On 3/7/24, TxDOT, the Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority/TIRZ10 and the City of Houston hosted an open house at the Kingwood Community Center to share detailed project plans at a Northpark Phase II Meeting. The informal “come-and-go-when-you want” style of the meeting gave authorities a chance to mingle with residents and solicit their feedback on plans.

Objectives of Project

In addition to reducing traffic congestion, one of the main goals is to elevate Northpark Drive above the 100-year floodplain to create an all-weather evacuation route for area residents. Other goals include preparing for anticipated growth and improving pedestrian/bicycle safety.

Different Lanes for Different Pains

As with Phase I, roads will be elevated. Lanes will be both added and widened. Eleven-foot-wide lanes will expand to 12 feet. And 10-foot-wide sidewalks will be added, enabling bicyclists and pedestrians to pass each other easily.

Proposed improvements to Northpark Drive extend from 750 feet east of Russell Palmer Road to 800 feet east of Woodland Hills Drive, in Harris and Montgomery Counties. The project would include the reconstruction and widening of approximately one mile of Northpark Drive from a four-lane to a six-lane roadway.

TXDoT broke Phase II into three sections based on current lane configurations and traffic conditions.

• Section A starts about halfway between Russell-Palmer and the Kingwood Diversion Ditch and goes up to the Ditch. “A” also includes the Woodland Hills/Northpark Drive Intersection.
• Section B goes from the Ditch to the start of the Northpark Place Commercial Association.
• Section C includes businesses inside Kingwood almost to Woodland Hills, where Section A restarts.

The three lanes would include two 12-foot-wide main lanes in each direction; left and right turning lanes; and 1-foot-wide outside/inside shoulders.

The area where the grassy median is today would be repurposed to use as turning lanes or additional travel lanes.

TxDOT

The wooden pylon sign that says “Kingwood” will go. However, according to Dee Price, KSA President, the serpentine wall that heralds “The Livable Forest” would remain after construction.

Reconstruction will also include new signals at the Woodland Hills Drive and Hidden Pines Drive intersections.

To reduce flooding, the project also includes new drainage features, such as open ditches, curb-and-gutter, and one stormwater-detention basin in a location yet to be determined.

See additional details about what will happen in each section in this presentation or these meeting handouts.

Still Time to Provide Public Comment

If you missed the meeting last night, you can still provide public input. Review the materials above and send your comments via:

• Email to: hou-piowebmail@txdot.gov
• Mail to:
  • TxDOT Houston District
  • Advanced Project Development Director
  • P.O.Box 1386
  • Houston, Texas 77251-1386

If you own a business along Northpark, don’t miss this preliminary schematic construction diagram that shows rights of way and more plan details.

Business owners especially need to understand how a change in traffic patterns could affect their businesses.

Construction is still several years away. The most likely start date: 2027. Between now and then, project managers will focus on environmental surveys, detailed design, and right-of-way acquisition.

Upcoming Schedule

LHRA has also provided a three-week look-ahead schedule to show you what will happen when.

Two important items on it include:

• Starting on March 11, one lane will close on Russell Palmer during installation of the temporary signals.
• The water line to Parkwood Baptist Church which held up construction has now been repaired. A crew will soon splice in the missing piece of culvert with a concrete sleeve to tie adjacent sections together.

For More Information

For more information about the project including Phase I, visit the project pages of the LHRA/Tirz 10 website. Or see these posts on ReduceFlooding:

• 24/03/05 Details of Phase II Meeting
• 24/02/27 February ’24 Northpark Expansion Update Including Lane Closures
• 24.02/24 Save the Dates: Public Input Meetings for Diversion Ditch, Northpark Expansion Phase II
• 24/02/20 Entergy Escalates Battle with COH over Northpark
• 24/02/16 Excavation of Second Northpark Detention Basin Well Underway
• 24/02/10 Entergy in City’s Crosshairs, Lane Closures Announced
• 24/02/02 Northpark Tree Transplantation Finished, Drainage Updates
• 24/01/13 Excavation of Northpark Detention Basins Starts
• 24/01/07 What Some Utilities Don’t Understand About the Northpark Expansion Project
• 24/01/04 Northpark Tree Moving Starts; Pond Excavation Next
• 23/12/03 Northpark Expansion Presses Forward While Fighting Entergy Obstacle
• 23/11/17 Contractors Strike Oil at Entry (Illegally dumped years ago)
• 23/11/05 City Approves Northpark Expansion Agreement with Union-Pacific.
• 23/10/26 Project moving forward on multiple fronts
• 23/10/12 Transplanting first tree
• 23/10/02 Clearing of south-side entry for second pond
• 23/09/30 Clearing north-side entry for first pond
• 23/09/23 How plan balances flood mitigation, costs, saving trees
• 23/09/02 New entry design, change in construction plans forced by utility conflicts
• 23/08/17 More drainage for Northpark
• 23/08/02 Ditch clearing stretches halfway to 59 in less than week
• 23/07/25 Northpark construction starts in earnest
• 23/04/13 Groundbreaking
• 22/02/19 Update on expansion project
• 21/07/28 Plan details

Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/8/24

2383 Days since Hurricane Harvey