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.
3/20/26 – This week, we had more two more examples of flood-mitigation projects that are being studied to death.
Spring Creek Watershed Flood Control Dams on Birch and Walnut Creeks
Kingwood Diversion Ditch
They might not be buried yet, but they might as well be.
Let’s look at each and the implications for flood control.
Birch and Walnut Creeks
The two flood-control projects in the Spring Creek watershed were first studied in 1976 (see page 24) when the land was predominantly forested and could have been purchased for a tiny fraction of what it costs today. No one took action then. The benefit/cost ratio came in close to zero; project costs far outweighed benefits by more than 10:1.
This week, 50 years later, SJRA published another study, suggested by a previous 2020 study. And the new study suggested yet another study. But the study just published took so long – 5 years – that land for the projects sold to developers before SJRA completed the study. Whew! Follow all that?
So, the current study’s authors actually suggested yet another study to see if an unidentified sponsor could buy the property (which isn’t for sale) – while engineers design the dams, which probably won’t qualify for funding.
Why? The current study took so long that the federal government excluded social benefits from Benefit/Cost Ratios (BCRs). But the reported BCRs included social benefits…because the study’s authors hoped the Federal Government might include them again at some point in the future. So much for making studies actionable!
It may be time to put this one out of its misery. SJRA can’t even seem to interest Waller County in helping, even though its own residents would benefit the most.
Sites of proposed flood-control dams in NE Waller County within the Spring Creek Watershed.
Kingwood Diversion Ditch
One third of all the people who died in Harris County during Harvey died along Bens Branch when the Kingwood Diversion Ditch couldn’t divert enough stormwater.
Ben’s Branch and the Kingwood Diversion Ditch operate as one system to drain the western half of Kingwood. Friendswood conceived the Diversion Ditch as a way to take pressure off Ben’s Branch. But over time, upstream development has overwhelmed both.
Back in 2020, HCFCD’s Kingwood Area Drainage Analysis named the Diversion Ditch the most important project in the area. Congressman Dan Crenshaw requested a $1.6 million grant for Diversion Ditch design in 2021 and obtained it.
Then a preliminary engineering review took three years longer than planned and was widely criticized for missing opportunities.
Next, HCFCD took two years to negotiate the price of the design phase which should have finished by now. But it hasn’t even started yet. So yesterday, HCFCD requested a 2-year extension on the grant.
If lucky, we may see the design by 2028 – 11 years after Harvey. Then come the long and arduous tasks of obtaining funding and completing construction. By then, new upstream development will likely have changed design assumptions. And another study may be necessary.
To widen a straight-line ditch, we’ve already spent twice as much time as it took the U.S. to win World War II.
Looking South along the Kingwood Diversion Ditch from Kings Mill
Political Fragmentation Favors Delay, Not Decisiveness
In my opinion, both of these flood-mitigation projects have stalled because the people in charge of them have lost all sense of urgency or can’t see a clear path to completion.
Action is difficult in the highly fragmented world of flood control because it requires coordination among multiple government agencies on the local, county, state and federal levels. It’s much easier to create the appearance of action – with studies.
But the studies by themselves do nothing to reduce flood risk. For those with long memories or PTSD, they at least hold out hope that someday, somehow, something may happen.
In reality, though, these projects have almost a zero chance of getting built.
The study findings are already obsolete – because of inflation, new development, policy changes, and new political leaders with different priorities. So, we just keep studying things to death.
Meanwhile, indecision is a decision with consequences measured downstream. I have four suggestions:
The state should set up river-basin wide flood control districts. We’re all in this together.
Collectively, we need to redesign flood mitigation business practices around prevention, not correction. It’s much easier and exponentially cheaper.
Hold managers to deadlines. Hire people with entrepreneurial experience and a sense of urgency.
Quit studying things to death. If a project won’t happen, admit it and focus on projects with a fighting chance.
I can already hear the critics now. “Let’s study those suggestions!”
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/20/2026
3125 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/RJR_4304.jpg?fit=1500%2C1000&ssl=110001500adminadmin2026-03-20 20:44:572026-03-20 20:44:58Studied to Death
3/19/26 – The first all-weather evacuation route from Kingwood is getting closer to completion as the Northpark Bridge becomes reality.
Contractors hustled everywhere today:
Installing new streetlights and final drainage
Excavating entry ponds
Finishing work on Loop 494
Placing rebar
Pouring concrete
Building piers for the Northpark bridge over the UPRR and Loop 494
Laying foundations for ramps that will lead up to the bridge.
