Northpark Rail Crossing, 494 Intersection Under Manual Control Tuesday

3/9/2026 – On Tuesday 3/10/26, the UnionPacific Railroad (UPRR) will install new controllers for the Northpark Drive crossing gates. That means the rail crossing AND the Loop 494 intersection with Northpark will be under manual control for most of the day beginning at approximately 8 AM.

TXDoT, UPRR, the City of Houston, and TIRZ-10/LHRA representatives will be onsite to supervise the operation.

Watch for Flagmen and Police

In place of the railroad crossing gates, two flagmen, two motorcycle police officers, and four other police officers will shuttle traffic through the intersection and across the tracks.

Exercise extreme caution and be prepared for sudden stops. Especially if you haven’t had your morning coffee yet.

Ralph De Leon, project manager for the Northpark Expansion project, expected the operation could go 6 to 8 hours.

The “cabinet” that will house the controller has already been installed and energized. See red circle on the right below. UPRR needs to move the electronics from the old cabinet on the left to the new one on the right.

*Old cabinet (l) is blocking new surface lanes which run across concrete inserts in tracks.*

Next, Harper Brothers Construction will finish the new surface lanes across the tracks (see below).

*The new surface lanes will connect across those concrete inserts in the tracks. The bridge will cover the center over the tracks and Loop 494.*

Additionally, work on temporary signals for the two new feeder roads will begin on March 16^th.

Other Northpark News

Excavation of Entry Ponds Restarting

The dirt crew will continue the excavation and grading of the north detention pond for the next two weeks with cement stabilization occurring once final grade is achieved. Then they will install the pond liner and move to the south pond.

*Looking E from over US59. More excavation will start on north entry pond (L) first. South pond (R) will go next.*

Bridge Construction

Excavation of the retaining wall footings will continue next week east of the railroad tracks. Embankment operations for the bridge header will begin after the retaining wall footings have been poured, and the retaining wall panels have begun being set.

*Looking E from over UPRR Tracks. 6-lane bridge will go in center. Two surface lanes for turning traffic will go on either side of bridge.*

*Excavation work has already started on footings for bridge retaining wall. See lower L to upper Center.*

A structures crew will mobilize to the project beginning next week to pour the retaining wall footings, then set and build the retaining walls on the east side of the rail tracks.

Medians: Watch Your Tires

Crews are installing “curb pins” in the median of Northpark east side of the railroad tracks. The pins will hold the curbs that separate eastbound from westbound traffic. Do not try to cross between barrels or you could puncture your tires. Cross only at marked crossing locations.

Anderson Road

On March 9th, Anderson Road (the road next to the tracks that splits off south of Northpark) will return to its final configuration. The temporary asphalt placed previously will be removed and the final grading of the ditch will be completed.

Surface Lanes Near UPRR Tracks

The paving crew will continue to work on the paving in front of Extra Space Storage to finish the westbound paving up to the UPRR right of way and in the center of Northpark in front of Sun Auto. See below.

*Sun Auto on left. Please patronize local businesses during construction.*

Starting on March 23, the paving crew will mobilize to the UPRR ROW to focus on the 4 quadrants of paving up to the UPRR tracks until completed.

A small storm sewer crew will work on the final storm sewer items until the next phase when the UPRR crossings and signals are completed, and traffic is moved to the permanent railroad crossings.

Sidewalks

The sidewalk crew will pave from Russel Palmer to Northpark Christian Church on the outbound side. Then they will pave sidewalk from Marco’s Pizza up to King’s Mill.

Streetlights/Signals

The streetlight crew will continue working on drilling luminaire foundations and luminaire poles.

*First of many new street lights started going up along Northpark last week.*

The permanent signal work at Russel Palmer Road will begin the week of March 9.

Supports for Bridge

Also starting the week of March 9, the drilling subcontractor will begin drilling the 30″ shafts for the bridge retaining walls. They will also pour concrete for the drill shafts.