Brazoria County officials celebrated the groundbreaking ceremony of the Hwy. 288 toll lanes project dubbed the Brazoria County Expressway on June 6.

"This project has been a long time in the works," said Brazoria County Judge Matt Sebesta, who has worked closely on the project for the last five years.

Brazoria County Commissioners Court approved a $97.2 million construction contract with Pulice Construction Inc. in April. The contract includes $80 million for the installation of four toll lanes—two lanes in each direction—in the grassy median of the highway. The project will extend from CR 58 to Clear Creek, which is the county line.

Another $15 million will fund the reconstruction of the FM 518 intersection with the highway frontage road by adding more turn lanes from the access ramps. Additionally, FM 518 from Business Center Drive to Smith Ranch Road will be widened and the mainlane bridges of Hwy. 288 will be reconstructed, too, according to county officials.

The city of Pearland will chip in $2 million worth of aesthetic improvements along the corridor through Pearland city limits, according to county officials.

Construction is scheduled to begin in June and is expected to be complete in July 2019.

"We need this roadway so badly," said Pearland Mayor Tom Reid. "On both side of [Hwy.] 288, nothing is older than 14 years old. You can see that kind of growth. It's important that we have this road, and we're very fortunate."

The project will be funded by revenue bonds through the Brazoria County Toll Road Authority. Officials flew to New York on June 6 to sign the financial paperwork for the sale of two bonds totaling about $90 million, said Donald Gonzales, a managing director of investment banking firm Estrada Hinojosa, which is serving as the county's financial advisor on the toll road project.

The Brazoria County Expressway will connect into the Harris County portion of the Hwy. 288 toll lanes project, which broke ground in November. The Harris County side of the toll road construction will be built in six segments and will extend past the Texas Medical Center and feed into Hwy. 59, according to the official project website. Harris County officials contracted with Blueridge Construction Group to build their portion of the tolled project. The entire project from Brazoria County through Harris County will open to the public simultaneously in 2019.