Major Causes of Northpark Project Slowdown Being Removed
9/10/25 – Ralph DeLeon, Northpark project manager, had good news to share this afternoon. Two out-of-place water lines that have slowed the Northpark expansion project for months are finally being moved out of the way.
Construction crews discovered the out-of-place pipelines during the boring operation under the UnionPacific Railroad tracks back in July. Contractors were trying to insert two 60″ steel pipelines under the tracks, in order to convey stormwater from the west side to the east and then onward to the Kingwood Diversion Ditch.
Abandoned Water Lines Had Cascading Effects
But the utility conflicts had cascading effects. Without the twin bores, surface lanes on top of them could not be built. And without the surface lanes traffic could not be rerouted to make way for other improvements.
The pictures below show removal of the first of the two lines.
It’s unclear whether that small black line on a diagonal is the second water line or a brace for the pit walls. DeLeon was not available to clarify.
However, De Leon’s email did say, “The contractor removed the 18” abandoned water line underneath the rail tracks and expects to complete extraction of the second conflict by today. … They expect to resume boring and installing the 5′ steel pipes by Friday this week.
Traffic Switch Delayed
In other news, the traffic switch initially scheduled for today and tomorrow has been delayed by a week. De Leon said, “The contractor did not get enough concrete sections built to move forward with the traffic as initially scheduled.”
The Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority website now says, “Beginning September 17th at 9pm and thru September 18th, the Northpark Drive Project Contractor, Harper Brothers Construction, will shift westbound traffic, between NorthPark Christian Church and Loop 494 to the newly constructed westbound lanes. The existing east bound traffic lanes will also shift onto the previous westbound traffic lanes from Loop 494 to RecNation RV & Boat Storage.”
These traffic shifts are planned to last approximately four months.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/10/2025
2934 Days since Hurricane Harvey
