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FM 518 Expansion West Of Highway 288


Timnwendy

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A pile of metal poles has been delivered to the intersection of Half Moon Bay/Southern Trails Drive and 518. This looks suspiciously like the materials for the stop light we were told would be put in at that intersection.

I hope this is what it is, because those stop signs are dangerous.

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Yes, I hope you're right about those poles.

My question is whether or not we'll have to wait for the whole north side of the road to be completed before any section is opened for traffic.

A pile of metal poles has been delivered to the intersection of Half Moon Bay/Southern Trails Drive and 518. This looks suspiciously like the materials for the stop light we were told would be put in at that intersection.

I hope this is what it is, because those stop signs are dangerous.

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  • 1 month later...

Have y'all noticed how wide those medians are going to be between the lanes on the new stretches of 518? Why didn't they just make the road 3 lanes both ways? They still could have had a small landscaped median in the middle.

I guess they didn't have the extra funds to do this. Oh well, maybe a few years down the road this can be done (like they did for the east part of Bay Area Blvd in Clear Lake). At least they were smart enough to make this section of 518 wide enough to accommodate future widening from the middle, unlike the stretches of 518 east of 288.

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Have y'all noticed how wide those medians are going to be between the lanes on the new stretches of 518? Why didn't they just make the road 3 lanes both ways? They still could have had a small landscaped median in the middle.

I guess they didn't have the extra funds to do this. Oh well, maybe a few years down the road this can be done (like they did for the east part of Bay Area Blvd in Clear Lake). At least they were smart enough to make this section of 518 wide enough to accommodate future widening from the middle, unlike the stretches of 518 east of 288.

I pretty sure it was all about cost, wonder if there will be street lights on the otherside? The east bound exit to 518 from the Kids R Kids will be interesting, I'm assuming there will be a light at the entrance to Southern Trails so the stopped traffic will have to make sure they leave room from the cars trying to cross...

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I pretty sure it was all about cost, wonder if there will be street lights on the otherside? The east bound exit to 518 from the Kids R Kids will be interesting, I'm assuming there will be a light at the entrance to Southern Trails so the stopped traffic will have to make sure they leave room from the cars trying to cross...

Yes, there will be a light at the intersection of 518 and Southern Trails Drive/Half Moon Bay. You can see the pile of shiny steel frame laying in the grass right now; this is for the traffic light. There is a similar pile at Kingsley Dr. and 518, further west, where another traffic light will be.

Not sure what you meant by "street light", but I am fairly sure they will be spaced out all along this stretch of 518, since it is slated to have commerical development along it too.

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Yes, there will be a light at the intersection of 518 and Southern Trails Drive/Half Moon Bay. You can see the pile of shiny steel frame laying in the grass right now; this is for the traffic light. There is a similar pile at Kingsley Dr. and 518, further west, where another traffic light will be.

Not sure what you meant by "street light", but I am fairly sure they will be spaced out all along this stretch of 518, since it is slated to have commerical development along it too.

Currently, there are only street lights on the east bound side of 518 so just wondering if there will be on the west bound side (so far no poles that I've seen).

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  • 3 weeks later...

Today workmen are erecting the traffic light poles at the intersection of 518 and Half Moon Bay/Southern Trails Drive. The plan might be to turn on the traffic lights there at the same time they open up both the eastbound and westbound lanes of 518 along this new stretch.

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Today workmen are erecting the traffic light poles at the intersection of 518 and Half Moon Bay/Southern Trails Drive. The plan might be to turn on the traffic lights there at the same time they open up both the eastbound and westbound lanes of 518 along this new stretch.

I saw this morning the poles up. They look huge for that intersection. I also saw a new house being built on the ST Enclave section just west of Kingsley.... Those will be very close to 518 once is finished!

Please also take note regarding the 288 feeders construction..... Hughes Ranch - 288 Closure Notice

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  • 2 weeks later...

I drove by the intersection of Kingsley and 518 yesterday. The metal poles there for the traffic lights have not been erected, so it looks like the lights there will not be turned on at the same time as the ones at 518 and Southern Trails Drive.

On a brighter note, I saw that they have started laying concrete in the lanes between Kingsley and 521, so I think it's looking good that section will also open sometime in 2009.

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I drove by the intersection of Kingsley and 518 yesterday. The metal poles there for the traffic lights have not been erected, so it looks like the lights there will not be turned on at the same time as the ones at 518 and Southern Trails Drive.

