State Highway 99 (SH 99), also known as the Grand Parkway, is a

beltway A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducin ...

in the U.S. state of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Its first section opened on August 31, 1994. When the route is completed, it will be the longest beltway in the U.S., the world's seventh-longest ring road, and the third (outer) loop of the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area, with Interstate 610 being the first (inner) loop and

Beltway 8 Beltway 8 (BW8), the Sam Houston Parkway, along with the Sam Houston Tollway, is an beltway around the city of Houston, Texas, United States, lying entirely within Harris County, Texas, Harris County. Beltway 8, a state highway mai ...

(Sam Houston Tollway) being the second (middle) loop. The proposed loop has been divided into 11 separate segments for construction and funding purposes. In May 2019, the

Texas Department of Transportation The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a Texas state government agency responsible for construction and maintenance of the state's immense Texas state highway system, state highway system and the support of the state's maritime trans ...

gave the Grand Parkway a secondary designation as the Mayor Bob Lanier Memorial Parkway, honoring

Bob Lanier Robert Jerry Lanier Jr. (September 10, 1948 – May 10, 2022) was an American professional basketball player. He played center (basketball), center for the Detroit Pistons and the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). L ...

, who served as the mayor of Houston from 1992 to 1998 and who had spearheaded the creation of the Grand Parkway.

History

A previous route designated SH 99 was established on August 18, 1924, from

San Angelo San Angelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. Its location is in the Concho Valley, a region of West Texas between the Permian Basin (North America), Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert ...

Fort Stockton Fort Stockton may refer to: *Fort Stockton (San Diego, California), a historical fort *Fort Stockton, Texas Fort Stockton is a city in and the county seat of Pecos County, Texas, United States. It is located on Interstate 10 in Texas, Interstat ...

. On June 25, 1929, SH 99 was extended to

Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National P ...

. On March 2, 1932, a spur to

Sherwood Sherwood may refer to: Places Australia *Sherwood, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane * Sherwood, South Australia, a locality *Shire of Sherwood, a former local government area of Queensland * Electoral district of Sherwood, an electoral district fr ...

with the designation SH 99A was added, but was maintained by the county. On July 23, 1934, this route was transferred to SH 10, and SH 99A was cancelled by then. The route is part of present-day

U.S. Route 67 U.S. Route 67 is a major north–south U.S. highway which extends for 1,560 miles (2,511 km) in the Central United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the United States-Mexico border in Presidio, Texas, where it continues ...

(US 67). On October 29, 1960, a new route was designated for SH 99, from Denton to the

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

state line as a renumbering of SH 10, to match OK 99 at the border. On April 29, 1968, this route became part of

US 377 U.S. Route 377 (US 377) is a north–south United States highway. Originally formed as a short spur to connect Denton and Fort Worth, Texas, it has since been extended northward into Oklahoma and southward to Del Rio, Texas, near the ...

. On October 25, 1984, SH 99 was designated along a very similar route to its current one, but ending at SH 146 (then Loop 201) and Spur 330. On March 28, 2002, SH 99 was rerouted further east along a new route south to Spur 55 and along Spur 55 to Business SH 146. Spur 55 was cancelled, effective upon the completion of that section of SH 99 in 2008.

Route description

The Grand Parkway project is divided into several segments for construction and administrative purposes. The section from

Interstate 69 Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway in the United States currently consisting of eight unconnected segments. The longest segment runs from Evansville, Indiana, northeast to the Canadian border in Port Huron, Michigan, and includ ...

(I-69) in

Sugar Land Sugar Land (sometimes incorrectly spelled as Sugarland) is the largest city in Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, located in the southwestern part of the metropolitan area. Located about southwest of downtown Houston, Sugar Land is a po ...

north to the

Westpark Tollway The Westpark Tollway, also Fort Bend Westpark Tollway, is a controlled-access toll road in Texas, serving western Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in th ...

is the southern portion of Segment D and is maintained by the Fort Bend County Toll Road Authority. The remainder of Segment D, which runs from the Westpark Tollway north to

I-10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost transcontinental highway in the Interstate Highway System of the United States. It is the fourth-longest Interstate in the country at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. It was part of the originall ...

