Texas State Highway 99
State Highway 99, also known as the Grand Parkway, is a partial beltway in the U.S. state of Texas. Its first section opened on August 31, 1994. If the route is completed, it will be the longest beltway in the U.S., the world's seventh-longest ring road, and the third loop of the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area, with Interstate 610 being the first loop and Beltway 8 being the second loop. The proposed loop has been divided into 11 separate segments for construction and funding purposes. In May 2019, the Texas Department of Transportation gave the Grand Parkway a secondary designation as the Mayor Bob Lanier Memorial Parkway, honoring Bob Lanier, 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 to Fort Stockton. On June 25, 1929, SH 99 was extended to Alpine. On March 2, 1932, a spur to Sherwood 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.On October 29, 1960, a new route was designated for SH 99, from Denton to the Oklahoma 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.
On October 25, 1984, SH 99 was designated along a very similar route to its current one, but ending at SH 146 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 in Sugar Land north to the Westpark Tollway 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, along with the other completed segments as of 2022, are maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation.Speed limits on the Grand Parkway are.
Tolls may be paid using one of the Texas toll tag transponders, the Kansas Turnpike Authority's K-TAG, or the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority's Pikepass. No cash payments are accepted., a pay-by-mail option is available on segments maintained by TxDOT.
| Segment | Status | completion | From | To | Length | Toll Road |
| A | Currently not considered a viable project | Unknown | TBD | |||
| B | Construction on Segment B-1 will start in Spring 2027; the construction of the rest of the segment does not have a start date | 28.0 | ||||
| C | Construction was originally scheduled to begin in August 2016, but the plans were re-evaluated and re-approved on March 9, 2017 | Unknown | 26.0 | |||
| D | Completed; toll collected | 1994 | 18.2 | partial | ||
| E | Completed; toll collected | 2013 | 15.2 | yes | ||
| F-1 | Completed; toll collected | 2016 | 11.9 | yes | ||
| F-2 | Completed; toll collected | 2016 | 12.1 | yes | ||
| G | Completed; toll collected | 2016 | 13.6 | yes | ||
| H & I-1 | Completed; toll collected | 2022 | 37.4 | yes | ||
| I-2 | Completed; toll collected | 2008 | 14.5 | yes |
Segment A
Segment A would extend from SH 146 near San Leon to I-45 in League City., it is not considered a viable project.Segment B
Segment B will extend from I-45 in League City to SH 288 near Rosharon. 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, 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 Rosharon to I-69/US 59 in Sugar Land. 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 I-10/US 90, west of Houston, south to I-69/US 59 in Sugar Land, where it terminates and intersects with FM 2759. The portion of this segment south of the interchange with the Westpark Tollway 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. 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 I-10/US 90 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" 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 I-10/US 90 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 lanes.