After the opening of the Greater Houston area’s third outer loop was delayed from the end of 2015 to first quarter 2016, Quincy Allen, TxDOT Houston District engineer, said Jan. 12 drivers will be able to access Grand Parkway segments F-1 and F-2—from Hwy. 290 to I-45—beginning the first week of February.

Allen said Segment G—which stretches from I-45 to Hwy. 59—is expected to open after F-1 and F-2 but did not specify a target date.

All three segments are being built by contractor Zachry-Odebrecht.

Segments F-1 and F-2 of the Grand Parkway will consist of tolled roadway from Hwy. 290 to I-45, while Segment G will connect I-45 and Hwy. 59 when completed. Construction of the $1 billion tollway has been funded and overseen by TxDOT.

The Grand Parkway segments will provide additional roadway capacity to help alleviate the increased traffic demand, said officials with Zachry-Odebrecht. However, construction of the project has been hampered due to recent weather conditions.

“The project did encounter setbacks particularly with the heavy rains during the month of May and June,” Cavazos said in an email.

Although the project has been delayed from its original expected completion date, Zachry-Odebrecht achieved a significant milestone in December by setting all of the beams and bridge decks for the project. A total of 121 bridge decks and 3,802 concrete beams were set for the toll road, the company said in a news release.

A project conceived more than 50 years ago, the more than 200-mile tollway will become Houston’s third outer loop when completed. Segment E of the Grand Parkway, from I-10 to Hwy. 290, was completed in December 2013.