The $21.9 million project consisted of reconstructing the two-lane road into four lanes from Cullen Boulevard to Smith Ranch Road. Additionally, the project included improving existing water lines, street lighting and landscaping, and installing a 13,000-foot-long noise barrier.
“It is going to have a great impact on mobility in the area,” Epperson said. “We have two schools in that area. We have Dawson High School and Challenger Elementary, and with the old two-lane road, it was always difficult right there at Challenger Elementary with all the school traffic.”
In addition to alleviating congestion issues along Hughes Ranch Road, the city expects the expansion to also make it easier for residents to access Hwy. 288. The thoroughfare has a direct tie-in to the entrance and exit of Hwy. 288’s express toll lanes, Epperson said. With Hughes Ranch Road expanded, a goal is to take traffic away from Broadway Street.
While the project has been mostly completed, there is ongoing work, including completing some of the sidewalks, landscaping and irrigation. There will be temporary one-lane closures until the spring to complete the work, Epperson said.
About 80% of the funding for this project came from federal and state sources, which was a big reason it was able to be completed, he added.
Epperson said $14.54 million of the project’s funding is from federal and state dollars distributed by the Houston-Galveston Area Council, while $8.22 million comes from the city’s general obligation bonds.
“We couldn’t get to fund [the project] with all the other priorities we had,” Epperson said. “Once we were able to get that 80% in federal funds, it made it a no-brainer to go ahead and move forward with that project.”
