Friendswood Development Company has started clearing 553 acres west of Huffman-Cleveland Road. It will eventually extend from Northwood County Estates on the north to Cypress Point on the south. Plat records show that Friendswood has named the development “Sila.”
Long, Narrow, Dense Homesites
The new residential community will contain an unspecified number of homesites, most long and narrow. This will certainly increase the percentage of impervious cover relative to the surrounding area.
Detail from Sila Section 3 plat approved by Houston Planning Commission in 2023.
Existing homes sit on larger, heavily wooded lots. So, this and other new, nearby developments will change the character of the area considerably. Along with that will come more traffic and congestion.
To put that in perspective, I talked to one homeowner in nearby Northwood Country Estates who owns a five-acre lot.
Forty-five of the lots indicated above could fit on his property.
Drainage Plans
Friendswood appears to be almost halfway done with clearing land for Sila. Consistent with best practices and construction plans, contractors appear to be clearing one section at a time, installing perimeter catchment ditches, erecting silt fence, and stabilizing land before moving on to the next area.
Detail from Sila drainage impact analysis.
The drainage analysis also claims that the development will provide more than the minimum amount of required detention-basin capacity. The minimum required is .65 acre feet per acre. But the engineering firm BGE says it will provide .67.
The minimum requirement was established by Harris County Flood Control District in 2019 after Hurricane Harvey. So, it should accommodate 100-year rainfalls projected under Atlas 14, NOAA’s current standard for rainfall estimates.
Approximately the northern half of this area has been cleared to date.
Approximately Half of Land Cleared So Far
The pictures below, all taken on 2/3/24, show the areas cleared so far.
Looking west over Huffman-Cleveland Road at extent of clearing. Curvature in road is caused by wide-angle-lens distortion.
The yellowish runoff in the foreground of the photo above is from Saint Tropez another new, but different development seen in the background of two pictures below.
Note the ditches that channel runoff away from homes in Northwood County Estates in upper right.
A 1.5 inch rain the night before I took these photos caused the ponding water you see.
Reverse angle. A series of three connected stormwater retention basins will flank the main entry road. Area to right (south) has not yet been cleared.Looking east toward Saint Tropez across Huffman-Cleveland Road.Friendswood appears to have planted grass in foreground to reduce erosion.Silt fence protects neighbors in other areas cleared earlier.
Proposed Lake Houston Mitigation Bank
The Sila property will drain into hundreds of acres that are part of the proposed Lake Houston Mitigation Bank.
Looking W at wetlands and floodplain between Sila and the East Fork San Jacinto.
East Fork San Jacinto River and Lake Houston Park beyond.
The preservation of so much land will help protect homebuyers from flooding. It will also provide wildlife habitat and an exceptional recreational amenity. Here’s the prospectus for the mitigation bank presented to the Army Corps. Corps approval still appears to be pending as of this writing.
Areas of Concern
Two areas of concern, however, exist near the land most recently cleared. Contractors have not yet erected silt fence or dug protective ditches behind some of the neighboring homes on Davidson Lane in Northwood County Estates.
Looking S. Neighboring homes in upper right were still unprotected from runoff when I took this picture on 2/3/24. Water flows from left to right toward East Fork San Jacinto out of frame on the right.Looking W. Note how runoff is draining across neighbor’s property. A larger rain could have caused damage.
Neighbors in Northwood County Estates are also concerned with how existing drainage will tie into Sila’s drainage. Elevations on county drawings and Sila’s drawings differ in places. So residents are asking for confirmation that existing ditches will continue to drain properly.
Ditch at end of Davidson Lane in Northwood Country Estates.
For the most part, with the exceptions noted above, Friendswood seems to be responsibly navigating the perilous early phase of development between clearing and the installation of drainage.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/4/24
2250 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/2024/02/20240203-DJI_0671-Pano.jpg?fit=1100%2C462&ssl=14621100adminadmin2024-02-04 15:18:312024-02-04 18:57:12Friendswood Clearing 553 Acres in Huffman
Overnight, the gauge at West Lake Houston Parkway (WLHP) and the West Fork received 1.44 inches of rain. And once again, runoff from Trammell Crow’s High Street Residential apartment complex on WLHP flooded surrounding streets and neighbors.
