Business owners and residents along the FM 2920 corridor in Tomball are likely to see increased construction during the next four years as road improvement plans move forward.

In early October, the Houston-Galveston Area Council announced its approval of a city of Tomball proposal to make improvements along the FM 2920 corridor from Business 249 to just east of Elm Street.

The project was chosen for H-GAC’s 10-year Transportation Improvement Program from a pool of more than 200 projects, which were each considered throughout the year, H-GAC Program Manager David Wurdlow said.

The project will add a right-turn lane from Business 249 to FM 2920, widen sidewalks in Old Town Tomball and remove the on-street parallel parking on Main Street as well as add medians and center-turn lanes.

Wurdlow said many of the project elements originate from the Access Management and Livable Centers studies conducted by H-GAC in 2009.

“The project is the outgrowth of a pretty long-running planning effort that the city has been involved in that we’ve supported over time,” he said. “It’s nice to see some of that planning work turn into implementation.”

The project is expected to cost between $25 million and $30 million with 80 percent funded through H-GAC and the remainder provided by the Texas Department of Transportation. Wurdlow said the project is likely to begin in 2020, a time frame the city of Tomball hopes to shorten, Tomball City Manager George Shackelford said.

In early 2015, the city of Tomball authorized spending up to $3 million to speed up the construction of the project, he said. The city expects to be reimbursed by TxDOT for the startup costs.

“Our next step is to get with TxDOT to expedite the design process and right of way acquisition so we’re ready to build as soon as possible,” Shackelford said.

In conjunction with the H-GAC project, the city is also working with TxDOT to make repairs to older parts of FM 2920 and Business 249.

In July, the Texas Transportation Commission approved $3.8 million in funding to repair the road base and overlay a total of 3.2 miles along FM 2920 and Business 249, said Kristina Hadley, TxDOT Houston district public information officer.

Construction was expected to begin in fall 2015 but has not yet begun, Shackelford said.

“TxDOT said it’s been delayed to [begin] sometime within the first quarter [of 2016], but there was no official explanation as to why,” he said.