Texas State Highway 99
Texas Highway 99, also known as the Grand Parkway Toll Road, is a ring road in Texas, United States, that opened its first section on August 31, 1994. When TX 99 Grand Parkway Toll is complete, it will be the longest beltway in the United States of America, the seventh longest ring road on Earth, and the third (outer) loop within Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metro area, with Interstate 610 being the first (inner) loop, and Beltway 8 (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 gave the Grand Parkway Toll Road a secondary, yet honorable designation as the Mayor Bob Lanier Memorial Parkway. Bob Lanier, who served as the mayor of Houston from 1992 to 1998, had spearheaded the creation of the Grand Parkway. History. SH 99 was designated on August 18, 1924, from San Angelo to Fort Stockton. On June 25, 1929, SH 99 had extended to Alpine. On March 2, 1932, a spur to Sherwood, 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. On October 29, 1960, a new route was made for SH 99, going from Denton to the Oklahoma line as a renumbering of SH 10, to match OK 99 at its 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 today's, but ending at SH 146 (Loop 201 until March 28, 1996) 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, but it was not effective until completion of that section of SH 99 in 2008. Route description. 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 Highway 99. Motorists in 2-axle vehicles are charged around 40¢ to use each overpass, or can bypass the toll by using the current roadway through the signalized intersections. Overpasses between I-69/US 59 and US 90-Alt 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 rest of the tolled overpasses to I-10/US 90  opened in late April 2014. A TxDOT study is currently underway for Segment D of the Grand Parkway. 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 feeder roads. This segment has been open since 1994 and population, and thus traffic, in the surrounding area has increased exponentially. 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 September 2011 and Segment E opened 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 and then came the addition of $150 million in Stimulus money yet still the project stalled. As with many Stimulus projects it turned out not to be "shovel ready" enough and the $150 million was sent back to TxDOT for use elsewhere. In 2011 the Wetlands permit from the Army Corps of Engineers was acquired. In  addition, Harris County relinquishing its rights to TxDOT who will construct a Public Private Cooperative toll road. At its April 28, 2011 meeting 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 due to even start until 2011. The long section of I-10/US 90 from the suburb town  of Katy to just inside the I-610 loop has expanded it to handle the rapidly expanding western suburbs of Houston not just adding lanes, but also an expanded HOV with two lanes in both directions where there was one lane reversed back and forth with rush hour and a toll lane for commuters willing to pay congestion prices for the quicker ride. The idea put forth is that Segment E is toll-viable from the start meaning it would pay for itself with tolls collected because of the need to relieve traffic on US 290/SH 6 along with the  continued expansion of the western suburbs. After US 290/SH 6 construction is completed and less traffic is diverting down the E Segment of the Grand Parkway; the reasoning is that the inevitable population explosion going on in the area would not just replace the lost traffic from the US 290/SH 6 completion, but increase its use. Segment F-1. Segment F-1 connects US 290/SH 6 near Cypress to SH 249 near Tomball. Construction began 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 to east and westbound SH 99 (Grand Parkway), with the other two connecting to southbound Tomball Tollway from east and westbound SH 99. The projected is projected to be completed in 2022. Segment F-2. Segment F-2 connects SH 249 near Tomball with I-45 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 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 I-45  near Spring with I-69/US 59 North in New Caney. Construction began June 2013 and was completed and opened to traffic on March 29, 2016. An interchange with the Hardy Toll Road to the Grand Parkway was completed on July 18, 2016. Segment I-2. Segment I-2, which opened on March 25, 2008, after five years of construction, runs from I-10 east of Houston south to Business SH 146 in Baytown. (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. Motorists are able to pay tolls using any of the Texas toll tag transponders (TxTag, EZ TAG or TollTag), the K-Tag (Kansas) or the Pike Pass (Oklahoma). No cash payments are accepted. As of 2020, a pay-by-mail option is also available on this segment, as well as other segments maintained by TxDOT. Tag reader gantries are located on the mainline just south of FM 565, and on the northbound entrance and southbound exit ramps at FM 565. Tolls will be $1.36 for two-axle vehicles utilizing  TxTag, while pay-by-mail users pay three cents more. Future construction. Future sections of the Grand Parkway will be built as tollways. The next sections to be constructed are Section C along with Sections H and I-1, which will include improvements/upgrades to the existing portions of Section I. Segment A. Segment A is a segment that would extend from SH 146 near San Leon to I-45 South in League City. It is currently not considered a viable project. Segment B. Segment B will extend from I-45 South in League City to SH 288 near Rosharon. As of August  2021, construction has not yet been scheduled. Segment C. Segment C will extend from SH 288 near Rosharon to I-69/US 59 South in Sugar Land. As of January 2022, its estimated completion date is TBD. Segment H and I-1. Segment H and I-1 will extend from I-69/US 59 north of Houston to I-10. Texas Transportation Commission members met in Pasadena 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 I-69/US 59 north of Houston to I-10 east of the city. The  project, which began construction in the summer of 2017, is expected to cost $1.2 billion. Due to Hurricane Harvey, the completion date was delayed from 2019 to the spring of 2022. 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 30+ year old 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." Further expansion in this area is planned to start in 2010 with two tollway lanes added in each direction. 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" tried to stop the Parkway from going through a neighborhood off 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, as this would give residents living in the outer suburbs a toll road option to drive to San Antonio, Austin, northeast Texas, or Louisiana without having to drive through the city of Houston, or using Sam Houston Tollway (Beltway 8) to bypass around the city. 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. The controversial segment A, which would stretch from Texas State Highway 146 to Interstate 45 southeast of Houston through a very developed area, has not been fully designed yet. Texas Highway 146 is a possible route of the highway during 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 continued south on Highway 146 to its intersection with FM 646 (Supposing the highway was 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.