, along with the other completed segments , are maintained by the

Speed limits Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed, express ...

on the Grand Parkway are . Tolls may be paid using one of the Texas toll tag transponders (

TxTag TxTag , operated by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), was one of three interoperable electronic toll collection systems in Texas. The system was also interoperable with the K-TAG system used in Kansas and the Pikepass system used i ...

EZ TAG EZ TAG is an electronic toll collection system in Houston, Texas, United States, that allows motorists to pay tolls without stopping at toll booths. Motorists with the tags are allowed to use lanes reserved exclusively for them on all Harris Coun ...

, and

TollTag The North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) is a not-for-profit government organization that maintains and operates toll roads, bridges, and tunnels in the North Texas area. Functioning as a political subdivision of the State of Texas under Chap ...

), the

Kansas Turnpike Authority The Kansas Turnpike Authority (KTA) is the organization that owns and maintains the Kansas Turnpike. Authority board The KTA is headed by a board of five members, two of which are appointed by the governor of the state. In addition, the Chairm ...

K-TAG The Kansas Turnpike is a controlled-access toll road that lies entirely within the US state of Kansas. It runs in a general southwest–northeast direction from the Oklahoma border to Kansas City. It passes through several major Kansas cities ...

, or the

Oklahoma Turnpike Authority The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (formerly Oklahoma Transportation Authority) is an agency of Oklahoma that deals with issues regarding the Turnpikes of Oklahoma, Oklahoma turnpike system. Along with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, th ...

Pikepass Oklahoma has an extensive turnpike system, maintained by the state government through the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority. All of Oklahoma's turnpikes are controlled-access highways with at least four lanes, although the Chickasaw Turnpike only has ...

. No cash payments are accepted. , a pay-by-mail option is available on segments maintained by TxDOT.

Segment A

Segment A would extend from SH 146 near San Leon to I-45 in

League City League City is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, in Galveston County, within the metropolitan area. The population was 114,392 at the 2020 census. The city of League City has a small portion north of Clear Creek within Harris County zoned f ...

. , it is not considered a viable project.

Segment B

Segment B will extend from

I-45 Interstate 45 (I-45) is a major Interstate Highway located entirely within the U.S. state of Texas. While most primary Interstate routes which have numbers ending in "5" are cross-country north–south routes, I-45 is comparatively short, ...

to SH 288 near

Rosharon Rosharon ( ), is a census-designated place (CDP) in Brazoria County, Texas, Brazoria County, Texas, United States, at the intersection of Farm to Market Road 521 and Farm to Market Road 1462. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, ...

. In mid-October 2023, TxDOT announced that it would begin construction on Segment B-1, which will connect I-45 to SH 35 in

Alvin ''Alvin'' (DSV-2) is a crewed deep-ocean research submersible owned by the United States Navy and operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) of Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The original vehicle was built by General Mills' Electro ...

, in Spring 2027 with it completion set for 2030. Open houses on the project were requested during this part of the month as well.

Segment C

Segment C will extend from SH 288 near

I-69 Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway in the United States currently consisting of eight unconnected segments. The longest segment runs from Evansville, Indiana, northeast to the Canada–United States border, Canadian border in Po ...

US 59 U.S. Route 59 (US 59) is a north–south U.S. highway (though it was signed east–west in parts of Texas). A latecomer to the U.S. Highway System, US 59 is now a border-to-border route, part of the NAFTA Corridor Highway System. It par ...

. Construction was originally scheduled to begin in August 2016, but the plans were re-evaluated and re-approved on March 9, 2017. No timeline for construction is set.

Segment D

Segment D, the first section opened, runs from just north of

US 90 U.S. Route 90 or U.S. Highway 90 (US 90) is an east–west major United States highway in the Southern United States. Despite the "0" in its route number, US 90 never was a full coast-to-coast route. It generally travels near Int ...

