Interstate 10 managed lane heading west, along with a lot of Houston’s rapid growth

Still building the overpasses and preparing the lanes for the latest widening of Interstate 10 west of Brookshire, transportation officials are charging ahead with more lanes for what already is considered Houston’s widest road.

A $555 million extension of managed lanes and widening of I-10 into Waller County is on track for construction late next year, pending final approvals.

With the freeway already poised to be three lanes through Sealy in a few months, the upcoming work makes Houston’s east-west Main Street wider farther west than ever — at least five lanes to FM 359. One of those will be a managed lane meant to encourage carpool and possible transit use.

The Texas Department of Transportation released an updated proposal for the lanes Tuesday, prior to a meeting Thursday evening in Katy.

Many of the residents who showed up voiced concerns over flooding — a constant in the flat prairie lands west of Houston anytime a wider freeway is considered — and the seemingly-never-ending construction many parts of Fort Bend and western Harris County are seeing.

“I cannot drive to the store, to school, to work, to church without a lane closed or a road closed somewhere,” said Carrie Montgomery, 45, of Katy.

Others urged officials to keep traffic moving, preferably via free lanes, though the expansion of the managed lane offers some improvement.

TxDOT will accept comments on the plan until July 18.

The project, likely split into three phases, would widen 13 miles of I-10 from Mason Road near the Grand Parkway toll road to FM 359 in Waller County. The larger freeway would include a single managed lane in each direction to Brookshire and four or five general use lanes for the entire length. Western portions currently have three lanes in each direction.

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Increasing demand — the result of more drivers on the freeway — and needed safety upgrades are pushing officials to add the lanes, TxDOT said in its presentation for the project. Based on estimates, traffic demand along the freeway at FM 359 is expected to jump from less than 60,000 vehicles daily in 2025 to more than 80,000 in 2045. At Mason, traffic is predicted to jump even more, from about 195,000 to more than 265,000 vehicles a day.

“The existing highway infrastructure does not provide adequate mobility to accommodate traffic volumes projected for the next 25 years,” said Lauren Munoz, an environmental planner on the project.

Drivers in Katy and Brookshire and south to Cinco Ranch said the dearth of needed lanes already has become a problem. Many noted the Grand Parkway, opened less than a decade ago, already is starting to slow significantly around I-10.

Munoz, during a videotaped overview of the project, added that “increased development has created traffic congestion.”

That development — and TxDOT’s response to it — often is the root of the divide between critics and highway expansion advocates. As highways are widened to address development and growth, the new lanes facilitate more construction. That subsequent development, abetted by the new, bigger freeway, then prompts officials to plan yet another round of construction.

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Unlike other projects over the past 20 years along I-10, notably the widening west of Loop 610 of the Katy Managed Lanes that opened two-way carpool and toll access along the freeway, the planned widening will affect few existing structures. Initially expected to affect two businesses, the widening design was tweaked to avoid one. The other, that remains affected, loses 0.75 acres, though that does involve a portion of a building used as a boat and RV sales and storage business. No homes are impacted by the planned work.

Between Mason and Katy Mills, crews will not even add to the existing concrete. The freeway, built with 15-foot shoulders, will be re-striped so the managed lanes can be added with no new roadway. That part of the plan drew close scrutiny from some residents and officials Tuesday, including state Rep. Mike Schofield, R-Katy.

Residents also studied carefully where frontage roads are planned in the area, and the new freeway's affect on local road crossings.

Though decidedly a freeway project, the plans by TxDOT also add 10-foot shared use paths for runners and cyclists along the frontage roads between Katy Mills and Pederson. Even as they acknowledged it is not the most idyllic place to ride a bike along a bustling freeway, it will be a critical link to other nearby trails that could prove use for some riders, supporters said.

Officials meanwhile have loads of new construction already underway or planned along or near the I-10 corridor. TxDOT plans to redesign, widen and add sidewalks to U.S. 90, while planning for a major widening of FM 529 north of Katy where dozens of new developments are expected to bring thousands of new homes.

The largest change, however, remains the I-10 widening west of Brookshire to the Brazos River, which will make the freeway three lanes to Austin County. The project, one of three started in 2017 and 2018 as part of the Texas Clear Lanes initiative by state highway officials, connects to different projects in Austin County that eventually will make I-10 three lanes to Columbus.

Within Fort Bend and Waller counties, drivers will wait until May 2024 for the finished roadway, TxDOT officials said. Crews still are focused on new overpasses at FM 359 and Donigan Road, west of Brookshire.

“At the end of July, a major traffic switch is anticipated to shift westbound I-10 traffic onto the eastbound side between FM 1489/Koomey Road and the Brazos River,” TxDOT spokeswoman Deidrea George said. “This switch will allow the contractor to reconstruct the westbound mainlanes as well as complete the Donigan bridge.”

The work is more than a year behind its initial schedule, though the cost so far has not increased significantly. Based on the most recent update from Williams Brothers Construction, the contractor widening the freeway, building costs have increased from $141.5 million to $148 million.

Still, there is some chance drivers could use the new lanes once some construction gets far enough ahead.

“Once the construction of the westbound mainlanes is complete, we will look for an opportunity to open lanes to full-capacity,” George said.

dug.begley@chron.com