3/23/26 – The Texas Water Development Board recently issued a press release about the State’s Geographic Information Office (TxGIO) and Department of Information Resources (DIR) contracts. The concepts discussed in the article affect many growing areas in the San Jacinto watershed, which is plagued by political fragmentation.
Dozens of counties, cities, and utility districts share responsibility for development, drainage, and flood-control. But they update their flood maps infrequently and irregularly. So, engineers and hydrologists often have trouble planning. They have a fragmented, incomplete picture of what’s going on around them.
But these state systems help to change that. Two key takeaways:
They pre-qualify a pool of vendors. That shortens the qualification and bidding processes for services they may need, such as LIDAR.
Upon completion, studies become part of the public domain – available to everyone who can benefit from them.
The press release, reprinted below, talks about many synergies already discovered with these ingenious systems. They increase collaboration, speed, and cost sharing to improve planning and reduce flood risk.
From TWDB’s Texas Water Newsroom
Left to right: Lidar image of downtown Austin, Texas, aerial view of a neighborhood in Bexar County, and an elevation image of Canyon Lake
Imagine two neighboring communities facing the same challenge.
A small watershed authority in East Texas needs high-resolution elevation data. Recent storms have rewritten floodplain maps, and the old topography simply doesn’t match what residents now experience during heavy rains. Engineers need accurate models. Emergency managers need better evacuation planning. The watershed authority has the expertise to specify the data but lacks the budget to acquire it.
Forty miles away, a county engineering department faces the same problem. New development pressures require updated drainage studies. The county’s flood maps show their age. Engineers spend hours adjusting for known errors rather than designing solutions. They have budget allocated but procurement rules demand a competitive bidding process that will take a year or more to complete.
Both entities will acquire elevation data eventually, but they’ll pay different prices and receive deliverables that may not align at their shared boundaries. This fragmentation describes how Texas communities acquired geospatial data for decades—a siloed process that was slow and inefficient, with few opportunities for collaboration. The old way treated every project as a fresh start rather than a contribution to shared infrastructure.
StratMap Contracts
The Texas Geographic Information Office (TxGIO) and the Department of Information Resources (DIR) Geographic Information Systems (GIS) & Digital Land Surveying Products and Services contracts—known collectively as the StratMap contracts—were developed to be a far more streamlined procurement model.
The StratMap program was originally established in 1997 by Senate Bill 1 to develop consistent statewide digital data layers. Since then, its primary goal has been to acquire and improve digital geographic data for statewide mapping applications, and the program also maintains comprehensive data standard specifications to ensure consistent, high-quality data products across Texas. The TxGIO StratMap program administers and promotes the StratMap contracts, and TxGIO uses those contracts to get the data it needs to develop and maintain consistent statewide digital data layers.
For hydrologists modeling flood risks, engineers designing infrastructure, GIS professionals building applications, and citizens depending on sound governance, the StratMap contracts deliver what communities need most: quality geospatial services, software, and hardware at competitive prices.
How StratMap contracts work
The genius of the StratMap Contracts lies in their simplicity—generally, the state negotiates GIS contracts every five years so that individual communities and governmental entities don’t have to do it themselves. Before signing any potential StratMap vendor contracts, a team of GIS technical experts from TxGIO and DIR contract specialists evaluate every company seeking a StratMap contract based upon their project experience, technology innovation, professional staff, and available resources.
Companies that pass this review earn a place on the DIR Master Contracts list as qualified providers. These pre-approved providers serve Texas state, regional, and local government offices, including river and water authorities, and public education entities. Each approved vendor maintains a Pricing Index on their DIR contract page that lists available products, services, and software alongside pre-negotiated percentage discounts.
The three-step procurement process
Once a community identifies a need, the typical path forward contains three steps:
Review the Pricing Index on the vendor’s DIR contract page to confirm available offerings and discounts.
Obtain a quote directly from the vendor’s listed contact. The quote must reflect the contract’s pre-negotiated discount percentage. If the project is for a state agency and is over $50,000 or requires customization, the community provides a statement of work with the quote and must go through the DIR statement of work process for review and approval—which can take a couple of months.
Issue a purchase order listing the company’s DIR contract number.
That’s it. No months spent drafting and reviewing contracts. The master contracts already satisfy procurement requirements and enable entities to quickly obtain competitive bids from multiple pre-qualified vendors in one place. For state agencies, additional thresholds govern statement of work requirements and processes. But for most local governments, these three steps represent all the administrative requirements.
