The interchange between the Hardy Toll Road and the Grand Parkway is under construction.[/caption]After nearly three decades of helping commuters in north Harris and south Montgomery counties get to and from downtown Houston, the Hardy Toll Road will see its first major overhaul completed next summer with additional lanes and all-electronic toll gantries.
“As the facility itself is approaching 30 years, we’re looking at touching all 21 miles of the corridor,” said Quinton Alberto, assistant director of maintenance and traffic engineering for the Harris County Toll Road Authority.
Work began Aug. 17 on the widening of the toll road from FM 1960 to the road’s intersection with the Grand Parkway, which will add a third lane in both directions of the toll road. Alberto said the project should alleviate congestion during peak commuter hours.
“In the mornings and in the evenings, especially from [FM]1960 to I-45, it’s very congested,” Alberto said. “What happens is that [vehicles back] up all the way inside Beltway [8], and it causes stop-and-go traffic.”
Although the added lanes will be integral to improving traffic flow in the region, the widening projects are just two of nine total projects that are being undertaken in the next year along the toll road, totaling about $170 million. Alberto said the project is 100 percent funded through tolls and will not use any taxpayer money.
In addition to the widening project, improvements include the removal of existing toll booths at the toll plazas as well as entry and exit ramps, Alberto said. They will be replaced with a gantry, similar to those on the Grand Parkway and the Westpark Tollway. By the summer, Hardy Toll Road will be an all-electronic toll facility similar to those toll roads.
Alberto said the current toll system creates a bottleneck at the plazas, which exacerbates traffic conditions during peak commuting hours.
“If you go to the toll plazas, there’s a lot of movement and congestion,” he said. “You have people coming in paying with cash and people paying with the EZ Tag, [asking] ‘Am I in the right lane?’ When you take that decision out of that plaza, you add a little bit more fluidity.”
Other projects include pavement markings, signage, and bridge and retaining wall rehabilitation and maintenance. Work also began in January on four single-lane direct connectors between the Hardy Toll Road and the Grand Parkway, which is expected to see segments F-1, F-2 and G from Hwy. 290 to Hwy. 59 completed by the end of the year.
Most of the Hardy Toll Road overhaul is scheduled to be complete by June, Alberto said, although some housekeeping items and cleanup may require an additional six months to complete.
HCTRA officials said they are trying to schedule construction during weekends and nonpeak hours to mitigate the overhaul’s effects on the flow of traffic. However, the widening project will require total closures between FM 1960 and I-45 because of work being done to many of the bridges.
“The [fastest] way to get the work done is to shut the road down and knock it out,” project manager Matt Kainer said.
It is unknown whether the toll rates along the Hardy Toll Road will increase following the completion of the projects, HCTRA officials said. Motorists on the tollway pay $1.45 with an EZ Tag at toll plazas or $1.75 with cash, but the EZ Tag rate is expected to increase to $1.50 on the main lanes on Sept. 12.
