THREE MORE LINKS IN THE GRAND PARKWAY ARE NOW READY TO ROLL 
Yesterday the Texas Transportation Commission rubber-stamped TxDOT’s selection of a developer for 3 additional segments of the Grand Parkway — if you count FM1960 and Hwy. 6, Houston’s fourth ring road. Segments F1, F2, and G of State Hwy. 99 will run from Hwy. 290 east to the newly minted I-69 (also known as U.S. 59). Along the way, the new stretch will rub elbows — conveniently — with the new ExxonMobil campus in the former pine forest west of the I-45 intersection and the start of the Hardy Toll Rd. Zachry-Odebrecht Parkway Builders will be in charge of the $1.04 billion project. Construction is expected to start next year, with the toll road opening in 2015. [TxDOT] Map: Tollroads News
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Ring around the Collar
I wish Washington DC had “rings” around it. As it is we have one beltway and if there is any rain at all people just sorta quit with the gas peddle. I swear, if someone peed on the beltway traffic would back up for miles.
Ann
What a waste of resources.
Wow! Over 2 billion dollars is being spent on the reconstruction of US 290 and the Grand Parkway. Yet most Houstonians still whine about paying a few million for light rail. People here make no damn sense!
This will have even more people moving to the Northwest side of ‘town’.
Wish Sheila Action Jackson Lee could hold up federal funds for this like Culberson holds up funds for light rail on Richmond, but it doesn’t look like there is much Ferderal money in this. I guess after cutting education dollars to the bone, somehow our state has found some pocket change for this.
Ummm,link for Tollroad News goes to a story from February 12th, 2012… not new news if you ask me.
What’s up with GP Segment A? It’s the only undecided route left, and seemingly no progress is being made. The Grand Parkway Association doesn’t even bother attempting to estimate a schedule for it on their website.
Is section A even necessary with the NASA 1 flyover in place already? It’s not like that section of the coast needs to be further built up…
The NASA 1 flyover is great for the Harris County side of the Clear Lake area, but doesn’t do anything for the Galveston County side where the Grand Parkway would intersect with I-45. And at present, FM 646 is a real bear. It takes about as long to get to San Leon as it does to get to Galveston.
A case can be made for Segments A, B, and C for evacuation purposes. If it is good public policy that development should be constrained (which I think it is), then I would propose that the state legislature address that issue separately and that federally subsidized insurance programs be revoked. You’d witness home prices in that area collapse, and then very few people would want to own or build there even if they could access it. And to the extent that there would be any building going on, it would be of better quality, more resistant to catastrophic losses. But they should still have better access like every other part of our region.
Oh joy, what Houston needs more of; urban sprawl.
Wait, so not even snarkiness can stop this thing now?
Only problem is that with a huge name like Grand Parkway, what will we call the next, even bigger loop?
I suppose it will be called the Grand Wizard Parkway… but only if runs through Jasper.
How about the Loop the Loop…..the Loop….the Loop?
Perhaps something like the Magnanimous Horseshoe, since the coast will prevent any future ring road from being a true loop.