The pictures below tell the story. Let’s start with the biggest remaining piece of the Northpark Project jigsaw puzzle: the bridge.
Beginnings of a Bridge
I took all the pictures below today between 1 PM and 2 PM. Near Public Storage the first six piers for the bridge were in the ground. You could see foundations for the wing walls/abutments that will lead up to the bridge.
Those two concrete strips just inside the work area are leveling pads for the retaining walls that will form the ramp for the lead up to the bridge. Also note the eight finished piers in the foreground.
Truckers delivered the wall panels (not shown) to the site as I left. The area between the two leveling pads will be filled with compacted soil.
According to Ralph De Leon, the project manager for the Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority/TIRZ 10, Harper Brothers will connect the insides of the wall panels to metal straps approximately 20 feet long and embed the straps in the compacted soil.
More rebar tubes await as more holes are drilled for more piers. See below. See line of piers across bottom of frame.
Contractors drilled another hole (right) as I watched.
Equipment on right drills holes then pumps slurry into them. The crane on the left lifts and places the rebar cages into the holes. Slurry being pumped into the hole from the yellow container in the background. Note the slurry in the hole just drilled. It keeps the sides from collapsing until they pour concrete. They will pump concrete to the bottom of the hole. Because of its density, it will displace the temporary slurry, which they then siphon off. Contractors digging trench for another leveling wall that will go under the ramp leading to the bridge. The sand will stabilize the concrete.
Loop 494 Construction Virtually Complete
Loop 494 has reached its full width. It still needs striping tie-ins in a couple places to Northpark traffic. That will likely happen when UPRR installs crossing gates and contractors finish the rail crossings on Northpark.
The final cross section of 494. TXDoT will repeat this same cross section as 494 expansion moves northward. It’s the same cross section they built at Kingwood Drive.
UPRR Crossings
UPRR decided to install controller cabinets for its crossing signals on both sides of Northpark, not just the south.
Electronics are already installed and energized. UPRR just needs to install new crossing arms and hook them up.
After the new crossing arms become functional, contractors can finish paving the surface turn lanes that will go on either side of the bridge (where traffic is currently routed, through the center of the photo above). Within months, we should begin to see a bridge taking shape where those old lanes are now.
Eastern End of Project Virtually Complete
Farther east, the roadbed looks virtually complete with the exception of some finishing touches, such as striping, traffic signals, and filling in the median between the center curbs.
Looking east (inbound) from near the entrance to Northpark Christian Church.
One small section remains near the eastern terminus of Phase I – a westbound turn lane onto southbound Russell Palmer Road.
Looking west toward 59 toward Russell Palmer intersection.
Entry Ponds
At the other end of the project, at US59, contractors have almost finished excavating the north entry pond.
North entry pond at US59 and Northpark. Excavation has restarted.
The ponds will average 18 feet in depth and reach 22 feet at the deepest point. The edges of the pond already concealed the top of the truck below.
After Harper Brothers finishes excavating the North Pond, it will put down a concrete base, then finish the South Pond.
When Harper Brothers finishes both ponds, a subcontractor will install pond liners. Liner installation should take about two weeks.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/19/26
3124 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/DJI_20260319141544_0668_D.jpg?fit=1100%2C619&ssl=16191100adminadmin2026-03-19 18:53:432026-03-19 19:03:52Contractors Pouring Foundations for Northpark Bridge
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
Studied to Death
3/20/26 – This week, we had more two more examples of flood-mitigation projects that are being studied to death.
They might not be buried yet, but they might as well be.
Let’s look at each and the implications for flood control.
Birch and Walnut Creeks
The two flood-control projects in the Spring Creek watershed were first studied in 1976 (see page 24) when the land was predominantly forested and could have been purchased for a tiny fraction of what it costs today. No one took action then. The benefit/cost ratio came in close to zero; project costs far outweighed benefits by more than 10:1.
This week, 50 years later, SJRA published another study, suggested by a previous 2020 study. And the new study suggested yet another study. But the study just published took so long – 5 years – that land for the projects sold to developers before SJRA completed the study. Whew! Follow all that?
So, the current study’s authors actually suggested yet another study to see if an unidentified sponsor could buy the property (which isn’t for sale) – while engineers design the dams, which probably won’t qualify for funding.
Why? The current study took so long that the federal government excluded social benefits from Benefit/Cost Ratios (BCRs). But the reported BCRs included social benefits…because the study’s authors hoped the Federal Government might include them again at some point in the future. So much for making studies actionable!