, west of Houston, south to

, where it terminates and intersects with FM 2759. The portion of this segment south of the interchange with the

is now a four-lane divided highway feeder road, with mainlanes crossing over the Westpark Tollway. The 18-month-long construction of two ramps connecting westbound I-10/US 90 to southbound SH 99 and northbound SH 99 to eastbound I-10/US 90 was completed in 2011. The occasional traffic jams at this intersection prompted the sped-up construction of the ramps before the through lanes of SH 99 were built through the I-10/US 90 interchange. Two more ramps connecting southbound SH 99 to eastbound I-10/US 90 and westbound I-10/US 90 to northbound SH 99 opened as part of the construction of Segment E in December 2013. A final ramp connecting northbound SH 99 to westbound I-10/US 90 has been completed and is operational. Between the Westpark Tollway and I-69/US 59, Fort Bend County has constructed toll overpasses at nine locations along SH 99. Overpasses between I-69/US 59 and US 90 Alternate opened on February 27, 2014, Airport Boulevard and Harlem Road on March 18, 2014, and Mason Road and Bellfort Street on March 30, 2014. The remainder of the tolled overpasses to I-10/US 90 opened in late April 2014. Motorists in 2-axle vehicles may pay between $0.46 and $0.69 to use each overpass, or they may bypass the toll by using the current roadway through the signalized intersections. A TxDOT study is currently underway for Segment D. The study includes looking at ways to reduce traffic in the original segment of the non-tolled portion of the freeway; this includes the possibility of adding continuous

frontage roads A frontage road (also known as an access road, outer road, service road, feeder road, or parallel road) is a local road running parallel to a higher-speed, limited-access road. Where parallel high-speed roads are provided as part of a majo ...

. This segment has been open since 1994 and population, and thus traffic, in the surrounding area has increased greatly since. There is no timetable on when or if any new projects will come out of this study.

Segment E

Segment E connects

Katy Freeway in the south near Katy to US 290/ SH 6 near Cypress. Construction began in summer 2011, and Segment E opened as scheduled in December 2013. On June 3, 2008, the Harris County Commissioners Court voted to fast-track the construction of Segment E, with construction to begin in 2009. Despite the addition of $150 million in stimulus funding, the project stalled. As with many stimulus-funded projects, the construction of Segment E turned out not to be "

shovel ready In politics, a shovel ready construction project (usually larger-scale infrastructure) is where planning and engineering is advanced enough that—with sufficient funding—construction can begin within a very short time. The term was popularized ...

" enough, and the funds were sent back to TxDOT for use elsewhere. In 2011, the Wetlands permit from the Army Corps of Engineers was acquired. In addition, Harris County relinquished its rights to TxDOT so that the latter could construct a public–private cooperative toll road. At its meeting on April 28, 2011, TxDOT allocated $350 million, and the construction permits were let in July 2011. On July 28, 2011, TxDOT reported that three out of four contracts for Segment E were awarded and that construction would start by early September 2011. The multi-year reconstruction of

was completed in 2008, while US 290/ SH 6 reconstruction was not scheduled to begin until 2011. The section of I-10/US 90 from Katy to just inside the I-610 loop was expanded to handle the rapidly-growing western suburbs with additional mainlanes and two

high-occupancy toll lane A high-occupancy toll lane (HOT lane) is a type of traffic lane or roadway that is available to high-occupancy vehicles and other exempt vehicles without charge; other vehicles are required to pay a road pricing, variable fee that is adjusted in ...

Segment F-1

Segment F-1 connects US 290/ SH 6 near

Cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs from the ''Cupressus'' genus of the '' Cupressaceae'' family, typically found in temperate climates and subtropical regions of Asia, Europe, and North America. The word ''cypress'' ...

to SH 249 near Tomball. Construction began in June 2013 and was completed and opened to traffic on February 5, 2016. In early 2020, construction commenced on four direct connectors: two from northbound

Tomball Tollway State Highway 249 (SH 249), also known depending on its location as West Mount Houston Road, the Tomball Parkway, Tomball Tollway, MCTRA 249 Tollway, or the Aggie Expressway, is a generally north–south highway in Southeast Texas. The southern ...

to east and westbound Grand Parkway, and two connecting to southbound Tomball Tollway from east and westbound Grand Parkway. The project was completed in 2022.Work begins on Hwy. 249, Grand Parkway direct connectors in Tomball
Community IMPACT Newspaper. April 20, 2020 (Retrieved August 9, 2020)

Segment F-2

Segment F-2 connects SH 249 near Tomball with

near Spring. Construction began on Segment F-2 in June 2013. A one-mile section of frontage road lanes between I-45 and Holzwarth Road (near the

ExxonMobil Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the Successors of Standard Oil, largest direct s ...

