As part of the ongoing projects funded by the Harris County Flood Control District’s $2.5 billion bond, 86 subdivision drainage improvement projects will be completed 18 months earlier than originally anticipated following Harris County Commissioners Court’s unanimous approval July 9. The bond, approved by Harris County voters in August 2018, includes 237 flood damage reduction projects aimed for completion countywide over the next 10-15 years. Of those, 86 projects are subdivision drainage improvement projects aimed at enhancing water flow in neighborhoods that are not in flood plains but still flooded previously due to poor drainage, Harris County Engineer John Blount said. Previously, the projects were slated for completion within 5 1/2 years, as 27 of the projects would be delayed while the county waited for federal funding through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which Blount said could take anywhere from a year to 18 months for the county to receive. The 86 subdivision drainage projects will provide relief to 105 subdivisions, including the following neighborhoods in Spring and Klein: Northern Point, Memorial Hills, North Park Forest, Forest Shadows, McKenzie Park, Sandpiper and Sandpiper Village, Fountainhead Section 2, Prestonwood Forest, Sawmill Ranch, Lynwood Estates, Meadow Hill Run and the Sovereign Spring Cypress apartments. Following a unanimous vote by the court to approve $60 million to move forward with the projects, all 86 projects are expected to be completed ahead of both the 2023 and 2024 hurricane seasons. “It [will] decrease [the construction timeline] from 5 1/2 years to four years, saving us one to two hurricane seasons,” County Judge Lina Hidalgo said during the July 9 meeting. “I think getting ahead of the hurricane seasons and getting this drainage done is huge.”