coming up with a name for the road that will stretch through Fulshear and into Katy, Hebert said.
"[The project] was going to be called Fulshear Parkway, but it enters into Katy so now it's going to be easier to figure out how to pay for it than to name it," he said. "We think there's a name out there that everyone can agree to."
There are 36 mobility projects in various stages of completion in Fort Bend County, according to remarks made by Fort Bend County Judge Robert Hebert at the county's Infrastructure Summit held March 6.
The county's two largest projects, the expansion of FM 1093 from Westpark Tollway to FM 1463 and the construction of a proposed parkway from I-10 to FM 1093, are stalled in the development phase, Hebert said.
Phase 1 of the FM 1093 expansion will bring the Westpark Tollway from its endpoint at the Grand Parkway to Spring Green Boulevard. Frontage roads will run alongside the toll road all the way to FM 1463. Phase 2 would continue the expanded frontage road from FM 1463 into Fulshear.
Construction on the expansion was slated to begin this year but was delayed by over a year while the county waited to receive environmental clearance from the Federal Highway Administration for Phase 1 of the project, Hebert said.
"The dumbest thing we ever did was take $40 million from [the Texas Department of Transportation]," Hebert said. "On a quarter of a billion dollar project, that $40 million didn't add that much to the project except for delays. We should be 12–14 months ahead of where we are in construction, but we're getting there."
The project is now expected to go out to bid by late 2015, according to Hebert.
"By 2018 we will be driving on an expanded road," he said.
A second project, formerly referred to as the Fulshear Parkway, calls for the construction of a parkway connecting I-10 and FM 1093. It is also under development, Hebert said.
Landowners near the proposed parkway have agreed to donate some 3,500 acres for the road's construction, and Fort Bend County will soon enter into negotiations with the cities of Katy and Fulshear as well as Waller County to determine how to pay for the remainder of the project, Hebert said.
"We will get 50 percent of the total project paid for by property owners and private developers, but there will be some negotiation going on between Katy, Fulshear and Waller County to determine how to pay for the remaining half," Hebert said.
The project's other remaining hurdle is coming up with a name for the road that will stretch through Fulshear and into Katy, Hebert said.
"[The project] was going to be called Fulshear Parkway, but it enters into Katy so now it's going to be easier to figure out how to pay for it than to name it," he said. "We think there's a name out there that everyone can agree to."