Visit from Engineering, Pollution Control and Constables
Harris County Engineering made a series of visits to the work site earlier this week in an effort to bring the developer into compliance with stormwater regulations. Harris County Constables and Harris County Pollution Control even accompanied the engineering staff to the site on 2/1/24.
After that visit, a member of the engineering staff told a neighbor that work at the site had been shut down until contractors came into compliance. Reportedly, mitigation work was the only work allowed on the site. But evidently, the developer had other priorities.
Sediment-laden runoff from construction sites is one of the main sources of sediment pollution in rivers and lakes. It has been linked to blockages that contribute to flooding.
Changes Between 2/1/24 and 2/2/24
On Friday, 2/2/24, I paid the site the Trammell Crow construction site a visit and saw some stormwater-mitigation work in progress. Specifically, contractors appeared to have:
Dug a small pond to let sediment settle out of water.
Dug a channel toward it.
Cleared muck off the sidewalk on Kings Park Way.
Placed a short length of wattle roll between the street and worksite along Kings Park Way. (Wattle is a temporary erosion control and sediment control device used on construction sites to protect water quality in nearby streams, rivers, lakes. During rain storms, the rolls intercept surface stormwaterrunoff and reduce the velocity of flow.)
Placed wattle in front of one of the two storm drains on Kings Park Way along the southeast side of the development.
Erected a six-foot-high privacy fence around three sides of the site.
Stationed a guard at the worksite entrance. They clearly didn’t want anyone documenting what they were or weren’t doing.
Had they spent as much time erecting a runoff barrier as they did the visual barrier, they might have prevented another stormwater debacle.
Other work unrelated to stormwater mitigation also appeared to be underway at the site Friday afternoon.
Still No Results
By 8 am Saturday morning (2/3/24), my phone was blowing up. Irate neighbors were sending me videos. Once again, Kings Park Way and West Lake Houston Parkway were being flooded.
By 10:30 am, the same intersection looked like this.
Someone had removed the wattle and a sand bag to let the street drain. Note the new privacy fence in background.
That’s one way to solve a street-flooding problem. Flush the silty muck down the storm drain.
At noon, here’s what you could see elsewhere with a drone.
Looking toward the same troubled corner from the other side of the fence. Note water seeping underneath.Elsewhere, they had begun digging a trench to channel water toward the sediment pond.But the trench from the troubling corner did not reach the sediment pond.
Unprotected Perimeter Remained
Beyond the main entry, no silt fence and water leaking under privacy fence, which was leaning over.At the back of the property, no fence at all and water flowing into neighboring property.Water was escaping all along the back of the property.
Perhaps the developer should have spent more time controlling stormwater and less time concealing the site with a half mile of privacy fence.
It makes me wonder whether their values are misplaced.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/3/24
2349 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.
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Despite constant rain that brought widespread flooding to the Houston region last week, contractors finished the Northpark tree transplantation. They also made significant progress on two other parts of the road expansion project since my last update two weeks ago. I took the pictures below on 2/1/24 with one exception.
Among the highlights:
Dozens of trees were transplanted on the south side of Northpark at US59. The trees now form an arc around what will eventually become a decorative pond/retention basin on the south side of the intersection.
Excavation of a companion decorative pond/retention basin on the north side of Northpark is much farther along than in my previous report.
The first leg of 8-foot culvert linking the ponds with Ditch One is almost complete. The other two legs (under the railroad tracks and from US59 to Loop 494) should start within weeks.
Ideal Weather for Northpark Tree Transplantation
The cool, wet weather created ideal conditions for the transplanted trees to take root and thrive. Ralph De Leon, project manager, noted that the spacing of the trees also gives them room to spread and thrive.
Each transplanted tree has a ring around the base designed to retain supplemental water. The trees will receive extra water for two years to ensure they thrive after the shock of being transplanted.
Looking south. Transplanted trees will form a backdrop for what will soon become another decorative pond.
Pond Excavation Progress
Meanwhile, across Northpark, excavation of the first of two ponds is proceeding despite the wet weather.
Looking north. Across Northpark Drive, excavation of the pond/retention basin is already well underway.Reverse angle of same area makes it easier to see the extent of excavation.
Excavated dirt is being stored temporarily at a sand mine on Sorters-McClellan Road. After the culverts are installed down the center of Northpark, contractors will retrieve the excavated dirt and place it over the culvert sections to form the road bed.
