Texas Heritage Parkway to break ground May 2020, engineer says

By: Jen Para - Community Impact

After almost a year of delays, crews are expected to break ground on the Texas Heritage Parkway in May.

That is according to Gary Gehbauer, an engineer with BGE Inc., who is involved with the project. Once construction begins, Texas Heritage Parkway is expected to take about 13-16 months to complete.

The design plans for the Texas Heritage Parkway involve building a 6.4-mile, 200-foot-wide thoroughfare with two lanes in either direction and a median.

Additionally, this new north-south road will have a total of 10 roundabouts from I-10 at Pederson Road to McKinnon Road just south of FM 1093 near downtown Fulshear.

The project will be split into three construction sections with three construction companies overseeing each phase, Gehbauer said. He did not provide additional details regarding the companies or the project sections.

Previous Community Impact Newspaper reporting states half of the $48.8 million project will be funded by landowners, while the other half will be funded by Fort Bend County, the city of Fulshear and the city of Katy. The landowners are also paying for a roadside trail system, which will cost about $2 million.

Fort Bend County Commissioners Court unanimously approved two amended interlocal agreements related to the project at its special March 31 meeting. This will allow the county to be reimbursed for some of the project’s costs, said Precinct 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers, who has been involved in the project.

Fulshear City Council also voted March 24 to accept an amended interlocal agreement for the project. Katy City Council must also approve the amended interlocal agreements before the project can break ground, said attorney Rich Muller, who is representing landowners involved in the project, at the Fulshear meeting.

Community Impact Newspaper reached out for more information regarding the delay of the project, but a representative from the project did not comment.

However, Meyers provided some insight in October.

“We’ve been delayed a little bit, mainly because the last portion of it—we didn’t have the right of way,” Meyers said.

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