Relief for the more than 250,000 vehicles that travel Hwy. 290 daily is on the way. By late 2017 the Texas Department of Transportation expects to complete a nearly $1.3 billion project to widen the freeway from Loop 610 to FM 2920.
Work began in mid-2011 on the project, which is divided into 13 segments. The expansion is expected to enhance safety and improve mobility in preparation for future growth along the corridor, TxDOT spokesperson Karen Othon said.
“I’ve always heard the term, ‘If you build it, they will come,’ and I think that’s what is happening,” she said. “People know we’ve had Hwy. 290 in our sights since the late ‘90s, and the reality of construction happening has a lot of developers looking at the area.”
Mobility improvements
The widening project calls for building an additional general purpose lane in each direction from Loop 610 to the Harris County line near FM 2920. There will also be a single barrier-separated high occupancy vehicle lane in each direction from Loop 610 to near Mason Road with a wider shoulder for through traffic.
“We will definitely benefit from the Hwy. 290 project and its impact on improving mobility through Cy-Fair,” said Keith Vrana, chairman of the Cy-Fair Houston Chamber’s Transportation and Mobility Committee. “We all know where the pinch points are as we travel toward Houston in the morning and then home again in the evening.”
When complete there will be five general-purpose lanes in both directions from Loop 610 to Hwy. 6, four general-purpose lanes in each direction from Hwy. 6 to the Grand Parkway and three general-purpose lanes from the Grand Parkway to the Harris County line.
“The ebb and flow of the commute back and forth from Cy-Fair into Houston and vice versa is a hindrance for everyone,” said Danny Frank, CEO and team leader for Keller Williams Realty Greater Northwest Houston. “I truly feel it would spur growth at a faster rate if construction were complete, or not at a total gridlock.”
A major part of the project involves reversing many of the entrance and exit ramps along the freeway. Because some existing exit ramps were too close to an intersection, it caused backup onto the mainlanes in many areas along the corridor as drivers waited to get through the intersection.
The construction has required a shift to the south on the mainlanes between Loop 610 and Beltway 8 to open up more room in which to work on the expansion. This has resulted in less room to merge onto the highway in many areas.
“It’s a tight space, but that gives the contractor room to work,” Othon said. “It’s like reconstructing your house and living in it at the same time. We’re reconstructing a major artery with more than 250,000 people driving it each day. It’s a challenge.”
The new plan also calls for changes to the HOV lane, which will run from Loop 610 to near Mason Road and will remain separated by a barrier.
“Right now, because we did have to reduce the width of the HOV lane, there’s no shoulder,” Othon said. “We will restore that to have shoulders on each side so [drivers] can safely pass a stalled vehicle.”
The Beltway 8 interchange will receive a face-lift as well with the addition of collector-distributor lanes to help alleviate congestion.
“For those people who enter and exit from W. Little York to FM 529, they’ll have a two-lane ramp to get on and bypass the Beltway so you don’t have to stop and merge,” Othon said.
Although the entire project is expected to be complete in its entirety by late 2017, several areas, including the collector-distributor project, will be complete by 2016.
“You’ll see certain parts of each contract complete before the end of 2017,” Othon said. “You might see mainlanes, bridges or frontage roads complete first.”
Project challenges
Since TxDOT began construction on Hwy. 290 in 2011, there have been several changes to the project.
In May, TxDOT defaulted the contractor for Project H—which runs from W. Little York to Pinemont roads—for nonperformance and not meeting terms of the contract. When a default occurs, the surety company takes over the obligations of the contract and works through the process of finding another contractor to take over the project, Othon said. Although work has stopped on Project H, Othon said she does not expect it to affect the overall completion time frame for the project.
The design of the additional lanes has been adjusted since the project began. In 2012, TxDOT and Harris County signed a memorandum of understanding to build managed lanes along the corridor, which would have required drivers to pay to use the new lanes. However the two entities could not come to agreement on the design, which forced TxDOT to reconfigure the scope of the project, resulting in the addition of one general-purpose lane in each direction instead.
There will be a public meeting at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 1 at the Berry Center to share the proposed revised interim configuration for the Hwy. 290 corridor. Written feedback and comments from the public will be accepted at the meeting.
Future growth
The Hwy. 290 project will be done in phased implementations, the second of which includes the Hempstead Tollway, which will run parallel to Hwy. 290.
“When we first began looking at Hwy. 290, the plan was to build Hempstead Tollway first and have that be a reliever for traffic and then start working on [expanding] 290,” Othon said. “Due to funding it wasn’t possible, so we were able to start work on 290 first.”
The population along the Hwy. 290 corridor is projected to be about
1.1 million by 2040, according to the Houston-Galveston Area Council.
“I believe we all fear that any relief we get will be short-lived because of the continued growth in our area,” Vrana said. “The good news is that this project gives us some much-needed relief and will be expanded as funding is allocated in the future.”
Regardless of the construction, Cy-Fair remains one of the hottest markets in the Greater Houston area,
Frank said.
“I think as these projects [on Hwy. 290] are completed, you’ll find the lifestyle and ease of growth will change dramatically for a lot of people,” he said.
View a PDF of map here.
The widening project calls for building an additional general purpose lane in each direction from Loop 610 to the Harris County line near FM 2920. There will also be a single barrier-separated high occupancy vehicle lane in each direction from Loop 610 to near Mason Road with a wider shoulder for through traffic.
“We will definitely benefit from the Hwy. 290 project and its impact on improving mobility through Cy-Fair,” said Keith Vrana, chairman of the Cy-Fair Houston Chamber’s Transportation and Mobility Committee. “We all know where the pinch points are as we travel toward Houston in the morning and then home again in the evening.”
When complete there will be five general-purpose lanes in both directions from Loop 610 to Hwy. 6, four general-purpose lanes in each direction from Hwy. 6 to the Grand Parkway and three general-purpose lanes from the Grand Parkway to the Harris County line.
“The ebb and flow of the commute back and forth from Cy-Fair into Houston and vice versa is a hindrance for everyone,” said Danny Frank, CEO and team leader for Keller Williams Realty Greater Northwest Houston. “I truly feel it would spur growth at a faster rate if construction were complete, or not at a total gridlock.”
A major part of the project involves reversing many of the entrance and exit ramps along the freeway. Because some existing exit ramps were too close to an intersection, it caused backup onto the mainlanes in many areas along the corridor as drivers waited to get through the intersection.
The construction has required a shift to the south on the mainlanes between Loop 610 and Beltway 8 to open up more room in which to work on the expansion. This has resulted in less room to merge onto the highway in many areas.
“It’s a tight space, but that gives the contractor room to work,” Othon said. “It’s like reconstructing your house and living in it at the same time. We’re reconstructing a major artery with more than 250,000 people driving it each day. It’s a challenge.”
The new plan also calls for changes to the HOV lane, which will run from Loop 610 to near Mason Road and will remain separated by a barrier.
“Right now, because we did have to reduce the width of the HOV lane, there’s no shoulder,” Othon said. “We will restore that to have shoulders on each side so [drivers] can safely pass a stalled vehicle.”
The Beltway 8 interchange will receive a face-lift as well with the addition of collector-distributor lanes to help alleviate congestion.
“For those people who enter and exit from W. Little York to FM 529, they’ll have a two-lane ramp to get on and bypass the Beltway so you don’t have to stop and merge,” Othon said.
Although the entire project is expected to be complete in its entirety by late 2017, several areas, including the collector-distributor project, will be complete by 2016.
“You’ll see certain parts of each contract complete before the end of 2017,” Othon said. “You might see mainlanes, bridges or frontage roads complete first.”
