UPRR Inserts New 200-Foot Section of Track Across Northpark

3/6/25 – UnionPacific Railroad (UPRR) has finished splicing a 55,000-pound, 200-foot-long, single section of track into their line across Northpark Drive in Kingwood. However, more work still needs to be done. UPRR must still:

Install concrete between and alongside the tracks, so traffic can move smoothly over them.
Get signals working again.
Clear the intersection of Loop 494 and Northpark.
Clean up the TXDoT right of way on Loop 494 that they used as a staging area.

Heavy Lifting Completed

The hardest part of the job is now complete, though.

The single-section splice will stabilize the track through an area where ten lanes of traffic will go under and over it. Several utilities must also bore under it.

On the morning of 3/5, UPRR started removing the old track and moving the new track closer to the Northpark/494 intersection.

Northpark closed — *Looking S along Loop 494. Old track on left. New on right.* *Shot taken 3/5/25 at 8 AM.*

By 2 PM yesterday, they had repositioned the new section next to the old track.

*Note how much closer the new track is to the old.* *Shot taken 3/5/25 at 2 PM.*

They also had a mountain of gravel ready to provide a fresh base for the new track.

*Gravel stockpiled for new base.* *Shot taken 3/5/25 at 2 PM.*

Because of traffic snarls throughout Kingwood, I missed the actual installation of the new track.

Sometime between 2 PM yesterday and 8 AM today, UPRR actually, removed the old track and moved the new 55,000-pound section into place. The railroad also freshened the track base with new gravel. The shots below show how it looks as of 8 AM on 3/6/25.

*Looking SE at the area just north of Northpark. Note old sections of track awaiting removal.* *Shot taken 3/6/25 at 8 AM*.

*Wider, lower shot shows Northpark in upper right. Still looking SE.* *Shot taken 3/6/25 at 8 AM*.

*Looking south across Northpark/Loop 494 intersection.* *Shot taken 3/6/25 at 8 AM*.

*Reverse angle.* *Looking North across Northpark.* *Shot taken 3/6/25 at 8 AM.*

Elsewhere on Northpark

Meanwhile, Harper Brothers, the general contractor for the Northpark expansion project, used the UPRR closure as an opportunity to trench across Northpark in two places to install new drainage. The trenching took place between the U-turn and the railroad tracks.

*Looking E at installation of new drainage by Harper Brothers.* *Shot taken 3/5/25 at 2 PM.*

Traffic Snarls Throughout Kingwood

As Kingwood residents detoured around the Northpark closure, traffic snarled everywhere…despite the best efforts of UPRR and HPD to help direct traffic. It was like an avalanche trying to squeeze through a pinhole.

Getting to the location above would normally take ten minutes from my house. Today, it took more than a half hour.

The Northpark closure should last through Friday. Use this time to visit merchants in Kingwood. Work from home. Or simply read a good book. This too shall pass.

It dramatizes the need for more traffic capacity and an all-weather evacuation route out of Kingwood.

During mega-storms, such as Hurricane Harvey, when Kingwood Drive is cut off, we have insane traffic congestion on Northpark.

This project will improve that situation. It will make it easier to get to US59 across the railroad tracks and Loop 494. So, allow extra time if you must travel and pack your patience.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/6/25

2746 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Heavy Lifting Completed

Elsewhere on Northpark

Traffic Snarls Throughout Kingwood

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