Complete geospatial coverage
StratMap Contracts cover the full spectrum of GIS:
Whether a community needs new data, help managing a project, or software to analyze existing information, the contracts provide access to quality vendors who can provide what they need. This streamlined procurement process alone is a huge benefit, but incredible strategic value emerges when communities start collaborating.
TxGIO is a collaboration facilitator
No single city or county sees the full map of geospatial activity across Texas, but TxGIO does. Through quarterly community meetings, TxGIO maintains visibility into which projects are being planned, where overlap may exist, and potential partnerships. When a community notifies TxGIO about a potential project, they don’t simply file the information. TxGIO scans for matches and considers who else might need the data to uncover opportunities that isolated communities may not find on their own. This approach allows communities to discover shared challenges and data requirements and combine their budgets to expand the scope of projects and meet their needs more effectively.
Cost sharing as standard practice
StratMap actively cultivates collaboration. Communities that use StratMap learn to start every project conversation with a simple question: “Who else might need this?”
Sometimes the answer reveals unexpected partners. A city planning some new parks might connect with a county assessing conservation easements. A groundwater district modeling aquifers might align with a utility mapping critical infrastructure. A school district planning new facilities might coordinate with emergency services designing evacuation routes. Each partnership multiplies the value of every dollar spent and builds relationships that endure beyond individual projects. Collaboration normalizes the idea that geospatial data serves regional needs.
The specification dividend
Partnerships under StratMap deliver another hidden benefit: better specifications.
When multiple entities collaborate on a statement of work, each brings distinct requirements to the table. The watershed authority prioritizes vertical accuracy for flood modeling. The county emphasizes land cover classification for drainage analysis. A participating city cares about planimetric features for infrastructure management.
Vendors receive requirements that reflect diverse, real-world needs rather than a single department’s perspective. The resulting data serves more purposes, satisfies more stakeholders, and delivers greater return on investment. TxGIO staff facilitate these conversations, helping partners balance competing priorities and arrive at specifications that work for everyone. Their experience across dozens of projects informs recommendations that communities couldn’t develop independently. This collaboration pays in immediate cost savings, in better data, and in regional relationships that strengthen Texas communities for years to come.
The compounding value of data in the public domain
For TxGIO StratMap projects, after vendors deliver final products and independent quality assurance confirms their accuracy, the data enters the public domain. TxGIO staff verify deliverables, integrate them into statewide collections, and make them available to everyone.
Traditional procurement treats data as a consumable. A community pays for it, uses it, and eventually replaces it, so its value degrades over time. The StratMap program inverts this model. TxGIO projects add to a growing public repository. Each new dataset increases the repository’s utility, and new users discover applications for that data that the original sponsors never imagined.
And because TxGIO maintains all StratMap deliverables, staff understand what works and what doesn’t. They have worked with more than 80 different agencies in Texas, from river authorities to municipalities, counties, and councils of government. So, TxGIO sees which specifications produce reliable results. They track which vendors consistently deliver quality and can identify emerging technologies that improve accuracy or reduce costs.
This experience informs future statements of work. When the next community plans a project, TxGIO staff recommend specifications refined through dozens of previous efforts. They warn against approaches that failed elsewhere and can suggest others that succeeded. Each project learns from every project that came before, which ensures that every Texas community, regardless of size or budget, can build on the best available information.
StratMap prepares Texas communities for the future
Texas faces challenges in the coming decades, from population growth to flood risks that will require sophisticated modeling and environmental needs that will demand informed management. Communities need accurate geospatial information to navigate these challenges effectively.
The StratMap contracts can help provide the foundational data upon which solutions to those challenges depend.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/23/26
3128 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/gis_imagecollage.jpg?fit=999%2C670&ssl=1670999adminadmin2026-03-23 13:40:492026-03-24 17:02:14TxGIO, DIR StratMap Contracts: Strategic Asset for Texas Communities
3/22/26 – The San Jacinto West Fork has migrated almost a mile closer to flood-prone Scarborough Development land near the giant Hallett Mine.
State Agency Charged with Flood Mitigation Invests in Development of Flood-Prone Land
In 2025, Scarborough Lane Development purchased 5,300+ acres of flood-prone land near the confluence of the San Jacinto West Fork, Spring Creek, Cypress Creek and Turkey Creek from a developer named Ryko. The State of Texas, via the School Land Board, which is part of the Texas General Land Office, reportedly helped Scarborough purchase the land.
