Texas Department of Transportation representatives gave an update on mobility projects underway in the greater Katy area in a special lunch-time presentation at the Katy Area Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, March 21.

Area Engineer Carlos Zepeda Jr. and Adv. Project Development Director Susan Theiss outlined progress on a number of current initiatives at the meeting at the Chamber offices at 814 East Avenue.

Zepeda described projects currently under construction in the area:

· Interstate 10 widening from FM 359 to the Brazos River, with an estimated completion in third quarter 2024. The $142 million project will widen the freeway to a six- and eight-lane highway and work is said to be 90% complete at this time.

· FM 1463 widening from I-10 to FM 1093, with an estimated completion in second quarter 2026. The project is now about 59% complete, he said.

· State Highway 99 widening from I-10 to FM 1093, with an estimated completion in third quarter 2025. The update will widen the roadway from a four-lane to a six-lane highway and add a frontage road between Westheimer Parkway and Cinco Ranch Blvd. at a cost of $90.9 million, of which $12.1 million is for the frontage road. Work is said to be 50% complete. TxDOT is pouring the bridge decks now, Zepeda said, and concrete paving operations will continue until August 2024. A traffic switch will provide three lines in each direction beginning in September 2024, he said, with widening to the outside afterwards.

Zepeda also listed projects currently in development:

· Interstate 10 from FM 359 to Mason Road, which will widen the roadway and add two managed lanes and two general purpose lanes as well as some frontage roads, one of which would be from Pederson Road to Katy Mills Blvd. The project is funded and expected to be “let” in late 2025 and 2026. Estimated construction cost I $555 million. I-10 from Snake Creek to Mason Road would be widened from a six-lane highway to a 10-lane highway and is expected to be complete in June 2025. From FM 359 to Snake Creek, the freeway will also be widened to ten lanes by August 2026.

· U.S. 90 from I-10 to FM 1463, providing widening and raised medians and shared use paths. Widening from FM 2855 to I-10 in Katy is funded and expected to be completed by 2028. The portion of the project from I-10 in Brookshire to FM 2855 is currently unfunded and has an estimated completion date of 2030.

· State Highway 99 from I-10 to FM 1093 (Segment D) in Fort Bend County, which will provide new frontage roads, intersection improvements and soundwalls, among other improvements. Frontage roads include southbound from Bay Hill to Cinco Ranch and southbound from Westheimer Parkway to Fry, and northbound from Fry to Westheimer

Parkway, Westheimer Parkway to Cinco Ranch Blvd. and Cinco Ranch to Bay Hill. The project is funded and will be let in 2025-2026.

· State Highway 99 from I-10 to US 290 (Segment E), a widening project turning the four-lane highway into six lanes, which is funded and will be let in April 2026. A public meeting is anticipated to be scheduled in the summer of 2024, Zepeda said. No additional right of way is needed, he said.

· Hwy 36A from south of Needville to I-10 and from K-10 to US 290/State Highway 6 north of Hempstead. This unfunded project is currently undergoing engineering and environmental impact studies. Scoping meetings will probably take place in the fall, Zepeda said.

Zepeda, when asked about progress on FM 529 west to FM 359, said that the unfunded project is undergoing environmental impact studies and has a target date of 2028 for completion.

Zepeda concluded the presentation with an appeal for EndtheStreakTX, a TxDOT initiative that focuses on reducing daily highway deaths. In 2020, he said, one in four deaths was the result of an alcohol-related incident and that many deaths are caused by accidents where the driver is inattentive and distracted by texting.