1. Friendswood Link Road widening

The city of Friendswood project to widen Friendswood Link Road continues to progress. Construction is ongoing and the project is about 70 percent complete, according to city officials. The project—which received a Texas General Land Office disaster recovery grant designed to improve evacuation routes in the wake of Hurricane Ike—will add lanes to Friendswood Link Road from FM 518 to Blackhawk Boulevard. FM 518 to Hibiscus Lane—the segment of the project in Galveston County—will grow from two to three lanes and include a dedicated turn lane, new sidewalks and an improved drainage system. Hibiscus Lane to Blackhawk Boulevard, which is in Harris County, will expand from two to four lanes. The Harris County portion of the thoroughfare will include medians, new sidewalks and improved drainage. Timeline: fall 2014-winter 2015 Cost: $5.3 million Funding sources: city of Friendswood, Texas General Land Office grant

2. Bailey Road widening

Pearland City Council awarded a construction contract at its regular meeting Aug. 24 for the widening of Bailey Road. Sterling Construction will handle the project, which will expand Bailey Road from FM 1128 to Veterans Drive in an effort to ease east-west traffic congestion in the city. The project will widen Bailey Road from a two-lane, asphalt roadway with open ditches to a four-lane concrete curb and gutter thoroughfare with an underground, enclosed drainage system. In addition, a 10-foot-wide mixed-use path for pedestrians and cyclists will be installed on the north side of the roadway. The project received funding as part of Houston-Galveston Area Council’s Transportation Improvement Program, and construction is expected to begin in mid- to late September. Timeline: September 2015-September 2017 Cost: $21.3 million Funding sources: city of Pearland, H-GAC

3. FM 518 resurfacing

FM 518 in Pearland will undergo surface improvements beginning in the middle of next year. The Texas Department of Transportation will repair the pavement and overlay on about three miles of FM 518 from FM 865 to San Antonio Street. The project—which is in the design phase—will resurface the pavement with the same type of hot-mix asphalt. The contract is scheduled to go out for bid in April 2016. Construction is expected to begin about six weeks later, although there is the potential of a two-month delayed start. Timeline: spring 2016-summer 2016 Cost: $2.3 million Funding sources: federal funds, TxDOT

4. Hwy. 288 resurfacing

TxDOT will begin surface improvements to Hwy. 288 in Pearland in about a year. The highway will undergo an overlay from FM 2234 to Hayes Creek. The same asphalt mix will be used in the resurfacing project. A concrete section of Hwy. 288 from FM 518 to just south of CR 58 is not part of the project. The contract is scheduled to go out for bid in fall 2016. Work on the project will begin about six weeks later, pending a potential two-month delayed start. Timeline: fall 2016-spring 2017 Cost: $6.1 million Funding sources: federal funds, TxDOT

FM 521 improvements

TxDOT is nearing completion of the planning stages of its project to reconstruct and widen FM 521 near Pearland, according to officials. The project will transform FM 521 from a two-lane, undivided roadway to a four-lane, divided thoroughfare from Beltway 8 to 0.3 miles south of FM 2234. As part of the project, FM 2234 will also be reconstructed from 0.3 miles west of FM 521 to 0.2 miles east of FM 521. Grade separations will be installed at the Union Pacific Railroad crossings on FM 2234 and FM 521. Approximately 13.2 acres of right of way—including public land designated as a nature preserve—will need to be acquired for the project. TxDOT has received environmental clearance to begin the right of way acquisition process. Within the nature preserve, two offset “T” intersections at FM 521 and FM 2234 would allow for railroad overpasses to minimize vehicle travel delays. Timeline: spring 2016-spring 2019 Cost: $30 million Funding sources: TxDOT