Last year, State Rep. Steve Toth said the state invested $140 million in the property. However, subsequent attempts to verify that amount and the nature of any state investment proved fruitless. Both the GLO and State Attorney General refuse to disclose any information about what the developer calls his “partnership” with the state.
The developer is also fighting Mother Nature and the giant Hallett mine across the river, which threatens portions of Scarborough’s property as a result of less than optimal business practices.
Scarborough owns most of the forested section in the center plus more land to the south. Hallett owns or owned virtually all of the sand mines to the east.Dikes of large pond on SE have been breached in two places. River now runs through it.
River Now Almost a Mile Closer to Homes
Because Hallett left only small strips of land between its mine and the river, the river has breached dikes in four places above recently in ponds on the northwest and southeast.
The river now flows through the pond on the southeast instead of around it. That brings the river almost a mile closer to existing homes – and homes that Scarborough hopes to build.
Dumping Sediment Into River
Yesterday, I received texts and pictures from Jody Binnion, who lives next to the Hallett mine, which is now operated by RGI. While attempting to navigate upstream, Binnion noticed tons of dirt that Hallett had dumped into the river, perhaps in an attempt to shore up its dike.
Late last year, TCEQ cited the operation for five violations, which had been ongoing for more than a year.
Photo Courtesy of Jody Binnion, a fisherman who lives near the Hallett Mine.Second photo courtesy of Binnionfrom a second location.From over West Fork (center). Binnion estimated dumped material extended 50 feet into West Fork.He also felt the loose, unconsolidated material would wash away in the first flood, reducing the conveyance of the river and worsening flooding for homes nearby and downstream.Previous sediment has already totally blocked off the West Fork, forcing the river to migrate through the pit on the right, more than a mile closer to existing homes, near where Scarborough wants to build.A small portion of the Hallett Mine, upstream from Lake Houston, the drinking water source for more than two million people.
A Suggestion to Eliminate Conflict of Interest
TCEQ monitors the mine for Nitrate + Nitrite N, total suspended solids, pH, and hazardous metals including Arsenic, Barium, Cadmium, Chromium, Copper, Lead, Manganese, Mercury, Nickel, Selenium, Silver, and Zinc.
I have previously suggested turning such mines into the Montgomery County Lake District. That would make them an asset to surrounding homeowners rather than a liability.
It would also eliminate a huge conflict of interest for the GLO which administers more than $14 billion in flood mitigation funds for the federal government.
In my opinion, the General Land Office should reconsider its investment in the Scarborough development and instead join with Texas Parks and Wildlife in creating another state park. Preserving the surrounding land would reduce flooding, improve water quality, reduce water treatment costs, and improve public health.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/22/26
3127 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.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/DJI_20260321142356_0685_D.jpg?fit=1100%2C619&ssl=16191100adminadmin2026-03-22 18:25:532026-03-23 08:04:12San Jacinto West Fork Migrating Toward Scarborough Land Near Hallett Mine
3/21/26 – Yesterday, the first side panels for the Northpark Drive bridge walls started going up. By today, approximately a third of the northeastern wall was already in place. It’s exciting to see a plan coming together.
The bridge will ultimately consist of three main sections: one ramp at each end, plus the clear span section in the middle over the UnionPacific Railroad tracks and Loop 494. Contractors are working on the eastern ramp first while they also drill supports for the clear span section which will reach approximately 22 feet above the tracks.
Separately, the westbound turn lane onto southbound Russell Palmer was completed yesterday.
That makes paving on the entire Phase I project virtually complete except for areas around the bridge.
The only exceptions: surface lanes across the railroad tracks, the bridge itself (when complete), and some turn lanes onto/off of Loop 494 near the bridge.
And late today, I learned that contractors just received a green light to finish building the surface lanes up to the railroad tracks. That’s huge news! And it’s for both sides of Northpark from both directions!
Side Wall Going Up Quickly
Yesterday, around noon, I drove past Public Storage on Northpark and noticed the first side panel for the ramp to the bridge being hoisted in place. I made a mental note to come back today. And I was shocked – in a positive way – by the progress made in one day. See the pictures below.