Campus in Spring) was completed and opened to traffic in April 2015. The remainder of Segment F-2 opened on February 5, 2016.

Segment G

Segment G connects

near

Spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a he ...

with

in New Caney. Construction began in June 2013 and was completed and opened to traffic on March 29, 2016. An interchange with the

Hardy Toll Road The Hardy Toll Road is a controlled-access toll road in the Greater Houston area of the U.S. state of Texas, maintained by the Harris County Toll Road Authority. The route runs from Interstate 610 near central Houston to Interstate 45 just ...

was completed on July 18, 2016.

Segments H and I-1

Segments H and I-1 extend from

north of

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. Texas Transportation Commission members met in

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...

in late June 2015, and one item on their agenda is soliciting interested builders to develop, build and maintain the next Grand Parkway segment from

north of

east of the city. The project, which began construction in the summer of 2017, was expected to cost $1.2 billion. Due to

Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Harvey was a devastating tropical cyclone that made landfall in Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest tropical cy ...

, the completion date was delayed from 2019 to May 2022, when it opened.

Segment I-2

Segment I-2, which opened on March 25, 2008, after five years of construction, runs from

east of Houston south to Business SH 146 in

Baytown Baytown may refer to: *Baytown, Texas, a city in the United States near Houston, Texas *Baytown culture, an archaeological culture in the United States *Operation Baytown Operation Baytown was an Allied amphibious landing on the mainland of ...

. (The former Spur 55, which ran from FM 1405 to Business 146, was renumbered SH 99 and connects with the newly constructed portion of Segment I-2 at FM 1405.) TxDOT began collecting tolls on this segment on November 1, 2011.

Opposition and support

Residents who live along the Grand Parkway in Harris and Fort Bend counties, namely in the

Cinco Ranch Cinco Ranch is a planned community located in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the city of Houston within Fort Bend and Harris counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It lies approximately west of the Harris County seat of Houston and north of ...

and Falcon Point areas within Segment D, noticed increased noise due to expansion of the highway, which includes construction of new overpasses as well as increased growth in the surrounding area. TxDOT began adding noise barriers along this area in 2023 while also beginning the process of widening the segment of road. Some groups of residents oppose the idea of the Grand Parkway going through their neighborhoods. The group United to Save Our Spring tried to stop the Grand Parkway from going through a neighborhood off FM 2920. Residents in other unincorporated areas such as The Woodlands have not shown the same opposition, instead supporting the construction of the Grand Parkway, namely Segments E, F-1, F-2, and G, as the route would give residents living in the outer suburbs a toll road option for long-distance travel, as opposed to having to drive through the city of Houston or using the

Sam Houston Tollway Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictio ...

to bypass the city. Some residents in

Brazoria County Brazoria County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the county was 372,031. The county seat is Angleton. Brazoria County is included in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metropolitan stat ...

, 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

. This alternative is acceptable to the opposition group Citizens Against the Grand Parkway and is likely to encounter much less opposition from the community.Progress on Grand Parkway moving slowly
John Tompkins, The Facts. November 12, 2006. Last accessed November 26, 2006. The controversial Segment A, which would stretch from SH 146 to

southeast of Houston through a very developed area, has not been fully designed yet. SH 146 is a possible routing of the highway in Segment A, but TxDOT has released plans for the highway to intersect I-45 from the west at its intersection with FM 646. If the highway were to continue south on SH 146 to its intersection with FM 646 (supposing that it is built along the route of FM 646), it would eventually have to pass through the town of Kemah, which could not support a large highway unless many businesses were destroyed.

Exit list

References

External links

Grand Parkway Transportation Corporation

TxTAG – Houston Area Tolls

Fort Bend Grand Parkway Toll Road Authority
{{DEFAULTSORT:099 State highways in Texas Toll roads in Texas Roads in Houston

Texas State Highway 99 State Highway 99 (SH 99), also known as the Grand Parkway, is a beltway in the U.S. state of Texas. Its first section opened on August 31, 1994. When the route is completed, it will be the longest beltway in the U.S., the world's seventh-longe ...

Parkways in the United States