The pond above will go 8-12 feet deeper than you see now. The contractor is only digging down to the water table for now until: a) pond liners arrive and b) drainage connections for the ponds are complete. That’s because the contractors will have to continuously pump water as they excavate to the final depth.
Pond Landscaping Plans
That horse-shoe-shaped area on the left (above and below) will be a decorative focal point for the pond.
The trench you see above will contain a brick retaining wallthat keeps the area from eroding into the ponds.
Final design of the north pond will look like this.
The peninsula will contain decorative trees, shrubs and other plantings.
The next diagram shows how the north and south ponds will closely mirror each other.
Current plans call for colorful crepe myrtles. Japanese ardisia, a ground cover, will ring the area.
Japanese ardisia, also called marlberry, is a flowering, evergreen ground cover introduced from the Far East. It is a low-growing, woody shrub that spreads laterally while growing to a height of 8-12 inches.
No Identifying Entry Signage
Unlike Kingwood Drive, where KSA owns the land behind the ponds, TXDoT owns all the land at Northpark Drive. So you will not see any prominent Kingwood identification as you do at Kingwood Drive.
Drainage Progress Between Railroad and Ditch One
The entry ponds above will drain to “Ditch One.” The ditch runs parallel to Northpark behind the businesses on the north side of the road.
Culverts will carry the water from the ponds eastward, then under Loop 494 and the railroad tracks. The culvert will then turn north and back east again behind the businesses (see red line below).
Route of drainage from north pond to Ditch One.Photo from 1/24.
The agreement with UnionPacific to tunnel under the tracks has been completed and the plans approved. However, tunneling has not yet started. UP indicated that their busy season ends after February, so boring under the tracks will likely be delayed until then for safety reasons.
Regardless, the link to Ditch One around the storage businesses above is almost complete. Culvert has already been buried parallel to the tracks and behind two storage businesses.
Looking SW. Culvert placement almost complete. Contracts use the dirt to level ground above the culvert.
Existing drainage will join the new culvert behind those businesses. Currently, contractors are working on the junction. See below.
The new 8′ pipe from the ponds is the one with the man standing inside of it.
Contractors are also working on the outfall into the ditch. Because of the expected velocity of the water, they must create concrete walls to prevent erosion of the surrounding earth that could undermine the pipe.
Start of the concrete outfall into Ditch One.Ditch One (center) will then carry the stormwater to the Kingwood Diversion Ditch and Bens Branch.
Ditch One will eventually be widened to handle the increased flow. Connecting the ponds at US59 to the link under the railroad tracks should start in the next few weeks.
The project requires the additional retention and drainage capacity shown above to handle runoff from the extra lanes of traffic.
In front of the businesses shown above, Northpark will eventually expand to 10 lanes from the current four. Six will carry traffic on a bridge over the railroad and Loop 494. Four turn lanes will remain at ground level – two on each side of the bridge. The two will let traffic turn north or south onto 494 from each direction.
Built to TXDoT Highway Standards
This entire project is being built to TXDoT highway standards. Those standards exceed normal neighborhood street standards. You would expect nothing less for what will eventually become a critical evacuation route for 78,000 people.
Lanes will be 12-feet wide instead of 10 to safely carry traffic at higher speeds.
Concrete will be much thicker than normal to carry heavier loads without cracking.
Storm drains will be sized to carry the volume of runoff you would expect from highways. The wider inlets will help avoid water flooding roads during intense rainfalls.
Greater Safety at Rail Crossing/Loop 494
Safety will also improve at the railroad crossing.
A bridge will carry most traffic over the railroad.
The entire train track at Northpark will have a one-piece steel and concrete foundation. That will reduce the chance of track shifting or dipping and causing a derailment.
Pedestrian/bicycle crossings will have “escape gates” in case people get caught on tracks when trains come through.
However, installation of those safety improvements will cause some inconvenience. To install that one-piece steel and concrete foundation, the railroad will shut down for three days. That will require closing off Northpark for three days also.
Originally, project managers hoped to have four lanes open at all times for the duration of the project. So this is a change.
All in all, a 3-day shutdown is small price to pay for a great improvement in safety.