Those white strips of concrete that form a U are “leveling pads” for the side panels, which you can see in front of Public Storage.Closer shot shows brackets which will help “anchor” the panels to compacted dirt that fills the area between the walls.Lifting another panel into place. Tongue-in-grove slots in the ends of panels let them interlock and brace each other.Progress by quitting time on Saturday afternoon. Note how some panels are already as high as vehicles.
Ralph De Leon, project manager for the Northpark Project, says this portion of the job usually goes quickly.
Farther west, those two pieces of heavy equipment have already sunk numerous piers for the bridge into the ground. I photographed them constructing this one on Thursday.
Paving Virtually Complete Elsewhere
Friday, 3/20/26, Harper Brothers poured quick-set concrete for the westbound turn lane onto southbound Russell Palmer Road.
Looking west from just east of Russell Palmer. Note fresh concrete in middle.
Now, all we need is the permanent traffic control signals at Russell Palmer.
Lookin east toward the terminus of Phase 1 from the easternmost portion of the bridge.Note new street light already installed in lower right.
It won’t be long now before this portion of the road opens.
TxGIO, DIR StratMap Contracts: Strategic Asset for Texas Communities
3/23/26 – The Texas Water Development Board recently issued a press release about the State’s Geographic Information Office (TxGIO) and Department of Information Resources (DIR) contracts. The concepts discussed in the article affect many growing areas in the San Jacinto watershed, which is plagued by political fragmentation.
Dozens of counties, cities, and utility districts share responsibility for development, drainage, and flood-control. But they update their flood maps infrequently and irregularly. So, engineers and hydrologists often have trouble planning. They have a fragmented, incomplete picture of what’s going on around them.
But these state systems help to change that. Two key takeaways:
The press release, reprinted below, talks about many synergies already discovered with these ingenious systems. They increase collaboration, speed, and cost sharing to improve planning and reduce flood risk.
From TWDB’s Texas Water Newsroom
Imagine two neighboring communities facing the same challenge.
A small watershed authority in East Texas needs high-resolution elevation data. Recent storms have rewritten floodplain maps, and the old topography simply doesn’t match what residents now experience during heavy rains. Engineers need accurate models. Emergency managers need better evacuation planning. The watershed authority has the expertise to specify the data but lacks the budget to acquire it.
Forty miles away, a county engineering department faces the same problem. New development pressures require updated drainage studies. The county’s flood maps show their age. Engineers spend hours adjusting for known errors rather than designing solutions. They have budget allocated but procurement rules demand a competitive bidding process that will take a year or more to complete.
Both entities will acquire elevation data eventually, but they’ll pay different prices and receive deliverables that may not align at their shared boundaries. This fragmentation describes how Texas communities acquired geospatial data for decades—a siloed process that was slow and inefficient, with few opportunities for collaboration. The old way treated every project as a fresh start rather than a contribution to shared infrastructure.
StratMap Contracts
The Texas Geographic Information Office (TxGIO) and the Department of Information Resources (DIR) Geographic Information Systems (GIS) & Digital Land Surveying Products and Services contracts—known collectively as the StratMap contracts—were developed to be a far more streamlined procurement model.
The StratMap program was originally established in 1997 by Senate Bill 1 to develop consistent statewide digital data layers. Since then, its primary goal has been to acquire and improve digital geographic data for statewide mapping applications, and the program also maintains comprehensive data standard specifications to ensure consistent, high-quality data products across Texas. The TxGIO StratMap program administers and promotes the StratMap contracts, and TxGIO uses those contracts to get the data it needs to develop and maintain consistent statewide digital data layers.
For hydrologists modeling flood risks, engineers designing infrastructure, GIS professionals building applications, and citizens depending on sound governance, the StratMap contracts deliver what communities need most: quality geospatial services, software, and hardware at competitive prices.
How StratMap contracts work
The genius of the StratMap Contracts lies in their simplicity—generally, the state negotiates GIS contracts every five years so that individual communities and governmental entities don’t have to do it themselves. Before signing any potential StratMap vendor contracts, a team of GIS technical experts from TxGIO and DIR contract specialists evaluate every company seeking a StratMap contract based upon their project experience, technology innovation, professional staff, and available resources.
Companies that pass this review earn a place on the DIR Master Contracts list as qualified providers. These pre-approved providers serve Texas state, regional, and local government offices, including river and water authorities, and public education entities. Each approved vendor maintains a Pricing Index on their DIR contract page that lists available products, services, and software alongside pre-negotiated percentage discounts.