It may be time to put this one out of its misery. SJRA can’t even seem to interest Waller County in helping, even though its own residents would benefit the most.
Kingwood Diversion Ditch
One third of all the people who died in Harris County during Harvey died along Bens Branch when the Kingwood Diversion Ditch couldn’t divert enough stormwater.
Ben’s Branch and the Kingwood Diversion Ditch operate as one system to drain the western half of Kingwood. Friendswood conceived the Diversion Ditch as a way to take pressure off Ben’s Branch. But over time, upstream development has overwhelmed both.
Back in 2020, HCFCD’s Kingwood Area Drainage Analysis named the Diversion Ditch the most important project in the area. Congressman Dan Crenshaw requested a $1.6 million grant for Diversion Ditch design in 2021 and obtained it.
Then a preliminary engineering review took three years longer than planned and was widely criticized for missing opportunities.
Next, HCFCD took two years to negotiate the price of the design phase which should have finished by now. But it hasn’t even started yet. So yesterday, HCFCD requested a 2-year extension on the grant.
If lucky, we may see the design by 2028 – 11 years after Harvey. Then come the long and arduous tasks of obtaining funding and completing construction. By then, new upstream development will likely have changed design assumptions. And another study may be necessary.
To widen a straight-line ditch, we’ve already spent twice as much time as it took the U.S. to win World War II.
Political Fragmentation Favors Delay, Not Decisiveness
In my opinion, both of these flood-mitigation projects have stalled because the people in charge of them have lost all sense of urgency or can’t see a clear path to completion.
Action is difficult in the highly fragmented world of flood control because it requires coordination among multiple government agencies on the local, county, state and federal levels. It’s much easier to create the appearance of action – with studies.
But the studies by themselves do nothing to reduce flood risk. For those with long memories or PTSD, they at least hold out hope that someday, somehow, something may happen.
In reality, though, these projects have almost a zero chance of getting built.
The study findings are already obsolete – because of inflation, new development, policy changes, and new political leaders with different priorities. So, we just keep studying things to death.
Meanwhile, indecision is a decision with consequences measured downstream. I have four suggestions:
I can already hear the critics now. “Let’s study those suggestions!”
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/20/2026
3125 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Contractors Pouring Foundations for Northpark Bridge
3/19/26 – The first all-weather evacuation route from Kingwood is getting closer to completion as the Northpark Bridge becomes reality.
Contractors hustled everywhere today:
The pictures below tell the story. Let’s start with the biggest remaining piece of the Northpark Project jigsaw puzzle: the bridge.
Beginnings of a Bridge
I took all the pictures below today between 1 PM and 2 PM. Near Public Storage the first six piers for the bridge were in the ground. You could see foundations for the wing walls/abutments that will lead up to the bridge.
Truckers delivered the wall panels (not shown) to the site as I left. The area between the two leveling pads will be filled with compacted soil.
According to Ralph De Leon, the project manager for the Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority/TIRZ 10, Harper Brothers will connect the insides of the wall panels to metal straps approximately 20 feet long and embed the straps in the compacted soil.
Contractors drilled another hole (right) as I watched.
Loop 494 Construction Virtually Complete
Loop 494 has reached its full width. It still needs striping tie-ins in a couple places to Northpark traffic. That will likely happen when UPRR installs crossing gates and contractors finish the rail crossings on Northpark.
UPRR Crossings
UPRR decided to install controller cabinets for its crossing signals on both sides of Northpark, not just the south.
After the new crossing arms become functional, contractors can finish paving the surface turn lanes that will go on either side of the bridge (where traffic is currently routed, through the center of the photo above). Within months, we should begin to see a bridge taking shape where those old lanes are now.
Eastern End of Project Virtually Complete
Farther east, the roadbed looks virtually complete with the exception of some finishing touches, such as striping, traffic signals, and filling in the median between the center curbs.
One small section remains near the eastern terminus of Phase I – a westbound turn lane onto southbound Russell Palmer Road.
Entry Ponds
At the other end of the project, at US59, contractors have almost finished excavating the north entry pond.
The ponds will average 18 feet in depth and reach 22 feet at the deepest point. The edges of the pond already concealed the top of the truck below.
When Harper Brothers finishes both ponds, a subcontractor will install pond liners. Liner installation should take about two weeks.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/19/26
3124 Days since Hurricane Harvey