Transportation
BY KELLY SCHAFLER
Officials: Relief coming this fall for Grand Parkway widening
Drivers can expect to see construction along the Grand Parkway in the Katy and Cypress areas for at least the next five years, Texas Department of Transportation officials said. Multiple projects along segments D and E aim to widen the road, ease congestion and increase accessibility with frontage roads. Segment D runs from I-10 in Katy to Hwy. 59 in Sugar Land, while Segment E runs from I-10 to Hwy. 290 in Cypress. Ongoing projects Construction is about halfway complete on two Grand Parkway projects between I-10 and FM 1093, TxDOT Area Engineer Carlos Zepeda said. The combined $103 million projects aim to widen the road from four to six lanes and add a frontage road between Westheimer Parkway and Cinco Ranch Boulevard. The project began in 2023 and is set to wrap up in September 2025, he said. However, drivers will gain some capacity this fall when a traffic switch opens the road to three lanes in each direction. “Once we get to that September time frame of this year, it will be nice and flowing,” he said. Upcoming projects On the heels of these two projects finishing in 2025, work will kick off for other Grand Parkway projects—a handful of which will add in remaining frontage roads between I-10 and FM 1093, TxDOT officials said. These projects combine to be roughly $108 million; construction is expected to begin fall 2025 and could take two years to complete, officials said. It’ll also include intersection improvements, a shared-used path and sound walls. Meanwhile, TxDOT officials are doing
Upcoming projects 3 Widening from four to six lanes between I-10 and Hwy. 290 (Cost TBD) 4 Adding southbound/northbound frontage roads between Cinco Ranch Boulevard and Highland Knolls Drive as well as Westheimer Parkway and Fry Road ($108M) Ongoing projects ($103M combined) 1 Widening from four to six lanes from I-10 to FM 1093 2 Adding southbound/northbound frontage roads between Cinco Ranch Boulevard and Westheimer Parkway
Cypress
290
3
99 TOLL
6
Katy
PIONEER PARK
99 TOLL
HIGHLAND KNOLLS DR.
HIGHLAND KNOLLS DR.
90
10
10
4
GEORGE BUSH PARK
1
2
1093
1463
4
GEORGE BUSH PARK
WESTHEIMER PKWY.
1093
CINCO RANCH BLVD.
N
SOURCE: TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION/COMMUNITY IMPACT
The project—which will add inside lanes so it won’t take additional right of way—should begin in summer or fall 2026 and could take an average of three years to complete, Theiss said. What’s next TxDOT officials will begin hosting public meetings in August or September to discuss the Segment E widening project, Theiss said.
environmental studies and design for a future widening of Grand Parkway’s Segment E from four to six lanes between I-10 and Hwy. 290, said Sue Theiss, TxDOT advanced project develop- ment director. Theiss said this project is necessary to address the growth happening along the corridor and statewide. “If you look at all the neighborhoods going up, there are thousands of rooftops going up there and lots of commercial [development] since we put the road in,” she said.
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