The three-step procurement process
Once a community identifies a need, the typical path forward contains three steps:
That’s it. No months spent drafting and reviewing contracts. The master contracts already satisfy procurement requirements and enable entities to quickly obtain competitive bids from multiple pre-qualified vendors in one place. For state agencies, additional thresholds govern statement of work requirements and processes. But for most local governments, these three steps represent all the administrative requirements.
Complete geospatial coverage
StratMap Contracts cover the full spectrum of GIS:
Whether a community needs new data, help managing a project, or software to analyze existing information, the contracts provide access to quality vendors who can provide what they need. This streamlined procurement process alone is a huge benefit, but incredible strategic value emerges when communities start collaborating.
TxGIO is a collaboration facilitator
No single city or county sees the full map of geospatial activity across Texas, but TxGIO does. Through quarterly community meetings, TxGIO maintains visibility into which projects are being planned, where overlap may exist, and potential partnerships. When a community notifies TxGIO about a potential project, they don’t simply file the information. TxGIO scans for matches and considers who else might need the data to uncover opportunities that isolated communities may not find on their own. This approach allows communities to discover shared challenges and data requirements and combine their budgets to expand the scope of projects and meet their needs more effectively.
Cost sharing as standard practice
StratMap actively cultivates collaboration. Communities that use StratMap learn to start every project conversation with a simple question: “Who else might need this?”
Sometimes the answer reveals unexpected partners. A city planning some new parks might connect with a county assessing conservation easements. A groundwater district modeling aquifers might align with a utility mapping critical infrastructure. A school district planning new facilities might coordinate with emergency services designing evacuation routes. Each partnership multiplies the value of every dollar spent and builds relationships that endure beyond individual projects. Collaboration normalizes the idea that geospatial data serves regional needs.
The specification dividend
Partnerships under StratMap deliver another hidden benefit: better specifications.
When multiple entities collaborate on a statement of work, each brings distinct requirements to the table. The watershed authority prioritizes vertical accuracy for flood modeling. The county emphasizes land cover classification for drainage analysis. A participating city cares about planimetric features for infrastructure management.
Vendors receive requirements that reflect diverse, real-world needs rather than a single department’s perspective. The resulting data serves more purposes, satisfies more stakeholders, and delivers greater return on investment. TxGIO staff facilitate these conversations, helping partners balance competing priorities and arrive at specifications that work for everyone. Their experience across dozens of projects informs recommendations that communities couldn’t develop independently. This collaboration pays in immediate cost savings, in better data, and in regional relationships that strengthen Texas communities for years to come.
The compounding value of data in the public domain
For TxGIO StratMap projects, after vendors deliver final products and independent quality assurance confirms their accuracy, the data enters the public domain. TxGIO staff verify deliverables, integrate them into statewide collections, and make them available to everyone.
Traditional procurement treats data as a consumable. A community pays for it, uses it, and eventually replaces it, so its value degrades over time. The StratMap program inverts this model. TxGIO projects add to a growing public repository. Each new dataset increases the repository’s utility, and new users discover applications for that data that the original sponsors never imagined.
And because TxGIO maintains all StratMap deliverables, staff understand what works and what doesn’t. They have worked with more than 80 different agencies in Texas, from river authorities to municipalities, counties, and councils of government. So, TxGIO sees which specifications produce reliable results. They track which vendors consistently deliver quality and can identify emerging technologies that improve accuracy or reduce costs.
This experience informs future statements of work. When the next community plans a project, TxGIO staff recommend specifications refined through dozens of previous efforts. They warn against approaches that failed elsewhere and can suggest others that succeeded. Each project learns from every project that came before, which ensures that every Texas community, regardless of size or budget, can build on the best available information.
StratMap prepares Texas communities for the future
Texas faces challenges in the coming decades, from population growth to flood risks that will require sophisticated modeling and environmental needs that will demand informed management. Communities need accurate geospatial information to navigate these challenges effectively.
The StratMap contracts can help provide the foundational data upon which solutions to those challenges depend.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/23/26
3128 Days since Hurricane Harvey
San Jacinto West Fork Migrating Toward Scarborough Land Near Hallett Mine
3/22/26 – The San Jacinto West Fork has migrated almost a mile closer to flood-prone Scarborough Development land near the giant Hallett Mine.
