With construction on Hwy. 290 scheduled to take place over the next several years, the Texas Department of Transportation plans to first improve several intersections along the corridor in Northwest Houston. There are several transportation system management, or TSM, projects slated for this year leading up to the expansion project.

Beginning at the Hwy. 290 and Eldridge Parkway intersection, the inbound frontage road medians will be adjusted to allow motorists to make U-turns or turn left. This modification is expected to reduce backups by allowing more vehicles to turn left at the same time, and it will implement a designated right turn lane to separate traffic movements, according to TxDOT's design. A similar configuration will be constructed at the Hwy. 6 and FM 1960 intersection on both the north and south sides of the highway.

Several miles up the road, the inbound feeder configuration between Telge and Huffmeister roads will be reversed and pushed farther north to decrease congestion on the main lanes. An auxiliary lane will be constructed to allow motorists more time and space to merge with other traffic.

Cypress–Rosehill, Skinner, Spring Cypress and Fry road interchanges will also be modified to ease the increased congestion caused by an influx of commercial and residential developments throughout the area. A designated right turn lane will be added to the outbound feeder road to direct traffic onto Skinner Road heading north, while the inbound feeder road median will be modified to allow motorists to make left turns or a U-turn. The Cypress–Rosehill and Fry Road exit will feature both designated right turn and left turn lanes on both the north and south sides.

The TSM projects were put to let in September and awarded to James Construction Group with the low bid of 7.08 million, according to TxDOT. Construction on the projects is slated to begin in the first part of this year and be completed in about 103 days weather conditions permitting.