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Follow TURFGrand Pkwy Segment E opens in Houston
This road for Exxon Mobil is a wasteful greenfield project, propped up with taxpayers money and not even o the state's priority list. Yet it is to receive over $400 million in taxpayer subsidies plus an un-Constitutional loan guarantee courtesy of Texas taxpayers. Send a message and boycott it anyway!
Grand Parkway Segment E northwest of Houston opens this weekend - 15 miles more on TX99
December 21, 2013
By Peter Samuel
Toll Road News
The northwest fringe of the Houston area gets new connectivity with the opening Saturday (Dec 21) of Segment E of the Grand Parkway, TX99. 2x2 lanes of toll expressway will open as barrels and barriers are removed. Last weekend TxDOT sponsored a Party on the Parkway with 1km and 5km runs, bands, barbecues and food. Construction cost of the 15 miles was $320m. Prime contractor was Williams Bros.
Toll systems are by TransCore. Ground was broken on the project Sept 13 2011. South-to-North TX99-E goes from I-10 in Katy to US290 in Cypress. The Parkway has spectacular four level interchanges with major intersecting highways at the ends, although some of the ramps remain to be completed.
There are two gantry toll points on the mainline with $1.40 tolls and some ramp tolls 35c to 70c. Segment D about 12 miles south from I-10 to US59S/I-69 is already open, and work is well under way on segments F-1, F-2 and G, a 38 mile stretch from the end of Segment E at US290 east to US59N/I-69. That’s due to open late 2015 under a design-build-operate,maintain contract for $1.1 billion. Most of the pavement and bridge beams are concrete.
Concessioning failed - state takes risk
TxDOT efforts to concession the Grand Parkway have failed and the state is taking the traffic and revenue risk. Some segments of the Parkway are designed to have untolled frontage roads straddling the tollway and hitting at-grade signalized intersections. In other places motorists that want to avoid tolls can use ramps to signalized intersections and toll gantries are on mainline overbridges of the intersections.
Clockwise from 8 o’clock On a clockface the scheduling started at 8 o’clock and proceeds clockwise. Part of Segment D from I-10 to the Westpark Tollway used tax money for financing and is untolled, but there are tolls on the portion south of the Westpark to US59. In the southeastern portion TX99 around Baytown and the port area will use an existing stretch of TX146, a freeway which is to remain untolled.
There is preliminary work on some stretches of the H and I segments in the north east and east. The southern segments A, B, C will be the last built. Work was started by a Fort Bend county toll authority but TxDOT has taken over - being better able to sell needed bonds. Some $2.9 billion have been sold so far. TX99 when complete at 185 centerline miles will be a third belt route around the Houston area. It will intersect the many radial expressways going in to the center of the region. It's located at distances varying from 17 miles to 27 miles out from central Houston.