On a brighter note, I saw that they have started laying concrete in the lanes between Kingsley and 521, so I think it's looking good that section will also open sometime in 2009.

My guess is they probably will wait to get the traffic lights working before opening the other lanes.

Also, they built a new sidewalk on the east bound side but of course there are no street lights on that side right now... Wonder if they will build one for the other side also?

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  • 1 month later...

I took a driving tour through the new development going on in The Enclave section of Southern Trails. My interest was peaked when I got to Windward Bay Drive. They have made alot of progress there. It's going to be another nicely landscaped entrance into the Enclave, complete with extra-wide streets and cobblestone (like the other main entrance into ST at Half-Moon Bay. Should look really nice when completed, and that section of 518 opens.

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  • 2 weeks later...
The two new westbound lanes of 518 were opened to traffic yesterday. The traffic lights are not hooked up yet, but at least this is an improvement in the traffic flow.

They also put in sidewalks on the south side of 518 (east bound).

Though I still wonder if they will put up street lights on the north side of 518 (west bound)...

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The two new westbound lanes of 518 were opened to traffic yesterday. The traffic lights are not hooked up yet, but at least this is an improvement in the traffic flow.

I hope they redo the lanes just after Kirby, right now the middle lane ends up as the left lane (two lane road) after Kirby and left lane still needs to merge as it ends?!? The middle lane should be the right lane and left lane but the left lane on the 2 lane stretch (right lane is right turn only before Kirby)

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Has anybody else noticed how the 35 mph speed limit on this new stretch is routinely ignored?

Considering the area is still a construction zone, with traffic fines doubled, you'd think people would slow down from the 50 mph+ speeds I am seeing all the time. I'm sure the Pearland PD will soon find this stretch of road a favorite place to rack up the revenue.

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I hope they redo the lanes just after Kirby, right now the middle lane ends up as the left lane (two lane road) after Kirby and left lane still needs to merge as it ends?!? The middle lane should be the right lane and left lane but the left lane on the 2 lane stretch (right lane is right turn only before Kirby)

Thanks for pointing that out. It nearly got me into a fender-bender last Sunday. Worse my wife was in the car.

Has anybody else noticed how the 35 mph speed limit on this new stretch is routinely ignored?

Considering the area is still a construction zone, with traffic fines doubled, you'd think people would slow down from the 50 mph+ speeds I am seeing all the time. I'm sure the Pearland PD will soon find this stretch of road a favorite place to rack up the revenue.

I'd done 50 mph a couple times already, before realising it and slowing down. Perhaps I'm one of those you saw. :P

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  • 1 month later...

The landscaping of the medians is almost complete, but they still are not sodded. However, the sprinkler systems are now functioning, and coming on in the mornings. This is making most of the water run off into the streets. Looks like typical mistiming of work between the contractors.

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Yesterday, the traffic lights at Kingsley/518 and Southern Trails Dr/Half Moon Bay/518 were activated. I think the stretch of 518 between Kingsley and Almeda Rd is still not open, though. I will confirm that soon (unless one of you beats me to it here).

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Yesterday, the traffic lights at Kingsley/518 and Southern Trails Dr/Half Moon Bay/518 were activated.

That new light takes forever if you are turning left from Half Moon Bay into 518 East!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Today a new section of 518 was opened up west of Kingsley Drive. I explored it to see if it was open all the way to 521. It was not. 518 was blocked off at the westernmost entrance to SCR at Windward Bay Drive. It did look like they will open it up all the way to 521 soon.

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Drove it again yesterday. 518 still dead-ends at the western connection of Windward Bay Drive. The entrance to Windward Bay is open there, and residents of SCR are rapidly discovering this route to 518.

The entrance to The Enclave at Southern Trails at 518 and Windward Bay is still not open. They have not even removed the curb there yet.

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Some of my neighbors contacted the city's street dept and were able to get the timings changed at the traffic light at 518/Half Moon Bay. The waits for light changing is now shorter.

Yesterday I noticed work crews were spraying hydro-mulch (blue-green stuff) in the middle of the landscaped medians, where no grass had been sodded. Hopefully, this might jump-start the growth there. We really need that to happen, so the early-morning sprinklers there will stop wasting water!

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I notice that you refer to Broadway west of 288 as 518. You do know that the FM 518 designation actually terminates at 288, right? Broadway east of 288 is Broadway Dr./FM 518, while it's just Broadway Dr. west of 288.

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