TEXAS STATE HIGHWAY 99

'State Highway 99', also known as the 'Grand Parkway', is a Texas highway, which opened its first section in 1994. When State Highway 99 is complete, it will be the third loop within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area, with Interstate 610 being the inner loop and Beltway 8 (Sam Houston Tollway) being the middle loop.
The proposed 170-mile loop has been divided into 11 separate segments for construction and funding purposes. Only two of the 11 segments are either complete or under construction. Segment D—the first section opened—runs from just north of Interstate 10, west of Houston, south to US 59 in Sugar Land where it terminates and changes to FM 2759. Segment I-2—began construction in 2003—runs from Interstate 10 east of Houston south to State Highway 146 in Baytown.

Contents

Future construction

Opposition and support

Previous route history

Exit list

References

External links

Future construction

The next section that will be constructed will most likely be either Section E, F-1, F-2, or G, which are located northwest and north of Houston. Section E will run from the northern terminus of Section D north to US 290. Section F-1 will start at the end of Section E and end at the intersection with State Highway 249. Section F-2 begins here and terminates at Interstate 45. Section G starts at the end of Section F-2 and travels to US 59.
Future sections of the Grand Parkway will most likely be built as tollways in conjunction with the Harris County Toll Road Authority to speed up the loop's completion. Western sections of the Grand Parkway have been mentioned as possible bypass routes for the Houston section of the proposed Interstate 69 extension to the United States–Mexico border.

Opposition and support

Current residents who live along the Grand Parkway in Harris and Fort Bend counties (namely in the Cinco Ranch/Falcon Point areas within segment D) have noticed increased noise due to expansion of the highway, which includes construction of new overpasses as well as increased growth in the surrounding area. Sound barriers have not been constructed based on a 20+ year environmental study. Resident petitions and protests for a new sound barrier study have not been addressed and Texas DOT claims "This section of the Grand Parkway does not qualify for that."^[2] Further expansion in this area is planned to start in 2010 with two tollway lanes added in each direction.^[3]
Some groups in some neighborhoods are opposing the idea of the Grand Parkway going through their neighborhoods. For instance, a group called "United to Save Our Spring" is trying to stop the Parkway from going through a neighborhood off of FM 2920. Residents in other unincorporated areas such as The Woodlands have not shown the same opposition and support the construction of the Grand Parkway, namely segments E, F-1, F-2, and G^[2], as this would give residents living in the outer suburbs a freeway option to drive to San Antonio, Austin, northeast Texas, or Louisiana without having to drive through the city of Houston.
Some residents in Brazoria County, along segment B, have voiced opposition to several of the proposed alignments. However, TxDOT has recently proposed a fifth alternative alignment to the north of Alvin. This alternative is acceptable to the opposition group Citizens Against the Grand Parkway and is likely to encounter much less opposition from the community.^[4]

Previous route history

'SH 99' was originally designated in 1933 along a route from San Angelo to Ft. Stockton, and was codesignated with U.S. Route 67. This route was previously designated as the western section of SH 7A. It was transferred completely to US 67 in 1939. The route was again designated in 1960 when it was renumbered from SH 10, which ran from Denton north to the Oklahoma border, where it transferred to State Highway 99. This route was transferred to U.S. Route 377 in 1969.

Exit list

Mile	Destinations	Notes
	Fort Bend Westpark Tollway east	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; other movements can be made at the FM 1093 intersection to the south
	Fry Road
	Westheimer Parkway
	Cinco Ranch Boulevard
	Bay Hill Boulevard; Highland Knolls Drive
	Kingsland Boulevard

References

1. Texas Department of Transportation, [1]
2. Residents suffer from Grand Parkway growing pains Kevin Quinn
3. Parkway toll plan gets mixed reaction Betty L. Martin
4. Progress on Grand Parkway moving slowly. John Tompkins, The Facts. November 12, 2006. Last accessed November 26, 2006.

External links

★ Grand Parkway Association

★ United to Save Our Spring (opposition group)