First Concrete Poured for Northpark Drive Expansion

Earlier this week, contractors poured the first concrete for Northpark Drive expansion. It was for the first of several new outbound lanes at US59.

Crews are doing both surface and subgrade work, moving back east towards Chick-Fil-A.

Stormwater Retention Basin Progress

Elsewhere along Northpark, excavation work continued on the south pond. The twin ponds will double as decorative ponds and stormwater detention basins to handle extra runoff from the wider roadway.

Also, in the south pond, Texas Wall & Landscape is continuing work on the retaining walls.

What to Expect Next

According to the Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority website, crews will continue to work on drainage down the middle of Northpark and along the north side of the road, expecially between 59 and 494.

Entergy Power Lines Still Not Moved

Farther east, you can see that Entergy power lines still have not moved. The photo below shows where the bridge over the railroad tracks will go. In the bottom right corner, the roadway will expand to 10 lanes. Six will bridge over the tracks. And four (two on each side) will carry surface traffic turning north and south onto Loop 494.

However, Entergy’s power lines are in the way of the extra lanes.

The big question at this point is when Entergy will move its power lines. It also has not yet begun moving its transformer near the Exxon Station at 59. Entergy ignored a City of Houston deadline to complete moving its lines by March 8. After another 8 days, the company has not yet even begun the work. Nor have they offered the public an explanation why.

Unfortunately, weather forecasters predict this hurricane season will be especially active. And one of the main purposes of this project is to provide an all-weather evacuation route for 78,000 Kingwood residents.

For More Information

For more information about the project including Phase I, visit the project pages of the LHRA/Tirz 10 website. Or see these posts on ReduceFlooding:

• 24/03/09 Entergy Ignores City Deadline to Move Power Lines
• 24/03/08 TXDoT, LHRA Engage Kingwood at Northpark Phase II Meeting
• 24/03/05 Details of Phase II Meeting
• 24/02/27 February ’24 Northpark Expansion Update Including Lane Closures
• 24.02/24 Save the Dates: Public Input Meetings for Diversion Ditch, Northpark Expansion Phase II
• 24/02/20 Entergy Escalates Battle with COH over Northpark
• 24/02/16 Excavation of Second Northpark Detention Basin Well Underway
• 24/02/10 Entergy in City’s Crosshairs, Lane Closures Announced
• 24/02/02 Northpark Tree Transplantation Finished, Drainage Updates
• 24/01/13 Excavation of Northpark Detention Basins Starts
• 24/01/07 What Some Utilities Don’t Understand About the Northpark Expansion Project
• 24/01/04 Northpark Tree Moving Starts; Pond Excavation Next
• 23/12/03 Northpark Expansion Presses Forward While Fighting Entergy Obstacle
• 23/11/17 Contractors Strike Oil at Entry (Illegally dumped years ago)
• 23/11/05 City Approves Northpark Expansion Agreement with Union-Pacific.
• 23/10/26 Project moving forward on multiple fronts
• 23/10/12 Transplanting first tree
• 23/10/02 Clearing of south-side entry for second pond
• 23/09/30 Clearing north-side entry for first pond
• 23/09/23 How plan balances flood mitigation, costs, saving trees
• 23/09/02 New entry design, change in construction plans forced by utility conflicts
• 23/08/17 More drainage for Northpark
• 23/08/02 Ditch clearing stretches halfway to 59 in less than week
• 23/07/25 Northpark construction starts in earnest
• 23/04/13 Groundbreaking
• 22/02/19 Update on expansion project
• 21/07/28 Plan details

Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/8/24

2391 Days since Hurricane Harvey

The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.