New, 44-Mile Section of Houston's Grand Parkway Ready for Construction

Dug Begley reports that 44 miles of the northeast segment of Houston's Grand Parkway is ready to move from the drawing board to construction.

The Texas Transportation Commission on Tuesday chose Grand Parkway Infrastructure – a joint venture of road builders Ferrovial Agroman US, Granite Construction Co. and Webber, LLC – as the team to design and build the upcoming stretch from Interstate 69 near New Caney, also U.S. 59 in the Houston area, to Interstate 10 east of Baytown.

The project was recently scaled back as growth along the route has slowed. Previously the plan called for two toll lanes in each direction. "The project now includes a single lane in each direction, with sections where a second lane in each direction will allow for passing," report Begley. The tollway could still; be expanded if growth and traffic picks up, according to officials.

Begley also reports on that other critical concern: how much the tollway will cost drivers to drive. The entire new 44-mile section will cost $10.17 to drive when it opens in Spring 2022. That might seem like a high price, but the already constructed sections of the Grand Parkway tollway handled 10.1 million transactions in the most recent month with available data, so the price has yet to scare away demand.

Make sure to click through the slideshow at the top of the article to check out graphics created by the Houston Chronicle to give perspective on the size of the loop created by the Grand Parkway: the Parkway route is superimposed on famous locations like Rome, Italy; Washington, D.C.; and all of Jamaica.