Friendswood Clearing 553 Acres in Huffman
Friendswood Development Company has started clearing 553 acres west of Huffman-Cleveland Road. It will eventually extend from Northwood County Estates on the north to Cypress Point on the south. Plat records show that Friendswood has named the development “Sila.”
Long, Narrow, Dense Homesites
The new residential community will contain an unspecified number of homesites, most long and narrow. This will certainly increase the percentage of impervious cover relative to the surrounding area.
Existing homes sit on larger, heavily wooded lots. So, this and other new, nearby developments will change the character of the area considerably. Along with that will come more traffic and congestion.
To put that in perspective, I talked to one homeowner in nearby Northwood Country Estates who owns a five-acre lot.
Drainage Plans
Friendswood appears to be almost halfway done with clearing land for Sila. Consistent with best practices and construction plans, contractors appear to be clearing one section at a time, installing perimeter catchment ditches, erecting silt fence, and stabilizing land before moving on to the next area.
The drainage analysis also claims that the development will provide more than the minimum amount of required detention-basin capacity. The minimum required is .65 acre feet per acre. But the engineering firm BGE says it will provide .67.
The minimum requirement was established by Harris County Flood Control District in 2019 after Hurricane Harvey. So, it should accommodate 100-year rainfalls projected under Atlas 14, NOAA’s current standard for rainfall estimates.
Approximately Half of Land Cleared So Far
The pictures below, all taken on 2/3/24, show the areas cleared so far.
The yellowish runoff in the foreground of the photo above is from Saint Tropez another new, but different development seen in the background of two pictures below.
A 1.5 inch rain the night before I took these photos caused the ponding water you see.
Proposed Lake Houston Mitigation Bank
The Sila property will drain into hundreds of acres that are part of the proposed Lake Houston Mitigation Bank.
LH Ranch has proposed creation of the wetlands mitigation bank here.
The preservation of so much land will help protect homebuyers from flooding. It will also provide wildlife habitat and an exceptional recreational amenity. Here’s the prospectus for the mitigation bank presented to the Army Corps. Corps approval still appears to be pending as of this writing.
Areas of Concern
Two areas of concern, however, exist near the land most recently cleared. Contractors have not yet erected silt fence or dug protective ditches behind some of the neighboring homes on Davidson Lane in Northwood County Estates.
Neighbors in Northwood County Estates are also concerned with how existing drainage will tie into Sila’s drainage. Elevations on county drawings and Sila’s drawings differ in places. So residents are asking for confirmation that existing ditches will continue to drain properly.
For the most part, with the exceptions noted above, Friendswood seems to be responsibly navigating the perilous early phase of development between clearing and the installation of drainage.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/4/24
2250 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.
WLHP Developer Still Flooding Neighborhood
Overnight, the gauge at West Lake Houston Parkway (WLHP) and the West Fork received 1.44 inches of rain. And once again, runoff from Trammell Crow’s High Street Residential apartment complex on WLHP flooded surrounding streets and neighbors.
Visit from Engineering, Pollution Control and Constables
Harris County Engineering made a series of visits to the work site earlier this week in an effort to bring the developer into compliance with stormwater regulations. Harris County Constables and Harris County Pollution Control even accompanied the engineering staff to the site on 2/1/24.
After that visit, a member of the engineering staff told a neighbor that work at the site had been shut down until contractors came into compliance. Reportedly, mitigation work was the only work allowed on the site. But evidently, the developer had other priorities.
Sediment-laden runoff from construction sites is one of the main sources of sediment pollution in rivers and lakes. It has been linked to blockages that contribute to flooding.
Changes Between 2/1/24 and 2/2/24
On Friday, 2/2/24, I paid the site the Trammell Crow construction site a visit and saw some stormwater-mitigation work in progress. Specifically, contractors appeared to have:
Other work unrelated to stormwater mitigation also appeared to be underway at the site Friday afternoon.
Still No Results
By 8 am Saturday morning (2/3/24), my phone was blowing up. Irate neighbors were sending me videos. Once again, Kings Park Way and West Lake Houston Parkway were being flooded.
By 10:30 am, the same intersection looked like this.
That’s one way to solve a street-flooding problem. Flush the silty muck down the storm drain.
At noon, here’s what you could see elsewhere with a drone.
Unprotected Perimeter Remained
Perhaps the developer should have spent more time controlling stormwater and less time concealing the site with a half mile of privacy fence.
