Grand Parkway Will Open Vast New Upstream Areas to Development

TxDOT has recently cleared a vast swath of forest stretching 13 miles east of US59 to lay the groundwork for the next section of the Grand Parkway.

Almost 25X larger than 610 Loop

When complete, the Grand Parkway will form the third ring around Houston.

  • 610 formed the first ring. It has a perimeter of 37 miles and encompasses an area of 94 square miles.
  • Beltway 8 formed the second ring. It has a perimeter of 87 miles and encompasses an area of 535 square miles.
  • The Grand Parkway, when complete, will have a perimeter of 180 miles with an area of 2274 square miles.

That’s almost 25 times larger than the Loop 610 ring.

Map of Completed/Incomplete Segments

The TxDOT map below shows the completed (open) and incomplete (under construction) segments of the Grand Parkway (SH99).

More about Section H

Section H runs north and east of the Lake Houston area through sparsely populated areas that drain back toward Lake Houston. The major streams: White Oak Creek, Peach Creek, Caney Creek, San Jacinto East Fork and Luce Bayou.

Section H of the Grand Parkway (SH99). Construction began summer 2017 and should last through spring 2022. For a giant, poster-sized PDF showing street names, click here.

Recent Aerial Photos Show Status of Construction

Here’s a look at the status of construction between US59 and Plum Grove Road. All aerial photos taken March 6, 2020.

Looking east from Monday Hargrave road.
Looking east toward Plum Grove Road by the cement plant.
Looking east from over Plum Grove Road.
Looking southwest toward where the East Fork San Jacinto crosses under FM1485
Looking SW toward Redbud Drive (bottom right) across FM1485
Looking SW across Caney Creek. That water in the upper left is the northernmost pond of the Triple-PG sand mine.
Looking SW while over the intersection of Sullivan Road and Thelma Lane.
Looking SW toward East Community Drive from over the Martin Marietta New Caney Yard. That’s the 59 overpass in the far upper right.
Looking SW toward Loop 494 cutting under supports for new bridge.
Looking south down 494 from over the Grand Parkway. US59 cuts through the upper right of the frame.
Looking NE from SW corner of SH99 and US59. (This image taken Jan. 20, 2020.)

One Quarter of Loop Stretches Through 4 Counties

Combined, Segments H and I-1 will stretch 37.5-miles. It will be a controlled-access toll road with intermittent frontage roads from US 59 North (the Eastex Freeway) near New Caney to US 90 near Dayton to I-10 East (the East Freeway) near Mont Belvieu. This segment of the new road will stretch through four countries: Montgomery, Harris, Liberty, and Chambers.

Already, TxDOT is expanding the section between FM2100 and Huffman Cleveland Road to handle anticipated traffic. And it hasn’t even been built yet!

One of the avowed goals of this project: to foster economic development. It’s certainly going to do that. All those people who moved to Porter and New Caney for a rustic lifestyle on large lots nestled away in the woods, will soon see changes. Your new neighbor could be Perry Homes and the next Woodridge Village or Artavia.

For more information, see:

Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/26/2020

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