City of Pearland and Texas Department of Transportation officials held a ribbon cutting for the opening of the Pearland Parkway extension.[/caption]

Officials with the city of Pearland and the Texas Department of Transportation marked the opening of the latest extension of Pearland Parkway with a ribbon cutting Aug. 19.

The new segment runs from Oiler Drive to Dixie Farm Road and is expected to relieve traffic congestion on FM 518. The project—which began in March 2014—is part of a larger plan to eventually connect the thoroughfare to League City Parkway, officials said.

“It takes a lot of things to put in place to get a project like this completed,” Assistant City Manager Trent Epperson said. “This has been a 10 [to] 15-year journey of getting from Beltway [8] to Dixie Farm Road. It takes a lot of good people to do that.”

The $9.5 million project featured a bridge crossing at Cowart’s Creek in addition to the four-lane, concrete curb-and-gutter thoroughfare with raised medians.

“We were wanting a signature entrance roadway [into the city], and now we have one,” Mayor Tom Reid said.