Say Goodbye to the Old Northpark Drive

10/26/24 – Say goodbye to the old Northpark Drive.

Construction crews were hard at work all along Northpark Drive on this beautiful fall Saturday afternoon. One group focused on replacing the Northpark median at Russell Palmer Road.

*North is at top. Northpark median closed at Russell Palmer (center bottom) all weekend for new concrete.* *Photo 10/26/24.*

Another focused on breaking up and carrying away pavement from the old westbound lanes.

*Old Northpark westbound lanes being demolished west of Sherwin Williams*. Photo 10/26/24.

A third group focused on Loop 494 expansion where it crosses Northpark.

Loop 494 expansion at Northpark — *Looking N across Northpark at Loop 494 expansion.*

All this had Northpark traffic backed up for more than a half mile in each direction.

A Crawl Down Memory Lane

As I inched along in traffic, I felt somewhat nostalgic. I’ve lived in Kingwood for more than 40 years and had offices near or on Northpark for more than half that time.

Google Earth shows Northpark under construction back in 1978. It was a heavily wooded area back then. Google does not even have aerial imagery for the area west of the Diversion Ditch. And few homes existed beyond North Woodland Hills and Sherwood Trails.

*Kingwood on 12/31/1977. Woodland Hills curves from bottom to near top of frame just left of center. Northpark intersects it at right angles near the top.*

Kingwood Park high school didn’t exist. Neither did Kingwood High. And the Northpark Recreation Area had just been logged.

Northpark Drive served Kingwood well back then. It helped make Kingwood one of the finest master-planned communities in the Houston area, and one of the most unique in the country. To this day, Kingwood’s integration of homes and businesses with nature still astounds newcomers and sets a standard for the nation.

The vision appealed to so many, that now Northpark must expand from four lanes to six, with 10 at the widest point.

Photos Taken on 10/25/24

The gleaming, white, new concrete poured during the last three weeks stretches a half mile to where crews funneled westbound traffic onto the new lanes at the approximate location where they were tearing out the old westbound lanes.

*Northpark Drive Expansion, looking west from Russell Palmer Road (bottom left).*

*Lower shot shows concrete poured earlier this week is still drying.*

*Saturday afternoon at 1:30 PM. Shot shows why we need more lanes.*

*Father west, contractors are demolishing the old Westbound road.*

This is the general area where a bridge will begin to carry traffic over Loop 494 and the UP Railroad Tracks. In addition to the three lanes of traffic in each direction going over the bridge, we will also have two surface lanes on each side of the bridge…in both directions. One of the lanes will be for left turns and the other for right turns.

Loop 494 Expansion

Contractors are also widening Loop 494 sound of Northpark. The extra lanes on 494 will help prevent traffic coming off Northpark from backing up into the new turn lanes.

*Looking S across Northpark at where lanes will widen Loop 494.*

The result of all this work: the first all-weather evacuation route from Kingwood. The widened road will also increase mobility, cut commute times, increase safety, and keep Kingwood a premier community for the next generation.

For More Information

Consult the Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority project pages. Or see these ReduceFlooding posts:

Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/26/24

2615 Days since Hurricane Harvey