SH 99 Grand Parkway (I-10 West to U.S. 290)

[FreewayDan]

The segment of Grand Parkway from Interstate 10 (Katy Freeway) to U.S. 290 will open before December 21st.  One week befoer the projected opening, some celebratory events, including a 1K to 5K run, will be held on the parkway from 8:00 a.m. to Noon.
http://blog.chron.com/thehighwayman/2013/12/new-segment-of-grand-parkway-about-to-get-a-running-start/

Also on December 21st, the Red Line extension of Houston's Metro LightRail will open up. 
http://www.bing.com/news/search?q=metro+light+rail+houston&FORM=HDRSC6

[nolia_boi504]

New youtube video from TxDOT..."SH 99/ Grand Parkway Segment E: A Time to Stop and Celebrate Success"


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT0Dm82-f10&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I'm doing this from my phone so I don't know how do embed.


SPH-L710

[nolia_boi504]

Here are some pictures of some of the signs on Segment E, from what I assume a participant of the 1K/5K last Saturday took.

The originals were too huge so I posted thumbnails. If you care to view full size, you can go to the source link below and click each picture.

Source

[ski-man]

Thanks nolia....keep the pics coming. Love seeing the progress from when I lived in Katy.

[FreewayDan]

Some pictures of the Grand Parkway construction south of U.S. 290 (from 10/5/2013, looking south):

South View of Texas State Highway 99 Toll Road (Grand Parkway) under construction #2 by FreewayDan, on Flickr

South View of Texas State Highway 99 Toll Road (Grand Parkway) under construction by FreewayDan, on Flickr

South View of Texas State Highway 99 Toll Road (Grand Parkway) under construction #3 by FreewayDan, on Flickr

[brad2971]

Hennessy performance gives SH99 its seal of approval:

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/12/200-mph-on-a-texas-toll-road-in-a-c7-corvette/

200MPH in a stock Corvette. My goodness.

[nolia_boi504]

Wow! Great find, and awesome footage of the new road!

[msubulldog]

Here are some pictures of some of the signs on Segment E, from what I assume a participant of the 1K/5K last Saturday took.

The originals were too huge so I posted thumbnails. If you care to view full size, you can go to the source link below and click each picture.

Source

Any reason "Franz Rd" is used as a control city for I-10 west, and not San Antonio or even Katy?

[nolia_boi504]

I haven't seen this personally but I believe this is the exit to the 99 SB feeder as the flyover to 10wb isn't finished yet

SPH-L710

[NE2]

Eh? Why do you say it's a control city? Most likely it's an exit that leads to two different roads: I-10 west and Franz Road.

[wxfree]

The "no cash" sign along with the lack of a "pay by mail" sign seems to mean that a tag is required, which it is.  But I really think they should say that explicitly.  According to the web site, a violation results in a $5 fee for each unpaid toll, added to the toll amount, so that could get pretty expensive if someone drives on the road frequently before the first violation notice comes in.

[nolia_boi504]

I drove 99NB from westpark twy to 290 early yesterday and loved it. There's so much open land up there that you can't see anything east/west for miles.

SPH-L710

[ski-man]

Pics

[NE2]

Pics

It already happened.

[nolia_boi504]

Any reason "Franz Rd" is used as a control city for I-10 west, and not San Antonio or even Katy?

I had some time to kill this afternoon so I drove part of Segment E SB.

I noticed that on the 99 SB side the I-10 WB signs on the Franz Rd exit have been cleared. I'm not sure when it happened but the 99 SB to I-10 WB direct connector is now open. The mainlanes of 99 SB has a single I-10 east/west BGS with control cities of Houston and San Antonio consigned. Each is on a separate sign near the top of the exit ramp as the lanes split to go their respective ways.

SPH-L710

[OCGuy81]

Trying to look at satellite imagery from Google, and it looks like it's not updated to the complete segment yet.

However, from what I can see in the construction images, was this freeway built without frontage roads?  That's rare for Texas, especially the Houston area, isn't it?

[US81]

Trying to look at satellite imagery from Google, and it looks like it's not updated to the complete segment yet.

However, from what I can see in the construction images, was this freeway built without frontage roads?  That's rare for Texas, especially the Houston area, isn't it?

Not for toll roads, at least not the newer ones.

[texaskdog]

They built 130 south of Austin with frontage roads for 183.  Maybe you can go 85 on the toll roads but on a quiet day you can pretty much do it on the frontage roads too.

[US81]

They built 130 south of Austin with frontage roads for 183.  Maybe you can go 85 on the toll roads but on a quiet day you can pretty much do it on the frontage roads too.

My understanding is, that where the new toll road "replaced" an existing road, like Toll 45 over Louis Henna in Round Rock, there had to be a non-toll route in place. I explored some of the earlier construction closer to Austin, and there do not seem to be any frontage roads where a road did not already exist. So, there are discontinuous segments of frontage road. After 130 and 183 split, it looks like there is only a short segment of frontage road for 130; the rest of the southern segment to 1-10 has no frontage roads.

I haven't explored the Houston area toll roads, but I presume they were constructed similarly.