Katy Edition | January 2023

TOP STORY MIND ON MOBILITY As populations increase, the attention turns to major thoroughfares in the region to ease congestion and increase mobility. Most of the growth is happening north of FM 1093, Fulshear ocials said.

KINGSLAND BLVD.

in the city of Fulshear’s extraterrito- rial jurisdiction, which typically limits the amount of inuence city ocials have over development. However, the city and developers began entering into development agreements in 2006 that regulate lot size, density and land use as well as ensuring roads and utility infrastruc- ture are being built to the city stan- dard, Goodlander said. “The development agreement is a useful tool for both parties,” Goodlander said. “There are less question marks from the developer side, but for the city side, it’s a good way of at least ensuring some addi- tional regulation applies that we oth- erwise wouldn’t normally have.” Developers in Fort Bend County are responsible for their own infra- structure from utilities to sanitation systems and the streets that connect to major roadways, said Mark Vogler, Fort Bend County Drainage District general manager and chief engineer. “They create municipal utility dis- tricts, which then in turn supply their water, storm sewer system, detention ponds, sewer systems, and then they pay to that through a … utility district tax,” Vogler said. But the drainage district is conduct- ing a master drainage plan to cong- ure the cost of this practice and the balance of rainfall and water inltra- tion, which should be completed in late May, Vogler said. The big political question, he said, is whether the county can aord to cre- ate regional detention channels or if the onus should remain on developers to oset their own drainage impacts. “The county is looking at what it would cost to improve [our] 41 major streams to handle Atlas 14 rainfall that is 16.5 inches,” Vogler said. “We do not

KATY GAP RD.

1489

1463

359

SPRING GREEN BLVD.

1463

1093

1489

NOTABLE GROWTH

PLANNED PROJECTS

3 FM 1463 widening The project will widen the two-lane road to four and six lanes with raised medians from just FM 1093 to I-10. Timeline: TBD-summer 2026 Cost: $106.55 million Funding source: TxDOT 4 Grand Parkway widening, frontage roads, direct connectors Projects will widen the road from just south of FM 1093 to the Harris County line, add frontage roads, create a connector from the Westpark Tollway and improve intersections. Timeline: June 2023-December 2025 Cost: $198.28 million Funding sources: TxDOT, Fort Bend County, Fort Bend Toll Road Authority

1 I-10 widening, frontage roads I-10 will gain lanes in four segments stretching from Waller Avenue to Mason Road as well as add frontage roads between the Waller County line and Cane Island Parkway. Timeline: TBD-August 2030 Cost: $493.16 million Funding source: Texas Department of Transportation 2 FM 1093 widening, toll roads A The project will add two more lanes from FM 1489 to FM 359 in Fulshear. B Another will construct a toll road between FM 1463 and just west of Spring Green Boulevard. Timeline: TBD-spring 2035 Cost: $86.52 million Funding source: TxDOT

Census data shows the highest population growth between 2016-21 happened west of the Grand Parkway.

POPULATION PERCENT CHANGE

-5%-29.99% 65%-99.99% 135%-169.99%

30%-64.99% 100%-134.99% 170%-204.99%

529

77449

77493

99 TOLL

77084

77494

77094

77441

1093

77450

SOURCES: TEXAS DEMOGRAPHIC CENTER, KATY AREA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL, U.S. CENSUS BUREAU AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY 5YEAR ESTIMATESCOMMUNITY IMPACT

Preparing infrastructure Most of the area’s growth is hap- pening north of FM 1093 and along the Texas Heritage Parkway with mul- tiple master-planned communities, such as Cross Creek Ranch, Tamarron and Cross Creek West, along the corri- dor, Fulshear Assistant City Manager Zach Goodlander said. Goodlander said most of these are

to the region. In 2023, Martinez said the EDC will hone in on its strategic plan, a forward look at Katy’s work- force landscape. Meanwhile, new communities are being built in the Fulshear area to accommodate interest in the region, and the Texas Department of Trans- portation plans to invest millions to improve mobility in the area.

CONTINUED FROM 1

Martinez said. “If you just look generi- cally over the last 10 years of what was here and what was not here, that shows you the pace of that growth and the old adage of ‘build it and they will come.’” The Katy Area EDC collects data to encourage economic development and attract companies, jobs and talent

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