State Agency Charged with Flood Mitigation Invests in Development of Flood-Prone Land
In 2025, Scarborough Lane Development purchased 5,300+ acres of flood-prone land near the confluence of the San Jacinto West Fork, Spring Creek, Cypress Creek and Turkey Creek from a developer named Ryko. The State of Texas, via the School Land Board, which is part of the Texas General Land Office, reportedly helped Scarborough purchase the land.
Last year, State Rep. Steve Toth said the state invested $140 million in the property. However, subsequent attempts to verify that amount and the nature of any state investment proved fruitless. Both the GLO and State Attorney General refuse to disclose any information about what the developer calls his “partnership” with the state.
Development of the property has come under fire from the City of Houston, Harris County, Montgomery County Precinct 3, Montgomery County Engineering, and nearby residents. All feared it would make flooding in the area worse.
West Fork Getting Closer to Scarborough
The developer is also fighting Mother Nature and the giant Hallett mine across the river, which threatens portions of Scarborough’s property as a result of less than optimal business practices.
River Now Almost a Mile Closer to Homes
Because Hallett left only small strips of land between its mine and the river, the river has breached dikes in four places above recently in ponds on the northwest and southeast.
The river now flows through the pond on the southeast instead of around it. That brings the river almost a mile closer to existing homes – and homes that Scarborough hopes to build.
Dumping Sediment Into River
Yesterday, I received texts and pictures from Jody Binnion, who lives next to the Hallett mine, which is now operated by RGI. While attempting to navigate upstream, Binnion noticed tons of dirt that Hallett had dumped into the river, perhaps in an attempt to shore up its dike.
Late last year, TCEQ cited the operation for five violations, which had been ongoing for more than a year.
A Suggestion to Eliminate Conflict of Interest
TCEQ monitors the mine for Nitrate + Nitrite N, total suspended solids, pH, and hazardous metals including Arsenic, Barium, Cadmium, Chromium, Copper, Lead, Manganese, Mercury, Nickel, Selenium, Silver, and Zinc.
I have previously suggested turning such mines into the Montgomery County Lake District. That would make them an asset to surrounding homeowners rather than a liability.
It would also eliminate a huge conflict of interest for the GLO which administers more than $14 billion in flood mitigation funds for the federal government.
In my opinion, the General Land Office should reconsider its investment in the Scarborough development and instead join with Texas Parks and Wildlife in creating another state park. Preserving the surrounding land would reduce flooding, improve water quality, reduce water treatment costs, and improve public health.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/22/26
3127 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.
Northpark Bridge Walls Going Up Quickly
3/21/26 – Yesterday, the first side panels for the Northpark Drive bridge walls started going up. By today, approximately a third of the northeastern wall was already in place. It’s exciting to see a plan coming together.
The bridge will ultimately consist of three main sections: one ramp at each end, plus the clear span section in the middle over the UnionPacific Railroad tracks and Loop 494. Contractors are working on the eastern ramp first while they also drill supports for the clear span section which will reach approximately 22 feet above the tracks.
Separately, the westbound turn lane onto southbound Russell Palmer was completed yesterday.
The only exceptions: surface lanes across the railroad tracks, the bridge itself (when complete), and some turn lanes onto/off of Loop 494 near the bridge.
And late today, I learned that contractors just received a green light to finish building the surface lanes up to the railroad tracks. That’s huge news! And it’s for both sides of Northpark from both directions!
Side Wall Going Up Quickly
Yesterday, around noon, I drove past Public Storage on Northpark and noticed the first side panel for the ramp to the bridge being hoisted in place. I made a mental note to come back today. And I was shocked – in a positive way – by the progress made in one day. See the pictures below.
Ralph De Leon, project manager for the Northpark Project, says this portion of the job usually goes quickly.
Paving Virtually Complete Elsewhere
Friday, 3/20/26, Harper Brothers poured quick-set concrete for the westbound turn lane onto southbound Russell Palmer Road.
Now, all we need is the permanent traffic control signals at Russell Palmer.
It won’t be long now before this portion of the road opens.
For More Information
Check the project pages of the Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority website and the three-week look-ahead schedule.
Crews should soon:
To see plans for the four quadrants of the surface lanes where they cross UPRR tracks and Loop 494, see these construction docs.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/21/26
3126 Days since Hurricane Harvey