It makes me wonder whether their values are misplaced.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/3/24
2349 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 Tree Transplantation Finished, Drainage Updates
Despite constant rain that brought widespread flooding to the Houston region last week, contractors finished the Northpark tree transplantation. They also made significant progress on two other parts of the road expansion project since my last update two weeks ago. I took the pictures below on 2/1/24 with one exception.
Among the highlights:
Ideal Weather for Northpark Tree Transplantation
The cool, wet weather created ideal conditions for the transplanted trees to take root and thrive. Ralph De Leon, project manager, noted that the spacing of the trees also gives them room to spread and thrive.
Each transplanted tree has a ring around the base designed to retain supplemental water. The trees will receive extra water for two years to ensure they thrive after the shock of being transplanted.
Pond Excavation Progress
Meanwhile, across Northpark, excavation of the first of two ponds is proceeding despite the wet weather.
Excavated dirt is being stored temporarily at a sand mine on Sorters-McClellan Road. After the culverts are installed down the center of Northpark, contractors will retrieve the excavated dirt and place it over the culvert sections to form the road bed.
The pond above will go 8-12 feet deeper than you see now. The contractor is only digging down to the water table for now until: a) pond liners arrive and b) drainage connections for the ponds are complete. That’s because the contractors will have to continuously pump water as they excavate to the final depth.
Pond Landscaping Plans
That horse-shoe-shaped area on the left (above and below) will be a decorative focal point for the pond.
Final design of the north pond will look like this.
The next diagram shows how the north and south ponds will closely mirror each other.
Japanese ardisia, also called marlberry, is a flowering, evergreen ground cover introduced from the Far East. It is a low-growing, woody shrub that spreads laterally while growing to a height of 8-12 inches.
No Identifying Entry Signage
Unlike Kingwood Drive, where KSA owns the land behind the ponds, TXDoT owns all the land at Northpark Drive. So you will not see any prominent Kingwood identification as you do at Kingwood Drive.
Drainage Progress Between Railroad and Ditch One
The entry ponds above will drain to “Ditch One.” The ditch runs parallel to Northpark behind the businesses on the north side of the road.
Culverts will carry the water from the ponds eastward, then under Loop 494 and the railroad tracks. The culvert will then turn north and back east again behind the businesses (see red line below).
The agreement with UnionPacific to tunnel under the tracks has been completed and the plans approved. However, tunneling has not yet started. UP indicated that their busy season ends after February, so boring under the tracks will likely be delayed until then for safety reasons.
Regardless, the link to Ditch One around the storage businesses above is almost complete. Culvert has already been buried parallel to the tracks and behind two storage businesses.
Existing drainage will join the new culvert behind those businesses. Currently, contractors are working on the junction. See below.
Contractors are also working on the outfall into the ditch. Because of the expected velocity of the water, they must create concrete walls to prevent erosion of the surrounding earth that could undermine the pipe.
Ditch One will eventually be widened to handle the increased flow. Connecting the ponds at US59 to the link under the railroad tracks should start in the next few weeks.
The project requires the additional retention and drainage capacity shown above to handle runoff from the extra lanes of traffic.
In front of the businesses shown above, Northpark will eventually expand to 10 lanes from the current four. Six will carry traffic on a bridge over the railroad and Loop 494. Four turn lanes will remain at ground level – two on each side of the bridge. The two will let traffic turn north or south onto 494 from each direction.
Built to TXDoT Highway Standards
This entire project is being built to TXDoT highway standards. Those standards exceed normal neighborhood street standards. You would expect nothing less for what will eventually become a critical evacuation route for 78,000 people.
Greater Safety at Rail Crossing/Loop 494
Safety will also improve at the railroad crossing.
However, installation of those safety improvements will cause some inconvenience. To install that one-piece steel and concrete foundation, the railroad will shut down for three days. That will require closing off Northpark for three days also.
Originally, project managers hoped to have four lanes open at all times for the duration of the project. So this is a change.
All in all, a 3-day shutdown is small price to pay for a great improvement in safety.
The road closure is still months away.
For More Information
For more information about the project including construction plans, visit the project pages of the LHRA/Tirz 10 website. Or see these posts on ReduceFlooding:
Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/2/24
2348 Days since Hurricane Harvey